Come Follow Me LDS - Doctrine and Covenants 41-44
Apr 21, 2021
"The Law of God"
In this Come Follow Me episode, we focus on The Law of God in Doctrine and Covenants 41-44 which includes several of the Ten Commandments. A strong focus on the Law of Chastity. A great example of the "DBR" is given with the "word" and the "order" or priesthood. To be ashamed can be good, but not to shame. "Keys" are equated to the Kingdom of God and another example of "gathering" as a hen gathereth her chickens is given. The Law of Consecration is given, but like the Children of Israel, the Saints do not "receive" it. Also, if God doesn't suffer and sorrow, then He can't love.
DBR Video - https://youtu.be/nBHGClSxWOQ
Raw Transcript
all right welcome to the quick media
come follow me series we are
covering doctrine and covenants sections
41-44
where we learn about the law of god that
he
uh gives to joseph smith amongst a
number of
other elders in kirtland uh before i get
moving on this just remember to like
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all right section 41
here we have just not a lot i'm going to
cover here but something that
i think we should look at is just a few
of these phrases that we find
in this section um
that you know i think sometimes we just
kind of read over and and don't think
much of and
you know kind of like the titles that we
keep getting uh for of
of god uh but here's a couple here in in
verse 1 right he says
ye that hear me not will i curse let me
back that up first he says
ye whom i delight to bless with the
greatest of all blessings that's his
people
right that hearken and hear him
and then he says and ye that hear me not
will i
curse that have professed my name
with the heaviest of all cursings right
so
we hear this word curse and and again
this kind of moves more toward a
protestant
idea of this judgmental god
and and there is judgment right but but
we get this
this such a negative connotation of
these things instead of
a practical understanding of what is
happening here
what is a curse when you are cursed you
are being
held back it's just like being damned
right that sounds so horrible what a
horrible thing it is
we you know the the the damned that are
in hell or or
whatever it might be but what does that
mean in scripture
right it means to be held back from
progression
that's what he's talking about so when
he is going to lay out a curse in a
sense it's
it's like it's a natural reaction it's a
natural consequence
to our agency is what that is
it's not him waiting there with a
scepter or like zeus with a a uh a bolt
of lightning to hurl toward us when we
make a mistake
right that's not what it is it's
it's a warning it's like look if you're
if you don't hear me then i'm going to
curse you why am i going to curse you
because i have made the earth here and
the earth is in a fallen state
and when you don't make the right
decisions
then there is a consequence for those
things that's how we learn that's how we
grow that's how we
build through adversity is all that is
how many times have each of us
been cursed in our lives
through natural consequences because we
made a mistake we did the wrong thing we
made the wrong choice
every day probably right so that's what
he's saying but he does call out here
one specific cursing that is the worst
from him which is
those that have professed my name
with the heaviest of all cursings and
this is again this
is this is separating the church from
the rest of the christian world
at the time of joseph smith especially
right we don't talk about things as much
in those terms today
we try to build bridges interfaith
bridges with
with other christian sects and other
religions
but the lord here is kind of you know
he's drawing a line a little bit and he
and he's saying look there's
there's a lot out there not everybody
obviously but there's a lot out there of
of those that would be
leaders in religion that profess his
name in the name of christianity
right that do not listen to him and this
goes back to what it goes back to one of
the ten commandments
thou shalt not take my name
in vain that's what that is there that's
what i see
and we're going to get a number of these
ten commandments here in the next
section
right this is one of them right here
he's already laying it out
right so if we if we take on his name
which we do at baptism
technically and we live in a way
that makes his name of naught
of nothing of no value then that's
taking his name in vain
right or or if i am acting as an
authority
in his name but i'm not really acting
for his name right then that's also the
same type of thing i'm professing his
name
um but i hear him not okay so
just a little bit of color on those uh
on those phrases and on those words
there in verse three he says he's going
to give the law
to the elders of the church basically to
joseph smith
once they pray in faith for it they come
together and they pray in faith
and and then think about that right
temple imagery too right it's it's
it's we're going to come together we're
going to pray in faith and the veil will
open
and i will then give you my word or
bring you my blessings
bring you the spirit and then he and
then he
he he combines the idea of the law with
the ruler
what is a ruler it's the rule it's the
guy who
rules well the rule he rules over the
rules
right it's it's the king it's the
authority over this he says this in
verse four
and i will be your ruler when i come
again this is the triumphal entry this
is the royal procession of the king
coming in from the east and going to the
temple
and sitting on the throne that's what
this is
so he says i come quickly so make sure
that you keep this law
because you're you're going to be
preparing for me and
if you're not worthy there's going to be
some problems
and then again he goes over a little bit
of meritocracy
right i mean we've we all have an
opportunity he gives us all an
