Doctrine & Covenants
124-128
Doctrine & Covenants 124
“The Spirit of Mormonism”
This was followed almost immediately by the revelation
of the fullness of the ordinances of the temple.
Surely it can be said that the revelations received
during this period constitute the strength, power, glory,
and genius of Mormonism.
Truly the spirit of Mormonism is the spirit of Nauvoo.
The City of Nauvoo represents the capstone of the
ministry of the Prophet Joseph Smith.
Doctrine & Covenants 124:3
There have been five times in the history of the
Church that proclamations have been issued by
the First Presidency:
1. 1841
Invited Saints and others to gather to
Nauvoo. It thanked Illinois for letting
them settle there and for the Nauvoo
Charter.
2. 1845
Proclaimed the Restoration to Kings and
Rulers.
3. 1865
New doctrine to be
introduced only by
President of the Church.
4. 1980
Discussed growth of the
Church after 150 years.
5. 1995
The Family! The three “P’s”
and the one “N.”
Doctrine & Covenants 124:7
For they are as grass!
Earthly leaders, (temporary) their power
and glory are transient.
Doctrine & Covenants 124:12
Robert B. Thompson:
Appointed an associate editor of Times
and Seasons in Nauvoo. He died in 1841
at the age of thirty, never able to fulfill
the divine commission.
Doctrine & Covenants 124:15
“Hyrum Smith”
Heber J. Grant said:
“No mortal man who ever lived in this
Church desired more to do good than
did Hyrum Smith, the Patriarch”
(Conference Report, Oct. 1920, 84).
Hyrum Smith was described by his Prophet
brother as having “the mildness of a lamb, and
the integrity of Job, and in short, the meekness
and humility of Christ” (Joseph Smith, History of
the Church, 2:338).
When John Taylor looked upon Hyrum’s slain
body, he reflected, “He was a great and good
man, and my soul was cemented to his. If ever
there was an exemplary, honest, and virtuous
man, an embodiment of all that is noble in the
human form, Hyrum Smith was its representative”
(Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 7:107).
Doctrine & Covenants 124:16
“John C. Bennett”
Served as assistant to the Prophet. He was the first
Mayor of Nauvoo in 1841. In May of 1842 he
apparently intended to do harm to the Prophet during
a mock battle conducted by the Nauvoo Legion.
He was guilty of adultery and of teachings that his illicit
sexual behavior was condoned by church leaders.
He started “spiritual wifery” and told the women he
seduced that Joseph was also living it for it was a
Celestial Law and only a few were chosen to live it.
He was well educated and possessed many accomplishments. He
was a physician, a university professor, and brigadier general. He was
a good man, but fell into adultery.
He was excommunicated and became a bitter enemy to the
Church. He slandered and spread falsehoods about Joseph Smith
and the Church. He was one of the reasons Carthage Jail became a
reality.
He spoke in eleven major cities against Joseph Smith and Mormonism
and wrote a book which did the same.
Joseph Smith told him if he did not repent of his sins and sin no more,
the curse of God Almighty would rest upon him, that he would die a
vagabond without friends. He died August 1867 in Iowa a miserable
pauper with a hard fate.
Doctrine & Covenants 124:20-21
“George Miller”
He was the first Bishop in this dispensation of a regular ward.
At the suggestion of the Prophet Joseph Smith, the city council
divided Nauvoo into four political divisions called wards on
March 1st, 1841 (Smith, History of the Church, 4:305-6).
Consequently, four bishops, Newel K. Whitney, George Miller,
Isaac Higbee, and Vinson Knight (Doctrine & Covenants 124:141),
were assigned to preside over these areas.
On 20 August 1842 the Nauvoo Stake High Council determined,
“that the city of Nauvoo be divided into ten (ecclesiastical)
wards.
Doctrine & Covenants 124:28
“The Patriarchal Order”
It is in the temple we enter into the patriarchal order, the
order of priesthood that bears the name “the new and
everlasting covenant of marriage” (New Witness, 315).
Doctrine & Covenants 124:29
“Baptism for the Dead”
The revelation on baptism for the dead came while the
Twelve were laboring in the British Isles.
