Class 5 – Sections 83, 85, 92, and 104
The Lord’s Social Order
Sect. 82
• Given in Jackson County
• Joseph Smith ordained to the Presidency of the High
Priesthood.
• On the “Order of Enoch”
What was the High Priesthood?
1- The office of High Priest?
2- The Melchizedek Priesthood?
The term “Priesthood” first used in June 1831 when the “High
Priesthood” was first conferred.
Some Teachings from Sect. 82
• v. 3 For of him unto whom much is given much is
required; and he who sins against the greater light
shall receive the greater condemnation.
Some Teachings from Sect. 82
• v. 4 Ye call upon my name for revelations, and I give them
unto you; and inasmuch as ye keep not my sayings, which I
give unto you, ye become transgressors.
• v. 10 I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when
ye do not what I say, ye have no promise.
Some Teachings from Sect. 82
• v. 22 Make unto yourselves friends with the mammon of
unrighteousness, and they will not destroy you.
Some Teachings from Sect. 82
• Church leaders to be bound in the this covenant (Law of
Consecration) to administer to the poor and coordinate the
storehouses in Zion and Kirtland.
• v 17 And you are to be equal, or in other words, you are to
have equal claims on the properties, … every man according
to his wants and his needs, inasmuch as his wants are just.
Some Teachings from Sect. 82
v 18-19 And all this for the benefit of the church of the living
God, that every man may improve upon his talent, that every
man may gain other talents, yea, even an hundred fold, to be
cast into the Lord’s storehouse, to become the common
property of the whole church — Every man seeking the
interest of his neighbor, and doing all things with an eye single
to the glory of God.
Times and Places
• Section 83:
April 1832 – Independence
• Section 85: November 1832 – Kirtland (letter to W.W. Phelps)
• Section 92: March 1833 – Kirtland
• Section 104: April 1834 – Kirtland (Zion’s Camp left May 1834)
What if we need financial assistance from the
Church today?
• What can the Church pay for?
• Whom do we see?
• “Order of reliance” – who’s responsible first?
Women and Children
Women have claim on their husbands for their
maintenance…. All children have claim upon their parents for
their maintenance until they are of age. And after that, they
have claim upon the church, or in other words upon the Lord’s
storehouse, if their parents have not wherewith to give them
inheritances. -- D&C 83:2,4-5
A Warning about Section 85!
• Letter of instruction to W. W. Phelps.
• Some of this material pertains to specific individuals and
circumstances.
Consecration and Tithing
It is contrary to the will and commandment of God that those
who receive not their inheritance by consecration, agreeable
to his law, which he has given, that he may tithe his people, to
prepare them against the day of vengeance and burning,
should have their names enrolled with the people of God.
-- D&C 85:3
Genealogy
•Neither is their genealogy to be kept, or to be had where it
may be found on any of the records or history of the church.
-- D&C 85:4
Still, Small Voice
• v. 6 Yea, thus saith the still small voice, which whispereth
through and pierceth all things, and often times it maketh my
bones to quake while it maketh manifest, saying:
One Mighty and Strong
• v. 7 And it shall come to pass that I, the Lord God, will send
one mighty and strong… to set in order the house of God, and
to arrange by lot the inheritances of the saints whose names
are found, and the names of their fathers, and of their
children, enrolled in the book of the law of God.
Steady the Ark
• v. 8 While that man, who was called of God and appointed,
that putteth forth his hand to steady the ark of God, shall fall
by the shaft of death, like as a tree that is smitten by the vivid
shaft of lightning.
Lively Member…
• v. 8 …you shall be a lively member in this order …
• What is appropriate enthusiasm?
Section 104
• Economic situation in Kirtland becoming difficult.
• People moving in without resources. Debt for building
increasing.
• Saints lost property in Missouri.
• United Order in Kirtland and Missouri decoupled.
Does it matter if we don’t keep covenants?
• Therefore, inasmuch as some of my servants have not kept
the commandment, but have broken the covenant through
covetousness, and with feigned words, I have cursed them
with a very sore and grievous curse.
-- D&C 104:4
What are our stewardships?
• v. 13 For it is expedient that I, the Lord, should make every
man accountable, as a steward over earthly blessings, which I
have made and prepared for my creatures.
The Lord can and will provide...
v. 14-16 I, the Lord, stretched out the heavens, and built the
earth, my very handiwork; and all things therein are mine. And
it is my purpose to provide for my saints, for all things are
mine. But it must needs be done in mine own way…
The Lord’s Way…
v. 16-17 … and behold this is the way that I, the Lord, have
decreed to provide for my saints, that the poor shall be
exalted, in that the rich are made low. For the earth is full, and
there is enough and to spare.
Common Consent
v. 70-71 And let not any among you say that it is his own; for
it shall not be called his, nor any part of it. And there shall not
any part of it be used, or taken out of the treasury, only by the
voice and common consent of the order.
Debts
v. 78 And again, verily I say unto you, concerning your debts—behold it is
my will that you shall pay all your debts.
v. 80 And inasmuch as you are diligent and humble, and exercise the
prayer of faith, behold, I will soften the hearts of those to whom you are in
debt, until I shall send means unto you for your deliverance.
v. 83 I give unto you a promise, that you shall be delivered this once out of
your bondage.