opportunity and he gives us
all the tools whether in this life or
the next the previous life
constantly he's going to be giving us at
the right times
in our existence the tools to be able to
make the right decisions if we choose
but if we choose not to it's not
it's not it's it's there's got to be
natural consequences
here's what he says in verse 5 he that
receiveth my law
and doeth it the same is my disciple
right so if you're doing the law then
you're my disciple but if you don't
you're not my disciple you're not a
follower of mine
he says and he that saith he receive it
and do with it
not the same is not my disciple
and shall be cast out from among you
this just right now is ringing in my
ears a little bit i mean there's
a lot of talk about excommunication in
the church right
right now and and it's um
someone you know can be cast out or not
and it's uh
they're they're we need to follow the
law
right we need to follow the law now i
don't know what is worthy and not worthy
typically of excommunication i have no
idea
but oh i got some idea but but i'm not
the judge of that
right and and but there are consequences
right whether it's that extreme or
whether it's we need to repent
um we want that we need that that is a
loving
heavenly father a loving savior our
ruler
that has his rod that is going to say
hey look
you need to straighten out a little bit
you know let's let's make a change in
your course just a little bit here
and if we didn't have that then we would
never be able to get back to
him we need a little bit of judgment
so that so that we can go through that
process and
even little things right even those
little things and and
we you can't be fair
by being tolerant to everything
you are fair and just by rewarding
those that make the right decisions
and giving everybody ample opportunity
throughout their existence again this
life is a blink of an eye here
in being able to do the same and being
able to progress and allowing us to help
each other
meritocracy is a part of the gospel that
doesn't mean
we earn our way to salvation we can't do
that
but we do have to make the right
decisions we do have to grow and
progress that's what it's all about
grace is given to everybody meaning
the opportunity and the spirit
and all the the blessings of heaven are
given to those
that want them and and that obey the law
so again he that receiveth my law and do
with it the same as my disciple
and he that saith he receive it and
doeth it not
the same is not my disciple and shall be
cast out among you and then it goes on
for it is not meat that the things which
belong to the children of the kingdom
should be given to them that are not
worthy
right that's the just part that's
justice too
right so if we're out fighting for
justice that that's justice
as well right so section 42 here then is
the dispensing of the law
kind of got a little bit of a beginning
of that with kind of the idea of
taking the lord's name in vain in the
last section
but i was going to go over a few of
these things that he's going to acquire
of the church of the members of the
church
and those that take on his name
and not surprisingly he starts with
preparing the way
right in repentance so again our whole
theme of the royal procession is here in
verse seven and he shall go forth
baptizing with water now he's going to
go over a couple of different concepts
here and and put them together
and and that is the higher and the lower
laws and
the idea of the dpr right the word the
order
let's see how he does that here in verse
6 of section 42 he says
and ye shall go forth in the power of my
spirit preaching my gospel two by
two in my name right you're taking on
the name so you've gotta be worthy
and you've gotta represent it right
lifting up your voices as with the sound
of a trump declaring my word like unto
the angels of god now he goes into this
and ye shall go forth baptizing with
water remember that's the aaronic
priesthood
that's the humility that's the broken
heart and contrite spirit
that's entering into the fluid hierarchy
right
and saying repent ye repent ye
john the baptist for the kingdom of
heaven
is at hand that is the royal procession
coming to the temple the ruler the king
and then he talks about their center of
gathering right now which is in kirtland
not the permanent place
but then he starts rolling into this new
jerusalem this idea of
zion and here's how it's going to happen
how does zion happen
it happens by going out two by two and
doing what
preaching the word the dbr out to
everyone
and gathering israel right that's what's
happening here these these steps of this
process
of the triumphal entry of the royal
procession
are all these little pieces here that
he's putting together
he says you're going to go from this
place being kirtland
into the regions westward and inasmuch
as you shall find them that will receive
you you shall build up my church
in every region there's around the world
until the time that shall come when it
shall be revealed unto you from on high
when the city of the new jerusalem shall
be prepared
that ye may be gathered in one
remember what that idea is what do you
mean gather it in one
what can't you just say gathered it's
it's those that have to take on his name
it's those that are
acting in his name it's those that have
a a
broken heart and a contrite spirit and
are in
a so that so that so that zion can be
a union that's what one means a
union of hearts and minds of individuals
that ye may be my people and i will be
your god
and then he says he's going to appoint
edward partridge as the
bishop now one of the things about
edward partridge here is
we're talking about authority he's being
appointed
right authority of what authority of the
priesthood
it's the order that's the dbr order
right just like we have dbr word it is
the
hebrew root for both of those because
they go hand in hand
this is how it works out right here
verse 11.