Doctrine & Covenants 124:31-35
“Baptismal font dedicated”
Before the Nauvoo temple was completed, the baptismal
font was dedicated by the Prophet Joseph Smith.
The Prophet Joseph Smith said, “If we neglect the
salvation of our dead, we do it at the peril of our own
salvation!”
In the fear that he might be killed before the Nauvoo
Temple was completed, the Prophet was prompted to
administer the ordinances of the temple to the Quorum of
the Twelve and a few other trusted Saints before
construction of the temple was completed.
Doctrine & Covenants 124:28
“Fullness of the Priesthood”
President Joseph Fielding Smith wrote:
Joseph Smith said, “If a man gets a fullness of the
Priesthood of God, he has to get it in the same way that
Jesus Christ obtained it, and that was by keeping all the
commandments and having all the ordinances of the
house of the Lord” (History of the Church, 5:424).
“I hope we understand that if we want to receive the
fullness of the Priesthood of God, then we must receive
the Fullness of the ordinances of the house of the Lord
and keep his commandments.
Doctrine & Covenants 124:29-36
“Baptisms for the Dead!”
First mentioned at Seymour Brunson’s funeral in
1840. Seymour was a High Priest and died at
the age of forty in the home of Joseph Smith
because of an illness.
Doctrine & Covenants 124:36
This has been fulfilled in the building of small
Temples that share the ground, parking lots
with Stake Centers.
Doctrine & Covenants 124:39
“The Endowment”
President Brigham Young instructed the Saints
on the significance of the endowment in the
latter days. He reminded them that the first
elders received only a portion of their
endowments in the Kirtland Temple, terming
them “introductory, or initiatory ordinances,
preparatory to an endowment.”
He then defined the meaning of endowment:
“Your endowment is to receive all those
ordinances in the House of the Lord, which are
necessary for you, after you have departed this
life, to enable you to walk back to the
presence of the Father, passing the angels
who stand as sentinels, being enabled to give
them key words, the signs and tokens,
pertaining to the Holy Priesthood, and gain
your eternal exaltation in spite of earth and hell
(Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 2:31-32).
The Nauvoo Temple
It took all the peoples time and energies for nearly 3 years and
was used less than 6 weeks after its formal dedication.
1. It was the fifth temple contemplated by the early Church and
the second one built.
2. Independence, Far West, and Adam-ondi-ahman were not yet
built.
3. The construction took more than five years (Jan. 1841–May
1846).
4. Section 124 is the revelation in which the commandment to
build the Nauvoo Temple was received.
5. April 6th, 1841, the cornerstones were laid, which included a
Bible with the Apocrypha cut out and pasted in it, because the
Bible being used didn’t have one in it (Reynold Calhoon).
6.
Nov 21, 1841, the first baptisms were performed in it.
7.
Dec. 10, 1845 – Feb. 1846 endowments were given to
5,600 members.
8.
May 1st, 1846, official prayer of dedication was offered by
Orson Hyde.
9.
Oct. 9, 1848, interior of the temple was burned by an
arsonist.
10. May 27, 1850, a tornado demolished three of the
walls.
exterior
11. 1856, the last remaining wall was leveled for safety reasons.
Keep in mind that on May 4th, 1842, Joseph Smith began to
administer the ordinances revealed to him (Washings, Anointing's,
and the Endowment).
Where?
Second floor of the Red Brick Store.
Almon Whiting Babbitt
Doctrine & Covenants 124:84
Born in Massachussets in 1812, died September
1856 in Nebraska while traveling to the Salt Lake
Valley. He was killed by Cheyenne Indians.
It was reported that he “fought like a tiger, fired all
his arms, then clubbed his rifle and fought the
whole twelve savages, disputing every inch.
During his first eight years in the Church, Almon
struggled to comply with Church leadership. In
1835 he was ordained to the First Quorum of
Seventy.
Stake President of Kirtland in 1840.
He graduated as an attorney-at-law from the State University at
Cincinnati and had obtained licenses to practice law in six states.
The day before the martyrdom Patriarch John Smith visited his
nephew Joseph in Carthage Jail and received instructions to “tell
Almon that Joseph wanted him to assist him as an attorney at his
expected trial. He delivered the message to which Almon replied,
“You are too late, I am already engaged on the other side.
