Doctrine & Covenants 133-136
Doctrine & Covenants 133:4
The time will come when no man nor
woman will be able to endure on
borrowed light, each will have to be
guided by the light within his self (Heber
C. Kimball, Conference Report 1956).
Doctrine & Covenants 133:6
“Solemn Assemblies”
In ancient Israel, as part of the Mosaic
worship, frequent solemn assemblies were
held. They were held in connection with
their sacrifices and feasts.
In modern Israel solemn assemblies have
been called in temples from time to time
as the Lord has revealed or as his Spirit has
indicated.
Doctrine & Covenants 133:7-16
The best measure of how close we are to the day of the
Savior’s return is the extent to which the gospel has been
declared among the nations of the earth.
Doctrine & Covenants 133:18
“Calling and Election Made Sure”
The four angels who are given power over the earth are kept
from sending forth desolations upon the earth until God’s
servants are sealed in their foreheads. The Prophet Joseph
Smith taught that this sealing “signifies sealing the blessings
upon their heads, meaning the everlasting covenant, thereby
making their calling and election sure” (Teachings, 321).
Doctrine & Covenants 133:26
“The Lost Ten Tribes”
1. A host of scriptural passages attest that the tribes of
Israel have been scattered among all the nations of
the earth.
2. Why would God send Moses to Joseph Smith to give
him the keys by which Israel was to be gathered if
some other prophets had already accomplished the
task?
3. Why would John the Baptist, and then Peter, James
and John restore priesthood to Joseph Smith and
Oliver Cowdery if that priesthood and its keys were
already on the earth.
4. What of the statements the Lord made to Joseph Smith stating that he
stood at the head of “the only true and living church upon the face of the
whole earth” (Doctrine & Covenants 1:30). If priesthood, prophets, and
covenants were already to be found upon the earth what truth can be
found in such a statement?
5. If we are to accept the standard established in the revelations of the
Restoration, we must maintain that none have the right to act in the name
of the Lord (and surely that would include leading the tribes of Israel) save
they have been “ordained by some one who has authority, and it is known
to the church that he has the authority and has been regularly ordained by
the heads of the church” (Doctrine & Covenants 42:11). The Doctrine and
Covenants accepts none as prophets save those who have been called,
ordained, and received the sustaining vote of the Church. The Lord’s
house is and always has been a house of order.
It is not wholly harmonious with the revelations and all we know about the
Lord’s system of governing his people to suppose that the prophets called
to lead the tribes of Israel back to the lands of their inheritance will be
elders of Israel who trace their priesthood to Joseph Smith and Oliver
Cowdery and through them to Peter, James, and John.
They are not held for the whole world or before
the world, but are for those who have sanctified
and purified themselves before the Lord
Dedicatory services for temples have always
been solemn assemblies.
Doctrine & Covenants 77:11, 128:21
Doctrine & Covenants 133:48
“The Lord Shall Be Red in His Apparel”
Red symbolizes the ripeness of grapes. The
Savior will deal with the wicked’s ripeness in sin
(Revelation 19:13).
Having bled at every pore, how red His
raiment must have been in
Gethsemane, how crimson that cloak!
No wonder, when Christ comes in
power and glory, that He will come in
reminding red attire, not only signifying
the winepress of wrath but also to bring
to our remembrance how He suffered
for each of us in Gethsemane and on
Calvary! (Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, May
1987, 72).
Doctrine & Covenants 133:58
“The Little One Becomes a Strong Nation”
The “little one” is the Church. Early in the Kirtland period of
Church History, Wilford Woodruff attended a meeting in a log
cabin above the Morley farm. Of that occasion he recalled the
following:
On Sunday night the Prophet called on all who held the
Priesthood to gather into the little log school house they had
there. It was a small house, perhaps 14 feet square. But it held
the whole Priesthood of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints who were then in the town of Kirtland… When we got
together… the Prophet said, ‘Brethren I have been very much
edified and instructed in your testimonies here tonight. But I want
to say to your before the Lord, that you know no more concerning
the destinies of this Church and kingdom than a babe upon its
mother’s lap. You don’t comprehend it.’ I was rather surprised.
He said, ‘It is only a little handful of Priesthood you see here
tonight, but this Church will fill North and South America --- it will fill
the world’” (Conference Report, April 1898, 57).
Doctrine & Covenants 133:64
“It Shall Leave Them Neither Root or Branch”
The wicked and indifferent persons who reject the gospel will have no family
inheritances or patriarchal lineage. No ancestors or children.
Doctrine & Covenants 133:73
“Outer Darkness”
Hell is literally a place of outer darkness, darkness that hates light, buries truth,
and revels in iniquity (McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 551-52).