again i say unto you that it shall not
be given to anyone
to go forth to preach my gospel or to
build up my church
except he be ordained by someone who has
authority so preaching the gospel
right that dbr going out to the world
the four rivers of of eden
is is twofold right it is
the word going out to the dbr and it's
going out through the order of the
priesthood
the dbr the order of the priesthood
those go hand in hand
again think of heavenly father
then jehovah right the word being told
to jehovah
from the father and then jehovah telling
michael
right or telling peter james and john
and then that coming down to adam and
eve it's an order it's a priesthood
order
and that word is coming down with it
through that order that's the dbr and
then real quick in verse 12 here he says
again the book of mormon
in the which is the fullness of the
gospel and we get that over and over
again
we need to understand that more i want
to do an episode on that actually talk
about more about
the fullness of the gospel being in the
book of mormon critics of the church
sometimes will come in and say well it
doesn't have the fullness of the gospel
i don't think they really understand
what we're talking about there when we
talk about the fullness of the gospel
because it's everywhere
now we talked about the preparing the
way and baptizing by water
that was before of course oh what's
going to come after that well then we
talk about the spirit here
we talk about the holy ghost and just a
few points here that he goes into on the
spirit starting in verse 14
and the spirit shall be given unto you
by the prayer of faith
so by prayer which is aaronic priesthood
us reaching up
the spirit then comes down that's the
way it always works
except for in a few intervention
incidents like like
alma the younger right it's it which is
still coming from someone else's prayer
i guess you could say but it's that's
how it works those blessings from heaven
come down
when we reach up with a broken heart and
a contrite spirit
i know in my life oftentimes i'll see
that i don't have enough of a broken
heart and a contrite spirit
and i'm not praying enough i'm not
getting down on my knees i'm not
i'm not in that attitude of supplication
enough and and
humility and therefore that's why i'm
not receiving as many
blessings or i don't have the spirit as
strongly with me as i should
so then he says in 16 here and as ye
shall lift up your voices by the
comforter
you shall speak and prophesy as seen
with me good this is
about the word going out the preaching
so the dbr
is given and it's given through the
spirit
for behold the comforter knoweth all
things
and beareth record of the father and of
the son
and then we start getting some itemized
an itemized list here a little bit of of
of the ten commandments or some of the
ten commandments
that we would have it's just like this
is kind of like moses here
bringing the tablets down to the
children of israel is what's happening
right here
he says in verse 18 and now behold i
speak unto the church
thou shalt not kill and he that kills
shall not have forgiveness in this world
nor in the world to come
we'll talk about that another time and
again i say indeed i say thou shalt not
kill but he that killeth shall
die well we might think of the death
penalty
um that's the way it was written up in
the old testament
you can also look at that as a spiritual
death
right if you kill someone then you're
you're you're you're going to die also
often times those things are hand in
hand that temporal death and that
spiritual death
in the scriptures and then thou shalt
not steal
and he that stealeth and will not repent
shall be cast
out again i mean the the the idea of
being cast out goes all the way back to
the pre-mortal life
where lucifer and a third of the host of
heaven were cast
out adam and eve in the garden of eden
were
cast out the scapegoat
at the day of atonement is cast
out of the city of jerusalem with the
sins
this is a separation of the wheat and
the tares now obviously someone can
repent and come back into the fold
or maybe being out of the fold means
they're not going to take the sacrament
for a week or two
there's a lot of different ways to say
someone is cast out
right but they've harmed their
relationship with the lord
that's really what it is and the church
is there to kind of help
hopefully in the best way possible help
to go through a process of repentance
to heal that relationship and then thou
shalt not lie and if you lie and don't
repent you'll be cast out
thou shalt love thy wife with all thy
heart and shalt cleave unto her and none
else
so the law of chastity is put in here
and we get a lot more about the law of
chastity here than we do in the ten
commandments
because it keeps going on here and now
we get something more like we get from
the sermon on the mount here in 23 and
he that looketh upon a woman
to lust after her shall deny the faith
and shall not have the spirit
and if he repents not he shall be cast
out well
what's that in our day or that can
certainly be person to person but it's
pornography
right and now right now we're getting a
lot of you get
getting some talk going on here
culturally
unfortunately by some that say hey this
is okay
this is what science says that
pornography is okay
and can be good for you you know
