Mike's Blog » Scripture Study

General notes on D&C 84

mbrinson — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:26:37 +0000

1 A ^arevelation of Jesus Christ unto his servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and six elders, as they ^bunited their hearts and ^clifted their voices on high.
2 Yea, the word of the Lord concerning his church, established in the last days for the ^arestoration of his people, as he has spoken by the mouth of his ^bprophets, and for the ^cgathering of his ^dsaints to stand upon ^eMount Zion, which shall be the city of ^fNew Jerusalem.	Whole purpose in the establishment of the church is for the restoration of the Lord’s people and for the gathering of his saints to stand upon Mount Zion. Mount Zion is the city of New Jerusalem.
3 Which city shall be ^abuilt, beginning at the ^btemple lot, which is appointed by the finger of the Lord, in the western boundaries of the State of Missouri, and ^cdedicated by the hand of Joseph Smith, Jun., and others with whom the Lord was well pleased.
4 Verily this is the word of the Lord, that the city ^aNew Jerusalem shall be built by the gathering of the saints, beginning at this place, even the place of the temple, which ^btemple shall be ^creared in this ^dgeneration.	Generation can mean the saints will remain as a distinct people as in Matthew 24:34 as pointed out by James E. Talmage in “Jesus the Christ” in notes to chapter 32. 5. “This Generation.”—Consult any reliable unabridged dictionary of the English language for evidence of the fact that the term “generation,” as connoting a period of time, has many meanings, among which are “race, kind, class.” The term is not confined to a body of people living at one time. Fausett’s Bible Cyclopedia, Critical and Expository, after citing many meanings attached to the word, says: “In Matthew 24:34 ‘this generation shall not pass (viz. the Jewish race, of which the generation in Christ’s days was a sample in character; compare Christ’s address to the “generation,” 23:35, 36, in proof that “generation” means at times the whole Jewish race) till all these things be fulfilled’—a prophecy that the Jews shall be a distinct people still when He shall come again.”
5 For verily this generation shall not all ^apass away until an ^bhouse shall be built unto the Lord, and a ^ccloud shall rest upon it, which cloud shall be even the ^dglory of the Lord, which shall fill the house.
6 ^aAnd the ^bsons of Moses, according to the Holy Priesthood which he received under the ^chand of his father-in-law, ^dJethro;
7 And Jethro received it under the hand of Caleb;
8 And Caleb received it under the hand of Elihu;
9 And Elihu under the hand of Jeremy;
10 And Jeremy under the hand of Gad;
11 And Gad under the hand of Esaias;
12 And Esaias received it under the hand of God.
13 ^aEsaias also lived in the days of Abraham, and was blessed of him—
14 Which ^aAbraham received the priesthood from ^bMelchizedek, who received it through the lineage of his fathers, even till ^cNoah;
15 And from Noah till ^aEnoch, through the lineage of their fathers;
16 And from Enoch to ^aAbel, who was slain by the ^bconspiracy of his brother, who ^creceived the priesthood by the commandments of God, by the hand of his father ^dAdam, who was the first man—
17 Which ^apriesthood ^bcontinueth in the church of God in all generations, and is without ^cbeginning of days or end of years.
18 And the Lord confirmed a ^apriesthood also upon ^bAaron and his ^cseed, throughout all their generations, which priesthood also continueth and ^dabideth forever with the priesthood which is after the holiest order of God.
