Doctrine and Covenants 121 Liberty Jail: The Temple Prison Why? In spite of inhumane surroundings,...

Doctrine and Covenants 121

Liberty Jail: The Temple Prison

Why?

In spite of inhumane surroundings, the prophet received sections 121-123.

Why were they in jail?

On 31 October 1838, Joseph Smith and other Church leaders left the city of Far West to meet with General Samuel Lucas to arrange a cease-fire, or truce, but they were betrayed and arrested. Eventually, Joseph Smith and five others were imprisoned in Liberty Jail where they would stay for months without proper food, sanitary facilities, heat, exercise, or medical attention.

Who was in the Liberty Jail with Joseph?

1.Alexander McRae2.Sidney Rigdon3.Hyrum Smith4.Lyman Wight5.Caleb Baldwin

How long were they in jail?

From December 1st to April 6th (127 days) 1838-39

Remember, the extermination order was given on October 27th, 1838 by Governor Boggs.

This is what I call a “Righteous Time-Out.”

Doctrine and Covenants 121:7-10

D&C 58:2-4 & Alma 36:3

Brigham Young said that the prophet progressed toward perfection more in thirty-eight years because of severe tribulation which he successfully passed than had he lived 1,000 years without it (JD, 2:7).

I remember as a young schoolteacher (with a large active class) asking my wife, Debi, “When does life even out? Why does it always feel like a roller coaster with so many highs and lows all in the same day? I wish life would just level out.”

Being a nurse, Debi replied, “Brad, when you get hooked up to the heart monitor, you don’t want to see a straight line. That’s bad news. It’s the up and down lines that let you know you are alive” (Brad Wilcox, The Continuous Atonement, 188).

The highs and lows let us know we are participating and not just observing, learning and not just existing. President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “I know it isn’t easy. It’s discouraging at times, sure. Aren’t you glad it isn’t just fun all the time? Those valleys and discouragement make more beautiful the peaks of achievement: (Discourses, 1:301).

Real hope is much more than wishful musing. It stiffens, not slackens, the spiritual spine. It is composed, not giddy, eager, without being naïve, and pleasantly steady without being smug. Hope is realistic anticipation taking the form of determination --- a determination not merely to survive but to “endure…well” to the end (Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, November 1994, 35).


Elder Heber J. Grant said:

“Our enemies have never done anything that has injured this work of God, and they never will. I look around, I read, I reflect, and I ask the question, Where are the men of influence, of power and prestige, who have worked against the Latter-day Saints? Where is the reputation, for honor and courage, of the governors of Missouri and Illinois, the judges, and all others who have come here to Utah on special missions against the Latter-day Saints? Where are there people to do them honor? They cannot be found… Where are the men who have assailed this work? Where is their influence? They have faded away like dew before the sun. We need no fears, we Latter-day Saints. God will continue to sustain this work; he will sustain the right. If we are loyal, if we are true, if we are worthy of this Gospel, of which God has given us a testimony, there is no danger that the world can ever injure us. We can never be injured by any mortals, except ourselves. (C.R., April, 1900, 110).


“Those who speak out against leaders”

“I want to bear you my testimony that the experience I have had has taught me that those who criticize the leaders of this Church are showing signs of a spiritual sickness which, unless curbed, will bring about eventually spiritual death. I want to bear my testimony as well that those who in public seek by their criticism, to belittle our leaders or bring them into disrepute, will bring upon themselves more hurt than upon those whom they seek thus to malign. I have watched over the years, and I have read of the history of many of those who fell away from this Church, and I want to bear testimony that no apostate who ever left this Church ever prospered as an influence in his community thereafter” (C.R., Oct. 1947, 67).

Both Thomas B. Marsh and Orson Hyde went to Richmond and said horrible things about Joseph. They also signed an affidavit against the Church and Joseph that brought great harm to the members.


Men who will not hearken unto the Lord and commit sin will justly reap he consequences of their own iniquity, and will naturally to their children to the 3rd and 4th generations (C.R., Oct. 1912, 9).


Many called and few are chosen? Why?

1. Their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world.

2. They aspire to the honors of men.

The designation “chosen,” of course, is not status; it confers great responsibilities upon those chosen to reach their fellowmen. God gives the picks and shovels to the “chosen” because they are willing to go to work and get callouses on their hands. They may not be the best or most capable, but they are the most available (Neal A. Maxwell, Deposition of a Disciple, 54).

It makes sense to me that the Lord would choose out of the world those who are (or who could become) different from the world and, therefore, could lead the world to a different outcome. We must be different in order to make a difference (Neal A. Maxwell, Deposition of a Disciple, 55).

Since the plan of salvation is aimed at our individual spiritual development, it is well for us to take account of life’s high-risk situations. One tremendous risk is possessing power, though this is a circumstance for which many crave. There is currently much fascination with empowerment but very little interest in the everlasting significance of the attribute of meekness, which was so perfectly embodied in the character of Jesus, our great Exemplar (Neal A. Maxwell, Lord, Increase Our Faith, 45).