come on it's going to be very
interesting to see how
science and faith are going to continue
to
butt heads right it's it's like
social science what science are you
talking about
this is this is a great example where
the church is not of the world
right it it we love science we love
truth
but that social science which is not as
good a science
is not is not a uh
is not always full of eternal truths
and then of course right to it in 24
thou shalt not commit adultery and if
you commit adultery and repenteth not
then you're cast out
right but if you repent and you do it no
more
then you're forgiven just don't do it
again
and then thou shalt not speak evil of
thy neighbor
that's one that's probably a little
easier for some of us to do
right gossip that's what that is it's
gossip
are we speaking evil of someone else and
especially with social media these days
that runs rampant and it's hard not to
get sucked up
into that sometimes i'm guilty of that
sometimes that's for sure
and i have to come back and like oh boy
i shouldn't have put that out there or
i need to be careful and separate the
sin from the sinner or the idea from the
person
here's another part of the law of god
that he puts in here now thou wilt
remember the poor
and consecrate of thy properties for
their supports we're getting more into
the
law of consecration here something that
is rejected by the early saints they
don't live it well
so it's removed just like the higher law
was removed
from the children of israel right
now we accepted the higher law here but
not all of it
right we accepted the idea that the
fullness of
the fullness let's say to a certain
degree
the fullness of the gospel but we we
haven't in practice
kept the law of consecration
we're still cursed because we haven't
prepared enough to do that
so back to edward partridge here which
we saw
he needed to be appointed as a bishop in
verse 31 and inasmuch as ye impart of
your substance unto the poor
you will do it unto me and they shall be
laid before the bishop
of my church and his counselors two of
the elders or high priests
so bringing up edward partridge here was
important in the in the uh the office of
of a bishop because laying out this idea
of a bishop storehouse in the law of
consecration
well it needs an official on that it
needs an officer that's going to manage
that
a priesthood authority and then in verse
34 and 35 here
therefore the residue that's of the of
the consecration of
of the goods and money i guess of thing
of what what people give above and
beyond what they need
the residue shall be kept in my
storehouse we have those today
to administer to the poor and the needy
and
as shall be appointed by the high
council of the church and the bishop and
his council
and for the purpose of purchasing lands
for the public benefit of the church
a little bit of controversy sometimes
with some of the properties that the
church
purchases i suppose but
it clarifies a little bit more here at
the end of that it says and building
houses of worship
how many houses of worship does the
church have worldwide
and building up of the new jerusalem
which is hereafter to be revealed
right so i kind of wonder do we first
need to go back here to
the law of god and follow all of these
things better especially
a law of consecration before
the new jerusalem can really be prepared
right that that call may not come until
we are as a people
as we gather israel throughout the earth
as we are able to better follow
this law of god then we're probably in a
better position
to call down from heaven right the
blessings of heaven
but today we're probably not in a
position to
where we're prepared for that and then
he finishes that off here in verse 36
that my covenant people may be gathered
in one right in union
a bunch of individuals of one heart and
one mind
not not just a collective in that day
when i shall come to
my temple the royal procession
we need to prepare the way we need to
remove the stumbling blocks we need to
make his paths straight
we're not doing that enough right that
that's what brings in the king that's
what brings in the second coming that is
what
allows us to be ready for the royal
procession
and then he says this down here and
terrell gibbons talks about this
a lot the uh the lds scholar right after
that in verse 36 it says and this
i do right in other words he's saying
that my people can be gathered in one so
that i then i can come to my temple well
that's not why he does all of this
so that he can come to his temple why
does he do it
for for just himself for just his glory
no and that's the beauty of the gospel
and understanding
who god is an lds
theology right the attributes that we
give to god
come from him because it comes through
as prophets
and here's what it says and this i do
i come to the temple i come in the
second coming why
i this i do for the salvation of
my people it's because he loves us
right moses 139
this is my work and my glory
now as far as gathering everybody
together and preparing for the royal
procession the second coming
we get a little bit more about what we
see in the in isaiah
and in the book of mormon that's about
the gentiles and the israelites
it's pretty interesting in 39 it says
for it shall come to pass that
that which i spake by the mouths of my
prophets shall be fulfilled again think