Heber C. Kimball said, “My house was sold for seventeen hundred
dollars, intended to be used to help to gather the Saints; but
Almon W. Babbitt put it in his pocket, I suppose.
In 1852 Almon was appointed by the president of the United States
Franklin Pierce as secretary of the territory of Utah.
Samuel Bent
Doctrine & Covenants 124:132
A well-respected member of the Presbyterian and Congregationalist
churches. He was a deacon in the 1830’s of Presbyterian church in Pontiac,
Michigan.
While visiting relatives in Pontiac, Lucy Mack Smith was introduced to
Samuel’s Presbyterian pastor, Mr. Ruggles, who said, “And you are the
mother of that poor, foolish, silly boy, Joe Smith, who pretended to translate
the Book of Mormon.” Her retort to the pastor was faithfully pointed, and
included the statement, “Mark my words --- as true as God lives, before
three years we will have more than one-third of your church; and, sir,
whether you believe it or not, we will take the very deacon, too.” Her
remarks evoked “ a hearty laugh at the expense of the minister.
Within a few months Mormon Elder Jared Carter was
preaching in Pontiac and went immediately into the
midst of Mr. Ruggles’ church. In a short time he brought
away seventy of his best members, among whom was a
deacon named Samuel Bent just as Mother Smith had
told the minister (History of Joseph Smith by His Mother,
Bookcraft, 1954 215-16).
In January 1833 Samuel was baptized and ordained an
elder by Jared Carter.
He attended the School of the Prophets and was present
at the dedication of the Kirtland Temple in Ohio before
joining the Saints in Liberty, Missouri.
He served on the Far West high council and was
imprisoned in Richmond Jail for nearly three weeks.
At the age of 68 Samuel died.
The glory of his death is, that he died
in the full triumphs of faith and
knowledge of the truth of our holy
religion, exhorting his friends to be
faithful; having three days previous
received intimations of his
approaching end by three holy
messengers from on high (LDS
Biographical Encyclopedia 1:368).
Jesse Baker
Doctrine & Covenants 124:137
Born in January of 1778 at Rhode Island. Died in 1846 in
Iowa.
He was a shoemaker and herb doctor. In 1837 he
became an elder. He was called to be a counselor to
John A. Hicks in the elders quorum presidency. He was
ordained a high priest in 1845 and died a faithful member
at the age of 68 in Iowa.
A notable event during his early Church years was his
receiving of a vision with journalist John Pulsipher and
John’s father, Elias.
One pleasant day in March, 1838, while I was at work in
the woods, about one mile from the Temple, with father,
Elias Pulsipher and Jesse Barker, there was a steamboat
past over Kirtland in the air!...When we first heard the
distant noise, we all stopped work….When it got down to
the city it was seen by a number of persons. It was a
large fine and beautiful boat, painted in the finest style.
It was filled with people. All seemed full of joy….As it
arrived over the Temple a part of it broke off and turned
black and went north and was soon out of sight, while
the boat, all in perfect shape, went to the west more
beautiful and pure than before (Autobiography of John
Pulsipher, typescript, 2, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee
Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah).
Doctrine & Covenants 126
Brigham Young was born to teach the gospel.
In 1840 Brigham Young accompanied by Heber C. Kimball, Parley P.
Pratt, Orson Pratt, George A. Smith, and Reuben Hedlock, left New
York for a mission to Great Britain, where he labored with great
success.
Of that missionary experience he said, “through the mercy of God we
gained many friends, established churches in almost every noted
town and city in the Kingdom of Great Britain, baptized between
seven and eight thousand souls, printed 5,000 Books of Mormon, 3,000
Hymn Books, 2,500 volumes of the Millennial Star, and 50,000 tracts”
(Brigham Young, History, 1).
Doctrine & Covenants 126:1
The Lord called Brigham Young to remain in
Nauvoo and direct the work as President of
the Quorum of the Twelve. The wisdom of
such a move was clearly seen in later years
when Brigham Young was chosen by the
Lord to succeed Joseph Smith.