19 And this greater ^apriesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the ^bkey of the ^cmysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the ^dknowledge of God.
20 Therefore, in the ^aordinances thereof, the power of ^bgodliness is manifest.
21 And without the ordinances thereof, and the ^aauthority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is ^bnot manifest unto men in the flesh;
22 For without this no ^aman can see the face of God, even the Father, and live.
23 Now this ^aMoses plainly taught to the children of Israel in the wilderness, and sought diligently to ^bsanctify his people that they might ^cbehold the face of God;
24 But they ^ahardened their hearts and could not endure his ^bpresence; therefore, the Lord in his ^cwrath, for his ^danger was kindled against them, swore that they should not ^eenter into his rest while in the wilderness, which rest is the fulness of his glory.
25 Therefore, he took ^aMoses out of their midst, and the Holy ^bPriesthood also;
26 And the lesser ^apriesthood continued, which priesthood holdeth the ^bkey of the ^cministering of angels and the ^dpreparatory gospel;
27 Which ^agospel is the gospel of ^brepentance and of ^cbaptism, and the ^dremission of sins, and the ^elaw of ^fcarnal commandments, which the Lord in his wrath caused to continue with the house of Aaron among the children of Israel until ^gJohn, whom God raised up, being ^hfilled with the Holy Ghost from his mother’s womb.
28 For he was baptized while he was yet in his childhood, and was ^aordained by the angel of God at the time he was ^beight days old unto this power, to overthrow the kingdom of the Jews, and to ^cmake straight the way of the Lord before the face of his people, to prepare them for the ^dcoming of the Lord, in whose hand is given ^eall power.
29 And again, the ^aoffices of elder and bishop are necessary ^bappendages belonging unto the high priesthood.
30 And again, the offices of ^ateacher and deacon are necessary appendages belonging to the lesser priesthood, which priesthood was confirmed upon ^bAaron and his sons.
31 Therefore, as I said ^aconcerning the sons of Moses—for the sons of Moses and also the sons of Aaron shall offer an acceptable ^boffering and sacrifice in the house of the Lord, which house shall be built unto the Lord in this generation, upon the consecrated ^cspot as I have appointed—
32 And the sons of Moses and of Aaron shall be filled with the ^aglory of the Lord, upon ^bMount Zion in the Lord’s house, whose sons are ye; and also many whom I have called and sent forth to build up my ^cchurch.
33 For whoso is ^afaithful unto the obtaining these two ^bpriesthoods of which I have spoken, and the ^cmagnifying their calling, are ^dsanctified by the Spirit unto the ^erenewing of their bodies.
34 They become the ^asons of Moses and of Aaron and the ^bseed of ^cAbraham, and the church and kingdom, and the ^delect of God.
35 And also all they who receive this priesthood ^areceive me, saith the Lord;
36 For he that receiveth my servants ^areceiveth me;
37 And he that ^areceiveth me receiveth my Father;
38 And he that receiveth my Father receiveth my Father’s ^akingdom; therefore ^ball that my Father hath shall be given unto him.
39 And this is according to the ^aoath and covenant which belongeth to the priesthood.
40 Therefore, all those who receive the ^apriesthood, receive this ^boath and covenant of my Father, which he cannot break, neither can it be moved.