of isaiah zechariah and many others
for i will consecrate of the riches of
those who embrace my gospel
among the gentiles so the wealth of the
gentiles well that's pretty easy to see
if we look in this idea again i've
talked about this before but
we can look at a few different levels of
what gentiles mean
those that aren't the members of the
church right those who the jews
anciently used to look at that were
outside of israel
gentiles means nations the nations of
the world except for the israelites
that's what it originally really meant
but
oftentimes in probably the old testament
also but certainly in the new testament
a lot of what they're talking about with
the gentiles
is probably those of europe
of european descent and that would make
sense here right that's where the church
comes from
it comes from those of european descent
in the united states and then spreads
out
a lot into the uk right and among
especially western
europe and and and those of european
descent and then
quickly especially coming in right about
the middle just a little late middle
20th century boom it just even though
we've been in many places
it just starts to absolutely go crazy in
latin america
right and it says i will consecrate to
the riches of those who embrace my
gospel among the gentiles
unto the poor of my people who are of
the house of israel
so the abundance that is found in in
the western world is going to help and
we can look at this as an abundance of
faith to some degree although that's
lacking more and more among the gentiles
these days
or it can be a temporal wealth that's
going to help
every gather israel right through the
money that's coming in through
tithing and and and humanitarian aid
and through fast offerings etc right
that's we can look at it that way this
is kind of fulfilling this
verse 39 right here as we give those
funds
and and for those of us that are in the
west especially
of those who embrace my gospel among the
gentiles under the poor of my people who
are of the house of israel
which basically is not just latin
america right but it's it's going out
all all throughout the world and and
helping to build
zion and gather israel and then down in
45
as we've been talking a lot about the
doctrine of christ that's about to come
out here in a couple days
an episode specifically on that thou
shalt live together in love all right so
in love again think of charity i have
changed
i've changed the i i'll still call it
that a little bit here but i've changed
the principle or interpreter of
relational covenant and i'm just going
to call it charity and i'm going to
focus on that
but i'm going to explain it in a
different way than we usually hear it
and and and pull from the support of
prophets
and and apostles and those that have
talked about that
in understanding how that fits with the
the uh parable of the talents
and how without it there's no way that
we could ever progress
in other words there has to be
opportunity for charity
so 45 again thou shalt live together in
love or charity
in so much that thou shalt weep for the
loss of them that die
right so you're going to bear each
other's burdens
the doctrine of christ
and more especially for those that have
not hope
of a glorious resurrection
right so you're going to grieve you're
going to carry these sorrows and these
burdens
because that's what christ did that's
the doctrine of christ that's lowering
yourself into the
waters of baptism that's what taking on
the name of
christ is bearing those burdens
and god still does that today the savior
does that our father in heaven does that
right he is a god a being of passions
and he suffers and he sorrows
if he doesn't suffer and he doesn't
sorrow
then he doesn't love
right you that's that's what that is
that's the doctrine of christ and then
going down a little bit further he
he brings this idea of bearing others
burdens or infirmities up again and
talking about having the faith to be
healed
regardless what that is that can be a
physical healing that can be a spiritual
healing
but talking about those people that need
the faith to be healed he says
and they who have not faith to do these
things to be healed
but believe in me have power to become
my son so they can
become his sons they can become one in
zion
and inasmuch as they break not my laws
which are laid out here in this section
thou shalt bear their infirmities
so we bear the infirmities of those
around us
in the church as a whole in our wards
and our stake in our families
we bear each other's burdens that is a
call to arms with the doctrine of christ
down in verse 61 again knock
and it shall be opened unto you ask and
you shall receive
that is all about prayer both of those
that's what that is it's prayer if thou
shalt ask thou shalt receive
revelation upon revelation knowledge
upon knowledge
that thou mayest know the mysteries and
peaceable things
that which bringeth joy that which
bringeth life
eternal we're going to follow up with
that statement here in in just a minute
here but again it's it's us
reaching up to god so that he can reach
down to us
that's the formula and then something
really interesting in verse
69 here it says lift up your hearts and
rejoice
for unto you the kingdom or in other
words
the keys of the church have been given i
don't know if we see that anywhere else
in