Sometimes brothers and sisters, we do too much comparing and too little following. Sometimes also a few resent God’s having chosen someone else; perceiving themselves as passed over, they then go under spiritually (Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, November 1988, 32).


“Friends become traitors”

The three witnesses to the Book of Mormon, the presidency of the Church in Missouri, and six members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles had lost their rights to and the authority of the priesthood. Foremost among those who betrayed the Saints was Thomas B. Marsh, former president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Doctrine and Covenants 121:43“Chastening”

Those who cherish truth know that chastening may be a manifestation of love (D&C 95:1). “A frank and open rebuke provoketh a good man to emulation,” the Prophet Joseph Smith wrote from Liberty Jail; “and in the hour of trouble he will be your best friend” (HC, 3:295). “If you are ever called upon to chasten a person,” President Brigham Young counseled, “never chasten beyond the balm you have within you to bind up” (JD, 9:124-25).

In practice, however, when we undertake to reprove we frequently are prompted not by the Holy Ghost but by ego. Moreover, we often fail to reprove “betimes,” meaning speedily and early on. Time can harden feelings as surely as the sun bakes wet clay (Neal A. Maxwell, A Wonderful Flood of Light, 113.


Hugh B. Brown said, that a fathers conduct in homes determines in large measure his worthiness to hold and exercise the priesthood. Almost any man can make a good showing when on parade before the public but ones integrity is tested when off duty. The real man is seen and known in the comparative solitude of the home. An office or title will not erase a fault nor guarantee a virtue (C.R., April, 1962).

Doctrine and Covenants 121:45

“The Doctrine of the Priesthood”

“This doctrine is that God our Father is a glorified, a perfected, and an exalted being who has all might, all power, and all dominion, who knows all things and is infinite in all his attributes, and who lives in the family unit.

Not only shall they see the Lord, but they shall feel at home in his presence (Marion G. Romney, C.R., April, 1979).

When Joseph Smith and other Church leaders were imprisoned in Richmond, Missouri, several months before section 122 was given, Joseph used his voice to quiet his enemies.

Elder Parley P. Pratt wrote:

“In one of those tedious nights we had lain as if in sleep till the hour of midnight had passed, and our ears and hearts had been pained, while we had listened for hours to the obscene jests, the horrid oaths, the dreadful blasphemies and filthy language of our guards,… as they recounted to each other their deeds of rapine, murder, robbery, etc., which they had committed among the ‘Mormons’ while at Far West and vicinity… “… I could scarcely refrain from rising upon my feet and rebuking the guards; but had said nothing to Joseph, or any one else, although I lay next to him and knew he was awake. On a sudden he arose to his feet, and spoke in a voice of thunder, or as the roaring lion, uttering, as near as I can recollect, the following words:

“SILENCE, ye friends of the infernal pit. In the name of Jesus Christ I rebuke you, and command you to be still; I will not live another minute and bear such language. Cease such talk, or you or I die THIS INSTANT!” “He ceased to speak. He stood erect in terrible majesty. Chained, and without a weapon; calm, unruffled and dignified as an angel, he looked upon the quailing guards, whose weapons were lowered or dropped to the ground; whose knees smote together, and who, shrinking into a corner, or crouching at his feet, begged his pardon, and remained quiet till a change of guards” (Autobiography of Parley, Classics in Mormon Literature Series, 179-80).


Negative attention shows us that we are making progress (J.S. v.33).

Three benefits of adversity:

1. Listen to the Holy Ghost better!2. Unimportant things seem to melt away!3. Come to know the Lord!

D&C 122:4

The remedies for people who stumble because they feel unvalued, unloved, unused, unheeded, and unappreciated include coming to know about God’s love and coming to see the disappointments of the day in the context of the blessings of eternity and God’s plan of happiness. It is vital for one to know that life’s real difficulties are “but for a small moment” and thereby to trust in God’s timing (Neal A. Maxwell, A Wonderful Flood of Light, 87).

D&C 122:5-6The Prophet’s arrest and heart-rending departure from his family at Far West, Missouri in 1838.

Lyman Wight described the inhumane scene:

About the hour the prisoners were to have been shot on the public square in Far West, they were exhibited in a wagon in the town, all of them having families there, but myself; and it would have broken the heart of any person possessing an ordinary share of humanity, to have seen the separation. The aged Father and Mother of Joseph Smith were not permitted to see his face, but to reach their hands

through the curtains of the wagon, and thus take leave of him. When passing his own house, he was taken out of the wagon and permitted to go into the house, but not withstanding a strong guard, and not permitted to speak with his family but in the presence of his guard and his eldest son, Joseph, about six or eight years old, hanging to the tall of his coat, crying father, is the mob going to kill you?

The guard said to him, “you damned little brat, go back, you will see your father no more.”