Doctrine & Covenants 134
“Earthly Government and Law”
Even an evil government is better than none!
When every man has the power to enforce his own
is the worst!
Doctrine & Covenants 134:9-11
Because Joseph Smith felt so strongly about the government’s duty to
protect the individual’s rights and because the American government had
failed to protect the Saints in Missouri from the mobs, Joseph Smith decided
to run for the office of president of the United States in 1844. He felt none of
the candidates running for president would represent the cause of the
Saints fairly and guarantee them their constitutional rights.
On April 9th 1844, during the General Conference of the Church, Joseph
Smith’s campaign for the presidency was launched. “A series of thirtyseven conferences was scheduled to be conducted throughout the nation
by the Twelve with the final conference held at Washington D.C. from
September 7th through the 15th (Ivan J. Barrett, Joseph and the Restoration:
A History of the Church to 1846, 577)
On 6 May 1844 a vice-presidential nominee for the Saints’ political party
called the Reformed party, was selected. The nominee, though not their
first choice was Sidney Rigdon, who was then living in Pennsylvania.
The Presidential Campaign of 1844
The following are some of the men who ran for President
of the United States in 1844:
Martin Van Buren (had been defeated twice)
Henry Clay
John C. Calhoun
Lewis Cass
Richard Johnson
Joseph Smith
James K. Polk (A late comer who won the election)
Prior to running for President of the United States, the
Prophet wrote to the men running and asked them what
their intentions were toward the Latter-day Saints.
He received replies from Clay, Calhoun and Cass.
(Polk entered the race later, so he did not have a
chance to respond).
Clay and Calhoun’s responses were so offensive that it
gave rise to the following comments Joseph Smith made
about the two men.
He said that they were wish-washy politicians and that
their doctrine was that which fed mobs.
In Wilford Woodruff’s journal he stated that as early as
December 1843, Joseph Smith was determined to run for
President.
It was not announced to the people until January of 1844.
They tried to get James A. Bennett from New York to be
Joseph’s running mate for V.P. but he declined.
Sidney Rigdon was eventually recruited.
(Paul went to Rome to appeal before Caesar to legitimize
Christianity).
Perhaps Joseph was running for President of the United
States to legitimize Mormonism.
Joseph’s Political Platform
February 1844
Joseph’s political platform was completed with the help
of William W. Phelps and John Bernheisel (a family
physician who had political inclinations). Both were gifted
men. Joseph had the platform in mind, but William W.
Phelps was most likely the one who wrote it.
1.
Congressional Reform:
Reduce the Congress by
two-thirds.
2.
Lower salaries for those in Congress:
They should be public servants and therefore only the
best would seek the position.
3. Prison Reform:
Prisoners should work to pay their debt to
society.
Prisons should be turned into seminaries to
teach inmates a better way of life.
He thought only murderers and rapists
should receive the harshest treatment.
Joseph proposed that murderers should
be put to death.
4. Military:
It should be based on honor
and moral responsibility.
Joseph did not believe in a
court marshal, but if a man
were to betray the trust of his
country he believed that man
should never be allowed to
hold a public office.
5. Slavery:
Legislatures should be petitioned to abolish slavery by
the year 1850.
It would be taken care of by the sale of public lands to
pay the owners of the slaves a just compensation for
allowing them to go free. Many people were upset
with this claiming that it would cost millions of dollars.
The Civil War alone would cost 10 times that amount
and they still lost their slaves.
Joseph was opposed to slavery.
6. State rights:
He opposed State rights for obvious reasons.
He said that it was the doctrine that fed mobs.
He was in favor of a strong central government that
administered fairly the laws and that the state was not
supreme (Remember that Missouri could do just about
anything it wanted to).
7. He advocated a strong National Security:
More economy and less taxation. Joseph advocated a
federal banking system and a judicious tariff to protect
U.S. interests abroad.
8. Joseph was an expansionist:
He said that Oregon, California,
Mexico and Canada should all be
invited to join with the United
States.
A lot of missionaries were called to advocate the policy
on government espoused by Joseph Smith as well as to
preach the gospel.
The Twelve were sent out for the same reasons.
Bruce R. McConkie told his son Joseph McConkie that he
felt the reason the Twelve were sent out was that Joseph
knew he was going to die and did not want any harm to
come to them.
Richard L. Bushman called Joseph a “Pro-test Candidate.”
Why?
Because Joseph was not impressed with those who were
running and what they would do for the Saints.