Prieshood blessings

Mike — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:29:55 +0000

Reading through D&C 84 and taking notes of the blessings associated with receiving and keeping the Oath and Covenant of the priesthood.

The church has been established for the express purpose of restoring his people, and for the gathering of his saints to stand upon mount Zion, which shall be the city of New Jerusalem. (verse 2)
Men gain eternal life through the oath and covenant of the priesthood.

"Generation"

Mike — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 12:40:27 +0000

From “Notes to chapter 32″ from James E. Talmage’s “Jesus The Christ”:

5. "This Generation." -- Consult any reliable unabridged dictionary of
the English language for evidence of the fact that the term "generation," as
connoting a period of time, has many meanings, among which are "race, kind,
class." The term is not confined to a body of people living at one time.
Fausett's Bible Cyclopedia, Critical and Expository, after citing many
meanings attached to the word, says: "In Matthew 24:34 `this generation shall
not pass (viz. the Jewish race, of which the generation in Christ's days was a
sample in character: compare Christ's address to the "generation," 23:35, 36,
in proof that "generation" means at times the whole Jewish race) till all
these things be fulfilled' -- a prophecy that the Jews shall be a distinct
people still when He shall come again."

I believe this also applies to what is said in D&C 84:4-5:
4) Verily this is the word of the Lord, that the city New Jerusalem shall be built by the gathering of the saints, beginning at this place, even the place of the temple, which temple shall be reared in this generation.
5) For verily this generation shall not all pass away until an house shall be built unto the Lord, and a cloud shall rest upon it, which cloud shall be even the glory of the Lord, which shall fill the house.”

It does say “reared” which I’m out of time to study further but still need to.

Patience

Mike — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 13:43:28 +0000

Last week was our ward conference and we were taught in Sunday School by president Dean Condie Jensen. He used to be the stake young men’s president so I got to know him a little more than I would have otherwise because I got to see him monthly at the round tables and work with him a little as young men’s president in our ward. Before being the stake young men’s president he was the mission president over Jakarta, Indonesia when the huge tsunami struck in May of 2006. I’ve been very blessed to be able to rub shoulders in a small way with this great man.

Anyway, he taught in sunday school and challenged everyone there to pick one thing to focus on from the list of qualities and attributes mentioned in D&C 4. I choose patience and Amber choose “an eye single to His glory”. As part of my focus on patience I am studying all of the scriptures on patience from the topical guide as suggested by Robert C. Oaks in his talk, “The Power of Patience“

Here are the four things that Elder Robert C. Oaks challenges me to do:

Read each of the scriptures in the Topical Guide listed under the topic “patience” and then ponder Christ’s patient examples.

Evaluate ourselves to determine where we stand on the patience continuum. How much more patience do we need to become more Christlike? This self-assessment is difficult. We might ask our spouse or another family member to help us.

Become sensitive to the examples of patience and of impatience that occur around us every day. We should strive to emulate those individuals we consider to be patient.

Recommit each day to become more patient, and be certain to keep our selected family member involved in our patience project.

This sounds like a great deal of work, but to achieve any worthwhile goal requires hard work. And overcoming the natural man and working to become more Christlike in our patience is a most appropriate objective. I pray that we will pursue this path with diligence and dedication.

I’m out of time this morning. I’ll have to continue more tomorrow.

Joseph's prophecy on second coming..

Mike — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 14:13:29 +0000

I’m sure most of you have read that statement by Joseph Smith that “There are those of the rising generation who shall not taste death till Christ comes.”

I had an interesting thought relating to this statement that I’d never considered before. Bruce R. McKonkie states “it is not unreasonable to suppose that many young men had babies at the time of this prophecy and also had other children as much as 50 or 75 years later, assuming for instance that they were married again to younger women. This very probable assumption would bring the date up to, say, the 2nd decade in the 20th century — and the children so born would be members of that same rising generation of which the Prophet spoke. Now if these children lived to the normal age of men generally they would be alive well past the year 2000 A.D.” (Mormon Doctrine pp. 692-693)

While that may be true, it doesn’t make sense to me that Joseph would say “there ARE those” not “there WILL be” seeming to indicate those that were then alive. Then again, I can see how it can be construed the way Bruce R. McConkie states. Anyway, the thought that came to me was the possibility that Joseph was saying that there were those of the rising generation who, like the 3 nephites and John the baptist, would have a change wrought upon them because of their faithfulness that would make them “not taste death till Christ comes.” When you search the scriptures for the phrase “not taste of death” you find that in every case except one it has reference to translated beings. The one exception is D&C 42:46 which says, “And it shall come to pass that those that die in me shall not taste of death, for it shall be sweet unto them” which could also be an explanation.

Anyway, just thought it was interesting and thought I would share.

Gmail – Joseph’s prophecy on second coming.. – mbrinson@gmail.com.

Blessings Conditional..

Mike — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:58:05 +0000

31 Behold this is my will; ask and ye shall receive; but men do not always do my will.

via Doctrine and Covenants 103.

Inspiration

Mike — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:04:47 +0000

Inspiration comes more quickly when we need it to help others than when we are concerned about ourselves.