The Prophet Joseph was the leading
inspiration of Brigham Young’s life; spent in
the Prophet’s presence, Brigham Young
once said:
No pain was too severe, no
inconvenience too great to be where
Joseph was and learn of him.
“In the days of the Prophet Joseph, such
moments were more precious to me
than all the wealth of the world. No
matter how great my poverty – if I had to
borrow meal to feed my wife and
children – I never let an opportunity pass
of learning what the Prophet had to
impart” (In Nibley, Brigham Young, 28).
Doctrine & Covenants 126:2-3
President Brigham Young said:
“I came into this Church in the spring of 1832. Previous to
my being baptized I took a mission to Canada at my own
expense; and from the time that I was baptized until the
day of our sorrow and affliction, at the martyrdom of
Joseph and Hyrum, no summer passed over my head but
what I was traveling and preaching, and the only thing I
ever received from the Church, during the twelve years,
and the only means that were ever given me by the
Prophet, that I now recollect was in 1842, when brother
Joseph sent me the half of a small pig that the brethren
had brought to him. I did not ask him for it” (Journal of
Discourses, 4:34).
Doctrine & Covenants 127:1
Falsehood in the blackest dye:
Joseph Smith was a defendant in forty-six lawsuits, and
every time Mr. Priest (a priest or a preacher) was at the
head of it and led the band or mob hunted and
persecuted him. And when Joseph and Hyrum were slain
in Carthage jail, the mob, painted like Indians, was led by
a preacher (Journal of Discourses, 14:199).
“Joseph Smith, in forty-seven prosecutions was never
proven guilty of one violation of the laws of his country.
They accused him of treason, because he would not
fellowship their wickedness” (Brigham Young, Journal of
Discourses, 10:111).
Doctrine & Covenants 128:
Baptisms for the dead
Baptism for the dead was first publicly announced on 15 August
1840 at the funeral of Seymour Brunson.
Immediately after the announcement of the new doctrine,
Church members began performing proxy baptisms in the
Mississippi river and in local streams.
While those administering these vicarious ordinances in 1840 were
not without authority, the actions were not recorded;
consequently the baptisms were later repeated.
On 3 October 1841 Joseph Smith declared, “There shall be no
more baptisms for the dead, until the ordinances can be
attended to in the Lord’s House….For thus saith the Lord.”
Baptisms for the dead in the Nauvoo
Temple were first performed on Sunday,
21 November 1841.
With few exceptions, endowments and
sealings for the dead were first
administered in the St. George, Utah,
Temple.
Doctrine & Covenants 128
Few doctrines show the love of God more than baptisms
for the dead!
Doctrine & Covenants 128:1-2
Nothing that is done in the temple will be accepted of
the Lord, except it is properly witnessed and recorded
(Elder Rudger Clawson, Conference Report, 1900).
Doctrine & Covenants 128:6
The Book of Life is literally the record kept in heaven of
the names and righteous deeds of the faithful (Mormon
Doctrine, 97).
Doctrine & Covenants 128:12
The Lord has placed the baptismal font in our temples
below the foundation, or the surface of the earth. This is
symbolical, since the dead are in their graves, and we
are working for the dead when we are baptized for
them. Moreover, baptism is also symbolical of death
and the resurrection, in fact, is virtually a resurrection
from this life of sin, or from spiritual death, to the life of
spiritual life. Therefore, when the dead have had this
ordinance performed in their behalf they are
considered to have been brought back into the
presence of God, just as this doctrine is applied to the
living” (Church History and Modern Revelation, 2:332).
Doctrine & Covenants 128:14-18
Baptism for the dead helps to prevent the
earth from being smitten with a curse.
As President Joseph Fielding Smith taught,
“If Elijah had not come, we are led to
believe that all the work of past ages would
have been of little avail, for the Lord said
the whole earth, under such conditions,
would be utterly wasted at his coming.
Why Would the Earth Be Wasted?
Simply because if there is not a welding
link between the fathers and the children
which is the work for the dead – then we
will all stand rejected; the whole work of
God will fail and be utterly wasted. Such
a condition, of course, shall not be”
(Doctrines of Salvation, 2:121-22).
Doctrine & Covenants 128:15
“Salvation is a community affair”
Salvation is a community affair, and the covenant of
salvation is made with the community of Saints rather
than with people individually.