Now we are entering times wherein there will be for all of us as Church members, in my judgment, some special challenges which will require of us that we follow the Brethren. All the easy things that the Church has had to do have been done. From now on, it’s high adventure, and followership is going to be tested in some interesting ways (Neal A. Maxwell, CES Religious Educator’s Symposium, August 18, 1979, 12).

122:7 “All these things shall give you experience”

The thermostat on the furnace of affliction will not have been set too high for us --- though clearly we may think so at the time. Our God is a refining God who had been tempering soul-steel for a very long time. He knows when the right edge has been put upon our excellence but also when there is more in us than we have yet given (Neal A. Maxwell, All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience, 46).

The sobering indication “All these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good” tells us that while we are doctrinally rich, we are experience poor. God’s plan is designed to correct the latter deficiency; one’s soul shivers, however, as one contemplates the implications (Neal A. Maxwell, Lord, Increase Our Faith, 34-35).

Patience permits us to cling to our faith in the Lord when we are tossed about by suffering as if by surf. When the undertow grasps us, we will realize that even as we tumble, we are somehow being carried forward; we are actually being helped even as we cry for help (Neal A. Maxwell, “Patience,” 218).

Faith in God includes faith in His purposes as well as in His timing. We cannot fully accept Him while rejecting His schedule. We cannot worship Him but insist on our plans (Neal A. Maxwell, That Ye May Believe, 84).

Latter-day Saints need to remember that we who live now are being called upon to work out our salvation in a special time of intense and immense challenges --- the last portion of the dispensation of the fullness of times during which great tribulation and temptation will occur, the elect will almost be deceived, and unrighteous people will be living much as they were in the days of Noah….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, 18-19).

122:8 Art thou greater he?

One of the most powerful and searching questions ever asked of all of us in our sufferings hangs in time and space before us: “The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?” (Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, May 1990, 35).

“Great Trials Lay Ahead”

Elder Bruce R. McConkie said,

For the moment we live in a day of peace and prosperity but it shall not ever be thus. Great trials lie ahead. All of the sorrows and perils of the past are but a foretaste of what is yet to be. And we must prepare ourselves temporally and spiritually.

The vision of the future is not all sweetness and light and peace. All that is yet to be shall go forward in the midst of greater evils and perils and desolations that have been known on earth at any time…

Nor are the days of our greatest sorrows and our deepest sufferings all behind us. They too lie ahead. We shall yet face greater perils, we shall yet be tested with more severe trials, and we shall yet weep more tears of sorrow than we have ever known before…

The way ahead is dark and dreary and dreadful. There will yet be martyrs; the doors in Carthage shall again enclose the innocent. We have not been promised that the trials and evils of the world will entirely pass us by.

It may be, for instance, that nothing except the power of faith and the authority for the priesthood can save individuals and congregations from the atomic holocausts that surely shall be” (C.R., April 1979, 131-33).

“No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God… and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire and which will make us more like our Father and Mother in heaven” (Orson F. Whitney, cited in Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle, Deseret Book Co., 1972, 98).

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).

Doctrine and Covenants 123

“Petitions”

“The petitions indicate that the Nauvoo Saints made at least three and probably four separate attempts to obtain redress from Congress…

The petitions for redress ranged from terse to tedious. Stephen Blackman, for example, was very concise in his written statement: “State of Missouri Dr (due) to Stephen Blackman for damage and loss of property by burning and being driven from the State $150 for damage by loss of son there is no earthly consideration that can compensate” (Clark, Mormon Redress, Petitions, 143).


“The most damning hand of murder”

The Prophet Joseph Smith taught the Saints, “your friends who have been murdered for the truth’s sake in the persecutions shall triumph gloriously in the celestial world, while their murderers shall welter for ages in torment, even until they shall have paid the uttermost farthing” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 359).


Know not where to go! (D&C 76:75)


As the years have come and gone, and the terrible injustices of Missouri have been revealed by the records and by the patience and righteousness of the Saints of God, the tardy remorse of that state is felt in a statement President Spencer W. Kimball delivered to the membership of the Church:

Since our last conference we have had a delightful message from Christopher S. Bond, governor of the state of Missouri, who advised us that he has rescinded the 138-year-old executive order of Governor Lilburn W. Boggs calling for the extermination or expulsion of the Mormons from the state of Missouri. Governor Bond, present Missouri governor, writes:

“Expressing on behalf of all Missourians our deep regret for the injustice and undue suffering which was caused by this 1838 order, I hereby rescind Executive Order No. 44 dated October 27, 1838, issued by Governor Lilburn W. Boggs.’

“To Governor Bond and the people of Missouri, we extend our deep appreciation for this reversal and for the present friendly associations between the membership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the people of Missouri as it is now in effect (C.R., October, 1976, 4-5).

Doctrine and Covenants 121 Liberty Jail: The Temple Prison Why? In spite of inhumane surroundings,...

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