Doctrine & Covenants 134:12
“We do not believe it right to interfere with bond servants”
This verse was intended to appease slave holders and avoid
placing the Saints in the crossfire between the Southern and
Northern states over the issue of slavery, though there was very little
sympathy in the Church for the same. The Church had enjoyed
some missionary success in the Southern states, particularly,
Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky, and it was feared that if they
came out against slavery it would invoke persecution similar to that
which they had experienced in Jackson County. “For you will see,”
wrote one Mormon, “that if madam rumor, with her thousand
poisoned tongues, was once set afloat the story that this society
had come out in favor of the doctrines and abolitionism, there
would be no safety for one of us in the South” (Messenger and
Advocate, 2:313).
The Prophet Joseph Smith sensed the
precariousness of the situation and took
measures to avoid trouble; he and other
Church leaders during the spring of 1836
used the Messenger and Advocate to
voice disapproval of the abolition
movement. “I do not believe that the
people of the North have any more right to
say that the South shall not hold slaves,
than the South have to say the North shall,”
he wrote (Messenger and Advocate,
2:289), though he taught that the slave
master must treat him slaves “with kindness
before God.”
In the spring of 1844, in order to give the Saints a
candidate for whom they could vote in good
conscience, the Prophet announced his candidacy for
the presidency of the United States. In so doing he also
announced a most enlightened platform which included
a provision for Congress to pay slave holders a
reasonable price for their slaves with money obtained
from the sale of public lands, and from deduction of pay
from the members of Congress. The idea, which was
ignored, received wide public acclaim eleven years
later when it was proposed by Ralph Waldo Emerson.
The Prophet continued, “The southern people are
hospitable and noble. They will help to rid so free a
country of every vestige of slavery whenever they are
assured of an equivalent for their property” (Smith,
History of the Church, 6:207).
Doctrine & Covenants 135
The Law of Witnesses was fulfilled!
Two died and two lived to tell the story.
If not, the only record we would have would be those who
killed him.
Thursday, June 27, 1844. Joseph was 38 and Hyrum 44.
On at least 19 different occasions, beginning in 1829,
Joseph told the Saints that he would probably not leave
this life peacefully (History of the Church 4:587, 604; 6:558).
President Hinckley said in General
Conference that Joseph Smith the
Prophet has given to our present
world more holy scripture than any
other single prophet. The total
amount of pages in the Book of
Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants,
Pearl of Great Price and the Joseph
Smith Translation almost rival the
amount of pages found in the Old
Testament (Conference Report, 1977).
Doctrine & Covenants 135:1
J. Fielding Smith said that it was needful that these martyrs seal
their testimony with there blood, that they might be honored
and the wicked condemned.
The Lord revealed to Brigham Young that it was needful that he
should seal his testimony with his blood, that he might be
honored and the wicked might be condemned (Doctrine and
Covenants 136:39).
At the funeral of Elder Richard L. Evans, President Joseph
Fielding Smith, an Apostle said, “no righteous man is taken
before his time (Ensign, Dec. 1971, 10).
Willard Richards said the exact time was 5:16 and 26 seconds
(Willard Richards, in Glen M. Leonard, Nauvoo: A Place of
Peace, a People of Promise (2002), 398).
Doctrine & Covenants 135:2
This fulfilled a prophecy which Joseph
Smith gave Willard Richards a year
previous. Balls would fly like hail and
he should see his friends fall on the left
and right, but should not be a hole in
his garment. A ball did graze the tip
of his left ear (History of the Church,
6:619).
The Night Before the Martyrdom:
That night Willard Richards, John Taylor, and Dan Jones
remained with Joseph and Hyrum in jail. They prayed
together and read from the Book of Mormon, Joseph
bore his testimony to the guards. Much later, Joseph
was lying on the floor next to the riverboat captain Dan
Jones. “Joseph whispered to Dan Jones, ‘are you afraid
to die?” Dan said, ‘Has that time come, think you?
Engaged in such a cause I do not think that death
would have many terrors.’ Joseph replied, ‘You will yet
see Wales (Jones native land), and fulfill the mission
appointed you before you die.’” Elder Jones later
fulfilled the prophecy, serving a great mission in Wales
(History of the Church, 6:601).
Josiah Quincy, a prominent New England citizen who
later became the mayor of Boston, visited Joseph Smith
two months before the Martyrdom. Many years later he
wrote about the people who had most impressed him
during his life. Regarding Joseph Smith, he wrote, “It is by
no means improbable that some future text-book, for
the use of generations yet unborn, will contain a
question something like this: What historical American of
the nineteenth century has exerted the most powerful
influence upon the destinies of his countrymen? And it is
by no means impossible that the answer to that
interrogatory may be thus written Joseph Smith, the
Mormon prophet” (Josiah Quincy, Figures of the Past
from the leaves of Old Journals, 5th ed. Boston: Roberts
Brothers, 1883, 376).