…carry a prayer in your heart always. Let sleep come every night with your mind centered in prayer.

via LDS.org – Ensign Article – Prayers and Answers.

I came across this talk by Pres. Packer by doing a search on lds.org for "Have ye inquired of the Lord" after beginning to study 1 Nephi 15 which is the chapter I am currently studying in the Book of Mormon.

I’m going to the temple this morning. Got up early with the intent to study and pray and Amber helped me to decide to go to the Temple. I’m very grateful for her good influence on me. I love her with all of my heart.

Follow-up: I decided to go to the 6am session instead of 5:30am so I could finish my studying. Then when I started heading out I realized I could not find my wallet. I offered a prayer and then found my wallet. I felt the distinct thought come to my mind that it was a small answer to prayer and I was being tested with it to see if I would acknowledge the Lord’s hand in all things. It’s easy to dismiss small helps you receive from the Lord as having been a coincidence. I have resolved to make improved effort at recognizing the Lord’s blessings and remembering to thank Him. Didn’t make the session (1 minute late) so I did sealings instead. When changing back into my regular clothes I heard someone next to me sharing a story of his stake president (I believe) when he was in the presidency with him. They would come to the temple together regularly (as a presidency) and after going through one session he would always say, "We have to do a second session…the second one is free!" He would say that you pay for the first one because you have to get yourself up and get there, but then for the second one you’re already there and so it’s free. I thought that was funny and a good thought.

Pattern in all things

Mike — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:55:41 +0000

In my personal study I can’t remember what took me to these particular verses, but they define the pattern to look for when seeking to know what kind of a spirit you are dealing with (in people or those on the other side). If they do not speak with a contrite spirit, are meek and edify, bring forth good fruits, etc., then they are not of God and should not be listened to.

14 And again, I will give unto you a pattern in all things, that ye may not be deceived; for Satan is abroad in the land, and he goeth forth deceiving the nations—

15 Wherefore he that prayeth, whose spirit is contrite, the same is accepted of me if he obey mine ordinances.

16 He that speaketh, whose spirit is contrite, whose language is meek and edifieth, the same is of God if he obey mine ordinances.

17 And again, he that trembleth under my power shall be made strong, and shall bring forth fruits of praise and wisdom, according to the revelations and truths which I have given you.

18 And again, he that is overcome and bringeth not forth fruits, even according to this pattern, is not of me.

19 Wherefore, by this pattern ye shall know the spirits in all cases under the whole heavens.

via Doctrine and Covenants 52.

Resurrection

Mike — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:16:58 +0000

Doctrine And Covenants 45:45-46

45 But before the arm of the Lord shall fall, an angel shall sound his trump, and the saints that have slept shall come forth to meet me in the cloud.

46 Wherefore, if ye have slept in peace blessed are you; for as you now behold me and know that I am, even so shall ye come unto me and your souls shall live, and your redemption shall be perfected; and the saints shall come forth from the four quarters of the earth.

1 Nephi 4

Mike — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 19:45:26 +0000

Verse 9 -> Interesting that Nephi noticed the fine qualities of the sword. Hilt of gold, fine workmanship, precious steel. For all of it’s strength and great exquisiteness it didn’t do Laban any good because he was drunk and unable to use it to protect himself. Also did him no good because of his wickedness. God had decreed that he was to die. He created him and so He has every right to destroy him because of his wickedness. Later Nephi would use this sword as the pattern for making swords for the arming of his people. -> 2 Nephi 5:14 Symbolism of the sword of Laban. Defending. Fighting for truth. Nephi wielded the sword of Laban as did King Benjamin later. (the original sword… must have been made very well as nephi said to last through all those years. From Nephi to King Benjamin -> At least 310 years – From 589 B.C. (arrived in promised land) to 279 B.C. – 124 B.C. (124 B.C. being the year when King Benjamin gave his farewell address)

Verse 10 -> Compare with commandment of Lord to destroy all of the Amalekites through the prophet Samuel to Saul.