in scripture that i that i can think of
but
here we get an equation here right a a a
parallel here of
the kingdom as the keys of the church
so what are the keys think of that story
of spencer w kimball right and talking
about
that statue in europe of peter where
he's holding the keys
right why because he's he's in a sense
he's the king of the priesthood
on earth by man it would be like having
in some ways it's an equation of of a
king
priest and that's what you see a lot in
the temple dramas
right a king and a priest a melchizedek
priest
which is a royal priest and he's got the
key
so the kingdom the royal priesthood
is is paralleled to
the keys of the church so part of what
we see when we talk about
preparing the way for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand
it's like okay we need to think about
that authority of the church we need to
think about
jehovah coming to the temple and sitting
on the throne
and even kirtland here later on in
section 110 with
all of the other those prophets that
come that bring the
keys of the kingdom
for gathering israel and for the
abrahamic covenant
and for the sealing powers of the temple
these would all be part of the kingdom
right these keys that's what it sounds
like to me
all right then he comes right back again
to the law of chastity
and and this is i think in any
civilization
in all periods of time this is the
greatest
and in many ways the greatest evil it is
probably worse in some cases
in some forms of fornication but your
betrayal is pretty pretty darn bad in
any form right
but it's it's a
breakdown right when you start breaking
down marriage
when you start breaking down family
and and you you take that creative power
and you distort it
then that's a real problem for
civilization as a whole
the law of chastity i think is something
that holds civilization up
and everything seems to fall apart as
that becomes more and more pervasive
fatherless homes
children that don't have as much of a
chance of of living in a in a stable
environment
the best environment possible a removal
of the spirit from
many individuals because of fornication
so he comes back to it again here and he
says behold verily i say unto you
that whatever person's among you having
put away their companions
for the cause of fornication or in other
words if they shall testify before you
in all loneliness of heart
that this is the case you shall not cast
them out from among you so
he's already said this once
but if you find that any persons have
left their companions for the sake of
adultery
and they themselves are the offenders
and their companions are living
they shall be cast out among cast out
from among you
now of course we were told before that
if they'll repent then we're going to
bring them back
in and repenting is repenting
but he's emphasizing it again here so
it's it's it's an imperative thing here
this this law
of chastity that the church follow
and that the world follow and of course
we
you know as a people as as as children
of god
throughout the world this is a very
difficult thing to do this is
to keep such a you know any population
holding on to the law of chastity
and in many ways it's it's the the
breaking of the law of chastity
is not just tolerated it's celebrated
now here's an interesting point and
something that needs to be probably
talked about a little bit more because
it's a very sensitive thing
as we come down to the end of this uh
this is already
coming down into the verse in the 90s
here and in section 42
but in talking about having you know
committing sin in an organ is in in a
in a in your wards in your stakes
whatever it might be it says
if he or she confesses not thou shalt
deliver
him or her up unto the church not to the
members but to the elders
so those that would be in charge of a
judgment process a repentance process
and it shall be done in a meeting and
that not
before the world right so so that's done
in private
if there's an offense so if someone if
someone offends you if there's a real
if there's a betrayal someone stole
something from you
right or whatever it might be like that
that's that's kind of what that's
talking about
and if that brother or sister offend
many he or she
shall be chastened before many so i
think you think about a court of law
right if someone has stolen something
from a number of people they might all
be
in attendance there to see the judgment
see what's going to happen there
and hopefully more in a position not of
condemning but of of justice and mercy
hopefully and some some way of of
repentance
on this if anyone offend
openly so it's out in the open and it's
been something that's
done openly even that doesn't mean i
don't think that everybody knows about
something
but they're actually out in the open
offending somebody
or offending many right maybe someone
who's
stole a lot of money from a lot of
different people right same type of
thing
then he or she shall be rebuked openly
so in that case it's
same type of thing right who's gonna who
it it's
it's that's justice
that's justice and again it's not as a
matter of yeah let's get that person
it's it's a matter of healing it's a
matter of
of real justice i think with mercy
in it is is is a way of healing
something
right it's we've all been bitten by the
uh fiery serpents and we want to go
through a process that's part of the