Doctrine & Covenants 135:3
Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the
Lord, had done more, save Jesus only, for
the salvation of men in this world, than any
other man that ever lived in it.
None have been privileged to do a labor
that would have a greater effect on more
of our Father’s children than Joseph Smith.
Doctrine & Covenants 135:5
“Testators”
The “testators” are now dead,” and their
testament is in force.
What is a “testator?”
A witness or witnesses who have left us something
valuable!
Doctrine & Covenants 135:6
The martyrdom of Joseph and
Hyrum Smith cost the best
blood of the nineteenth
century to bring them forth for
the salvation of a ruined world.
Reaction of Others Not There!
Louisa Barnes Pratt (wife of Addison Pratt) said
that at the time of the martyrdom, dogs barked,
cows bellowed, and a depressed gloomy spirit set
around. Women began to cry.
It wasn’t until hours later that they heard the
Prophet had been killed.
Louisa said that no one had ever heard anything
like it in Nauvoo before.
Wilford Woodruff said the following about the day of the
martyrdom.
He wrote,
“Brigham Young and myself were at the railroad station at
the time Joseph and Hyrum were assassinated and this
was June the 27th at a quarter past five in the evening. It
was half past six in Boston as we sat in the station. As we
sat in the station Brigham was very sorrowful and
depressed in Spirit not knowing the cause.
Brigham said,
“This was the time that Satan had struck the heaviest blow
since the Son of God was crucified.”
We came to know afterward that all of the Twelve,
wherever they were on that day, felt like the President of
the Quorum, sorrowful and burdened in Spirit without
knowing why.
George Albert Smith said that at the time of the
martyrdom he heard a voice which said, “Joseph
is dead aint you glad!”
George A. Smith was offended but knew that it
was true.
Parley P. Pratt told some of the brethren he was
with, “This is a sorrowful day. The horrors of hell
have been turned loose, let us not say anything.”
He didn’t know why, but he told his companions
that this day we do not teach the Gospel nor do
we say anything because of the horrors of hell
have been let loose.
Praise
Whether in the work place, around the fireplace, or in
community service --- we can all do something else which is
simple but powerful. Isaiah spoke of providing the
“garment of praise.” (Isaiah 61:3.) Of course, there are
times in rendering humanitarian service when we need to
give an actual, physical cloak, but, most often, those with
whom most of us work need material clothing less than the
“garment of praise” (Neal A. Maxwell, “Successful
Leadership in Organizations, Communities and Families”).
Those who have breathless bread may still shiver for
recognition and yearn for the succor of deserved
commendation (Neal A. Maxwell, “King Benjamin’s Sermon:
A Manual for Discipleship”).
Ezra T. Benson
Doctrine & Covenants 136:12
Ezra and his wife were baptized on Sunday, 19 July 1840 in
the Mississippi River.
At the Sugar Creek encampment Ezra murmured to
Brigham Young that his team was so weak he could not
proceed further with the heavily laden wagon. Brigham
gladly relieved Ezra of six hundred pounds of wheat and
other food, leaving him with only fifty pounds of flour and a
half a bushel of meal. “After that, when others complained
about their wagons sinking in mud to their axles, Ezra would
respond, ‘Go to Brother Brigham and he will lighten your
load (Sheri Dew, Ezra Taft Benson: A Biography, 1987, 3).
At thirty five years old Ezra was called to be an Apostle. He was
ordained by President Young and blessed that he should have the
strength of Samson.
He journeyed to the Salt Lake Valley in the vanguard company and is
credited with speaking at the first Sacrament Meeting there.
While attempting to care for a sick horse after a long ride from Logan to
Ogden in September 1869, fifty eight year old Ezra fell dead. It was
reported that “overwork and the burden of worry had weakened his
heart.
Four thousand attended his funeral, including all members of the
Twelve and three hundred Indian braves.
His testimony lives on these words: “I testify that Joseph Smith was a
Prophet of the Most High…My testimony is: that ‘Mormonism’ is the
kingdom of God” (Forace Green, comp., Testimonies of our Leaders,
Bookcraft, 1958, 123).
Doctrine & Covenants 136:31
“The Need to Be Chastised”
As Ben Franklin once said: “Those things that hurt,
instruct. It is for this reason that wise people learn
not to dread but welcome problems.”
Why did Joseph and Hyrum have to seal their
lives with their own blood?
Doctrine & Covenants 136:39
It was needful that he should seal his testimony
with his blood, that he might be honored and the
wicked might be condemned.