Would those men who laid the foundation of this
American Government and signed the Declaration of
Independence have called upon me, as an Elder in
Israel, to perform that work if they had not been noble
spirits before God? They would not. I bear testimony
because it is true. The spirit of God bore record to myself
and the brethren while we were laboring in that way to
do temple work (Temples of the Most High, 82).
To President Woodruff they said, “You
have had the use of the Endowment
House for a number of years and yet
nothing has ever been done for us.
We laid the foundation of the
government you now enjoy, and we
never apostatized from it, but we
remained true to it and were faithful to
God” (Journal of Discourses, 19:229).
Elder George F. Richards taught: “The
ordinances of the Gospel have virtue in
them by reason of the atoning blood of
Jesus Christ, and without it there would be
no virtue in them for salvation” (In Madsen,
“Temple and Atonement,” 72).
Accordingly, if we want to better
understand a saving ordinance and its
symbolism, we might appropriately ask,
“How does this ordinance relate to the
Atonement of Jesus Christ? (Tad R. Callister,
The Infinite Atonement, 279).
Doctrine & Covenants 128:20
“No formal account exists of the restoration of
the Melchizedek Priesthood”
We have two reminiscences that bear
examination.
Addison Everett in a letter to Oliver B.
Huntington written in 1881 states as follows:
“I heard the following conversation between
Joseph & Hyrum a few days before they were
martyred..
“…Oliver Cowdery was spoken of and Joseph went on to state that
‘at Colesville he and Oliver were under arrest on charge of deceiving
the people and in court he stated that the first miracle done was to
create this earth.’ About that time his attorney told the court that he
wanted to see Mr. Smith alone for a few moments. When alone Mr.
Reid said that there was a mob in front of the house and hoisting the
window, Joseph and Oliver went to the woods in a few rods, it being
night, and they traveled until Oliver was exhausted and Joseph
almost carried him through the mud and water. They traveled all
night and just at the break of day Oliver gave out entirely and
exclaimed, “O! Lord! How long Brother Joseph have we got to
endure this thing,”
“Brother Joseph said that at that very time Peter, James and John
came to them and ordained them to the apostleship.
“They had 16 or 17 miles to travel to get back to Mr. Hales
his father in law, and Oliver did not complain anymore of
fatigue” (Porter, “Priesthood Restored”, 403).
Elements of this account can be accepted but only with
some reservation.
John Reid was involved in Joseph Smith’s June-July 1830
trial, which took place a year later than Brother Everett is
remembering it. In relation to the fleeing from enemies,
however, Erastus Snow gave a similar account in an
address given at conference held in Logan, Utah, in 1882:
“In due course of time, as we read in the history
which he (Joseph) has left, Peter, James and
John appeared to him – it was a period when
they were being pursued by their enemies and
they had to travel all night, and in the dawn of
the coming day when they were weary and
worn, who should appear to them but Peter,
James and John, for the purpose of conferring
upon them the Apostleship, they keys of which
they themselves had held while upon the earth,
which had been bestowed upon them by the
Savior. This Priesthood conferred upon them by
those three messengers embraces within it all
offices of the Priesthood from the highest to the
lowest” (Journal of Discourses, 23:183).
Doctrine & Covenants 128:21
“Gabriel, and of Raphael”
The Prophet learned by revelation that Gabriel was Noah (Teachings,
157).
Raphael may have been Enoch.
This conclusion is deduced by listing the six major gospel dispensations
prior to our own – Adam’s, Enoch’s, Noah’s, Abraham’s, Moses’, and
the meridian of time, and then noting that we can identify someone
coming to restore keys from each of them except Enoch’s. Since we
have both a name and a dispensation unaccounted for, the answer
may be found in putting the two together.
Doctrine & Covenants 128:22
So great a cause?
Never has a people had to opportunity to do so much for so many as do the
L.D.S., however, if they fail in the effort they do so at the peril of their own
salvation. (Joseph Smith, Teachings, 193).
Every Latter-day Saint should feel the urgency of the work and wear out his
life in this selfless service.
The greatest service we will ever render will be doing temple work.