doctrine of christ
and look toward the brazen serpent and
be healed both the offender and those
that have been offended
and then it says that he or she may be
ashamed
now this is very different i think from
thinking about for example the great and
spacious building
because that is that is something that
uh
is openly trying to shame somebody
that is very different than somebody who
is ashamed
if you have done something wrong to
someone or to god
you should be ashamed that that that is
a
that is a broken heart and a contrite
spirit part of the repentance process
right if you're not ashamed of doing
something wrong
then it's not it's not the repentance
process is going to be pretty tough to
go through
that's different from other people
shaming you
right that's the difference right how
about the
the uh woman caught in adultery
that came to christ you know the the the
the everybody brought her to christ
right what are they trying to do
i don't know if she's ashamed or not but
everybody else there who's got the
stones in their hands
right that want to stone her for
adultery they want to shame her
they are shaming her and the lord says
no this is this is not how this is done
we don't do this
to shame people now she might feel
ashamed
because of what she's done that's
different
right so very two very different
um ways that we i think we need to look
at that
and then it makes it very clear in 92 93
that look if this is something kind of
private
between one party or two we keep it
private
right we keep that private that's the
way that's supposed to be
obviously if someone offends someone in
a large scale to everybody around then
everybody already knows about it
right but otherwise we're gonna we're
gonna keep this
as something of privacy i think i think
that's a pretty good
approach to things in section 43 then we
get a little bit more about these
false authorities just like we were
getting before
uh with hiram page and the seer stone
and others
still happening here of course right and
and we're told again here in verse three
and this you shall know assuredly that
there is
none other appointed unto you to receive
commandments
and revelations until he be taken if he
abide in me that is
joseph smith right as long as he abides
in me
as long as he operates in my name
if he doesn't he's gone too but
otherwise
he's in charge and then
this is something that we've been taught
before before there's been some other
changes in
in the church there would be other
references for this but in verse 5 it
says and this shall be a law unto you
that ye receive not the teachings of any
that shall come before you
as revelations or commandments
right it's got to come through the
proper change the proper authority that
is what that is
the priesthood and the leaders of the
church and
and that is through the spirit
right ultimately through the spirit and
your own study and revelation that you
would get
personally but for the church right
that's that's coming that's got to come
through he who has all the keys
and then in 24 we go back to the idea of
the hen and her chickens of gathering
again here
24 and 25 o ye nations of the earth how
often would i have gathered you together
as a hen gathereth her chickens
under her wings but ye would not again
this is
all a theme of gathering right he's he
this is what jesus teaches when he's in
the temple before he's
killed a few days later in other words
he couldn't do the gathering we we
didn't receive it even
him being there personally could not
force it to happen
it's a great great lesson on
our liberty and our agency and this is
what irenaeus uses right the
the an early church father uses as an
example of
our agency how often is he tried to
gather us
but we wouldn't he lets us not do it
even when it's him personally
that is there he says the same thing
through his voice when he first talks to
the nephites after the destruction there
and his resurrection
right i tried to gather you and look
what's happened look what the choices
were of of this people you could not
become
one you could not become a union
and and destruction came instead that's
what happens to
those of jerusalem also then he talks
about the different ways that he
tries to gather in the and the dbr that
goes out what is
how does he do this he does it through
the mouth of my servants this is verse
25
by the ministering of angels by mine own
voice
by the you know so that's the
hierarchical structure right the dbr as
it goes down then also
by the voice of thunderings the voice of
lightnings
by the voice of tempest by the voice of
earthquakes great hailstorms
the voice of famines and pestilences by
the great sound of a trump
by the voice of judgment so even the
worst
things right and i like the way this is
brought out here because he's talking
about
different ways that he tries to get our
attention
it's not that he wants to bring
earthquakes it's not that he wants to
bring major
judgment upon you when you do something
wrong there are warning signs that are
out there all the time
there are different ways that he tries
to talk to us but we
don't listen so if we don't listen in
one way maybe
for our own good he's gonna he's gonna
go heavy with us
right he's gonna go heavy with us in
some ways and we still may not listen
so he gives the different examples of