Doctrine & Covenants 136
Organization of the Camp of Zion:
Therefore, though we have rightly applauded our
ancestors for their spiritual achievements (and do not and
must not discount them now), those of us who prevail
today will have done no small thing. The special spirits
who have been reserved to live in this time of challenges
and who overcome, will one day be praised for their
stamina by those who pulled handcarts (Neal A. Maxwell,
Notwithstanding My Weakness, 18).
If we are faithful the day will come
when those deserving pioneers and
ancestors, whom we rightly praise for
having overcome the adversities in
their wilderness trek, will praise today’s
faithful for having made their way
successfully through a desert of
despair and for having passed
through a cultural wilderness, while
still keeping the faith (Neal A.
Maxwell, If Thou Endure It Well, 28).
Splinter Groups
There have been over 240 “Splinter Groups” from our
Church.
Sidney Rigdon:
Sidney Rigdon held secret meetings with disgruntled
members of the Church, to be its “guardian,” for to that
position he had been called of God. He said he held
keys of authority higher than any conferred upon the
Prophet Joseph: “the Keys of David.”
He was excommunicated after
refusing to change his ways. He
returned to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
where he organized a church similar
to the one organized by the Prophet
Joseph Smith. This organization soon
disbanded. Sidney, the man who with
the Prophet Joseph saw the vision of
the three degrees of glory, died a
lonely man, in Allegheny County, New
York, in 1876.
William Smith:
William Smith was excommunicated in October 1845.
He associated himself with James J. Strang for many
years, but became disaffected and left prior to
Strang’s death. Then, in 1850 he started another
movement in which he set himself up as “President pro
tem” of the Church, with two counselors. He claimed
that the presidency of the Church should go from
father to son, and since Joseph Smith III (the Prophet’s
oldest son) was too young at the time to take over the
leadership of the Church, he, William Smith, should be
a sort of guardian in the meantime. This movement
survived hardly a year.
Grandville Hedrick:
Grandville Hedrick followed several different factions
after the Prophet’s death, but he did not remain with
any of them. Almost twenty years after the martyrdom,
in about 1863, Hedrick organized what he called the
Church of Christ.
He claimed that Joseph Smith was a fallen prophet. He
then told his followers to gather to Jackson County,
Missouri, to prepare for “judgments” which would
destroy the nation in 1878 (these judgments never
came). The Hedrikites, as they are sometimes called,
purchased plots of ground which were part of the
temple lot laid out in Independence by the Prophet
Joseph.
They still own part of that temple site today
and call themselves the Church of Christ,
Temple Lot. They have about three
thousand members throughout the world.
They claimed revelation instructing them to
build a temple, but lack of funds has
forced them to abandon that project
temporarily. They are now hoping that
some other organization will come along
and provide them help in building a
temple.
James Strang:
James J. Strang refused to follow the prophet Brigham
Young. Instead, he claimed to have a letter from
Joseph Smith appointing him to lead the Church after
Joseph’ death. Many of the members of the Church
who refused to follow Brigham Young believed Strang’s
claim. For instance, William Smith, Joseph’s brother, and
John C. Bennett and John E. Page followed Strang for a
while. The group established themselves on Beaver
Island in upper Lake Michigan, where Strang eventually
had himself crowned King of Beaver Island. He was
killed in 1856 during an uprising, and most of his followers
disbanded. There are about three hundred members
today.
The Community of Christ: (formerly the Re-organized
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). They
changed their name on April 6th, 2001.
The biggest of all the splinter groups which broke away
from the Church after the death of Joseph and Hyrum is
the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints, with headquarters in Independence, Missouri. This
church was not organized until 6 April 1860 when Joseph
Smith III finally consented to be sustained as president.
Today they have about 220,000 members and are
remaining somewhat static, if not declining in
membership. As early as 1856, Joseph Smith III had been
urged to take over as president, but he did not do so until
1860.
Upon his acceptance of the office of
president of the church, Joseph Smith
III was ordained by four men, one
being William Marks, who had been
excommunicated in 1844 because
he supported Sidney Rigdon’s claims
of having authority to lead the
Church. The Reorganized Church
has become rather protestant in
doctrine. They do not believe in
temple marriage or endowments.
When a president of the Reorganized Church dies or
leaves office, the next president is chosen by a system of
delegates from congregations throughout the world who
vote as if in a political convention. Members of the
church have the right to vote on whether or not the
president is inspired when he claims to have a revelation.
Men are not called to the priesthood; rather, they are
recommended for it by any member who may feel
inspired to do so. Patriarchal blessings are not given.