the ways that he tries to get the dbr to
us
the word of god through signs through
the word
and then in the end here after he says
all these harsh things
of these signs and and warnings
of judgment then he says and by the
voice of mercy
all the day long and by the voice of
glory
and honor and the riches of eternal life
so in other words
he tries to put the carrot out there for
us he tries to show us
that hopefully we can desire it for
ourselves enough
that we will move forward for it but if
we don't
he still gives us ministering angels
and the servants the prophets leaders of
the church
uh the scriptures and if necessary
a heavy hand sometimes to kind of
wake us up but it's not just a
judgmental god it's
not just a harsh god in all
all of these things are natural
responses
to a people that aren't going to listen
to children that aren't going to listen
you think of any parent and their
children hopefully
they're trying to teach them to want the
good things for themselves
but it doesn't always work and then
lastly in this section
i like what it says here in 34-35
hearken ye to these words behold i am
jesus christ
the savior of the world treasure these
things up in your hearts
right again he was just talking about
that try and think of the carrot
treasure these things up in your heart
and let the solemnities of eternity
rest upon your minds
and then you don't need the harshness
necessarily to try and turn you
and then again be sober i just
i really like that i like that idea to
me it's always be
aware it's kind of like the interview i
just did on
mindfulness be aware
of things don't be drunk
in the things of the world don't be
drunk in an ideology don't be drunk on
on distractions
be aware be sober
and the only other thing i want to bring
up here which is in section 44 is
is verses four and five and this kind of
reminds me of what
is necessary and how the lord's hand is
worked through time here in this
dispensation of setting up the united
states
a place that is is built on liberty it
hasn't always done a great job of that
but it's it's built on the idea of
liberty
and has a constitution that most
countries as we just heard from delaney
oaks president oaks is has been
duplicated many many times over
sometimes not always as well but it's
been duplicated throughout the world
many many times
so the lord builds up the united states
puts the constitution in place
and builds an environment where the the
church can flourish
eventually i mean it still goes through
so much persecution
but eventually it it it is what helps
build the church and it says here in
verse 4
and many shall be converted in so much
that ye shall obtain
power to organize yourselves according
to the laws of man well that would be
the laws early on here of
primarily the united states at first
so that was necessary for the church and
then verse five
that your enemies may not have power
over you so
could the church have been built the way
it was such a striking change to
christianity
could it have survived anywhere else
it barely survived in the united states
look at all the persecution how did it
make it
could it have made it elsewhere i don't
know i mean obviously you say well
with the lord anything's possible but
seems to me they thought based on uh
what we have read about the the
constitution and about how the
the uh uh founding fathers of the united
states were
put in place to help build this up we
read this later on in
in the doctrine and covenants that that
had to be an environment for the church
or it may not have made it
right it may not have made i think it's
one of the reasons
that in this dispensation the church
makes it
right that your enemies may not have
power over you that you
may be preserved in all things that you
may be enabled to keep my laws
the laws of god that he just went over
that every bond may be broken
wherewith the enemy seeketh to destroy
my people of course that doesn't mean it
doesn't ever happen
look how many times joseph smith was put
into jail what was it like 42 43 times
something like that
and then of course the saints persecuted
and and driven out
to the west but i think that this is
just kind of another confirmation about
about the importance as president oaks
just went over of the constitution of
the united states for the church
so with that just as we get in the
garden of eden
right the law is given to the people
and now that you have that much more of
the law of course they've already got
the bible and the book of mormon here in
place at this time
but laying this out here another
revelation
the more revelation that's given the
more condemnation
is given as well the more cursing is
given
because the more we know the more is
expected of us the more we're able to
sin
it's just like with eve and and adam
right the more they knew partaking of
the fruit
of the knowledge of the tree of good and
evil
well then they can sin
because they have the law and that's the
same with us we've been given
all of this revelation and so as we
study more and more there's actually
more and more expected of us but that's
exciting
that's an exciting thing because that's
what allows us to progress
is to take on that responsibility
i'll talk to you next time
Come Follow Me LDS for Doctrine and Covenants 41-44
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