Doctrine & Covenants 2, 3, 10

Object Lesson!

Doctrine & Covenants 2 “Promise Made to the Fathers”

It is the first revelation of the Doctrine and Covenants!

September 21, 1823

It was placed in the Doctrine and Covenants in 1876 by Orson Pratt under the direction of President Brigham Young.

The message is so important it is in all of the standard works!

Malachi 4:5-6 Old TestamentLuke 1:16-17 New Testament3 Nephi 25:5-6 Book of MormonJoseph Smith History: 36-39 Pearl of Great Price

Joseph Smith said that those who neglect it in behalf of their deceased relatives, do it at the peril of their own salvation (Doctrine & Covenants 128:15, 18).

It is one of two revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants that comes entirely from an angel. Section 13 is the other!

Teachings of Joseph Smith

Doctrine & Covenants 2:2

Joseph Smith clarified Malachi’s prophecy by saying “the word turn should be translated bind or seal!”

Elder John A. Widtsoe one time had this to say about this section:

“The beginning and the end of the gospel is written in section two of the Doctrine and Covenants. It is the keystone of the wonderful gospel arch; and if that center stone should weaken and fall out, the whole gospel structure would topple down in unorganized doctrinal blocks” (Elway L. Christiansen, Conference Report, April 1960, 48).

Everyone who is exalted must be connected through the sealing ordinances into the extended celestial family of God!

The dead have been influential in guiding the living to perform genealogical and temple work for them. Indeed, one of the main reasons why the dead exert such a strong influence to save their living descendants is so the living will, upon embracing the gospel, perform this work in their behalf.

The late Apostle, Elder Melvin J. Ballard, made the following remark in this regard:

“Why is it that sometimes only one of a city or household received the Gospel?

It was made known unto me that it is because of the righteous dead who had received the Gospel in the spirit world exercising themselves, and in answer to their prayers elders of the church were sent to the homes of their posterity that the Gospel might be taught to them and through their righteousness they might be privileged to have a descendant in the flesh do the work for their dead kindred.

I want to say to you that it is with greater intensity that the hearts of the fathers and mothers in the spirit world are turned to their children than that our hearts are turned to them.” The Three Degrees of Glory Elder Melvin J. Ballard of the Council of the Twelve Apostles (Sermons and Missionary Services of Melvin J. Ballard, 234-61, Delivered at the Ogden Tabernacle )

The Loss of the 116-page Manuscript (Doctrine & Covenants

3)

At the time Joseph and Martin suffered excruciating spiritual pain.

The Lord indicated in Doctrine & Covenants 19 that the suffering resulted from the withdrawal of the Spirit.

These men in some measure had experienced that. Yet, even that anguish was but a sliver of pain in comparison to the suffering for sin that Jesus Christ experienced.

Lucy Mack Smith gave insight to the punishment that Joseph and Martin tasted. She wrote that on hearing that the manuscript was lost, her son Joseph clenched his hands together, crying that all was lost. “He wept and groaned, walking the floor continually…

“I besought him not to mourn so, for it might be that the Lord would forgive him, after a short season of humiliation and repentance on his part. But what could I say to comfort him when he saw all the family in the same state of mind he was? Our sobs and groans and the most bitter lamentations filled the house. Joseph, in particular, was more distressed than the rest… He continued walking backwards and forwards, weeping and grieving like a tender infant until about sunset, when we persuaded him to take a little nourishment…

“I well remember that day of darkness, both within and without. To us, at least, the heavens seemed clothed with blackness, and the earth shrouded with gloom. I have often said within myself that if a continual punishment as severe as that which we experienced on that occasion, were to be inflicted upon them most wicked characters who ever stood upon the footstool of the Almighty – if even their punishment were no greater than that, I should feel to pity their condition” (Smith, History of Joseph Smith, 1996, 165-66, 171).

Doctrine & Covenants 3God’s Work Cannot be Frustrated!

Five people were to see the plates:

Martin’s wife, brother, father, mother, and Lucy’s sister Polly Cobb.

Joseph made Martin sign an oath.

Martin had a tendency to say and show more than he should.

Martin Harris was 23 years older than Joseph, (46 at the time) a prominent and wealthy farmer.

He was the only one Joseph knew who was willing to work as a scribe and finance the publication of the Book of Mormon.

Some histories say that Martin Harris was excommunicated in 1837. Some say he was disfellow-shipped. I haven’t been able to find evidence of either. He married Caroline Young after the death of his first wife Lucy. Caroline left him in 1856 to gather with the Saints in Utah.

He joined three other churches at different times. He served a mission for the Strangites.

He arrived in Utah in 1870 and was re-baptized and endowed.

He died in Clarkston, Utah, therefore the “Martin Harris Pageant” in Clarkston. Lucy Harris, Martin’s first wife called Joseph Smith the “grand imposter.”

The final testimony of Martin Harris was recorded by his grandson William Pilkington: “On the 9th day of July 1875, while he was dying, I knelt at his cot….I wanted to get what I though would be his last words, but he could not talk audibly.” Pilkington then prayed that his grandfather’s last words could be understood. He reported, “Strength was given to him and he bore his testimony as he had done many times before and I understood every word. He then bore the same testimony to the whole world and then laid back exhausted (William Pilkington, testimony sworn before Joseph W. Peterson, 3 April 1934, typescript, Archives and Manuscripts, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah).

Martin died on 10 July in Clarkston, Utah. He was buried with his Book of Mormon in his right hand and the Doctrine and Covenants in his left (LDS Biographical Encyclopedia 1:276).

“The standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visiting every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done” (History of the Church, 4:540, Wentworth Letter).

Doctrine & Covenants 3:7-8

How to handle peer pressure?

Persuasions of Men (v.6)

Joseph Smith’s self condemnation and fear beset the prophet, He exclaimed “all is lost, all is lost, what shall I do? I have sinned. He went and groaned continually “Oh my God!”

Doctrine & Covenants 3:10God is Merciful!

When Joseph received the plates and the Urim and Thummim back, there was a special message.

Joseph said, “The angel seemed pleased with me and he told me that the Lord loved me, for my faithfulness and humility.

Doctrine & Covenants 3:12A Wicked Man?

How are we “wicked men?”

1. Set a naught the counsels of God.2. Break promises made with God.3. Depend upon our own judgment.4. Boast in our own wisdom.

At heart Martin was not wicked and desired to do what was right. He had faith in Joseph’s mission, however, he could not stand the pressures of relatives and friends (Joseph Fielding Smith).

The path of least resistance makes men and rivers crooked!

We cannot safely trust “in the arm of flesh.” Even when it is pumped full of steroids, it lacks the strength to maintain its grasp on the iron rod.

Not alone does the arm of flesh finally prove anemic, but it always reaches for the wrong things (Neal A. Maxwell, Lord, Increase Our Faith, 87).

Doctrine & Covenants 10

“God’s Wisdom is Greater than the Devil’s”

Doctrine & Covenants 10:4

Sometimes overzealous effort without wisdom and patience leads into errors. The emphasis is on diligence and direction rather than on speed in climbing the path to exaltation.

A few in the Church are needlessly laden with programmed hyperactivity. They are unwisely and unnecessarily exceed their strength and means, running faster than they are able. Their fatiguing, Martha-like anxiety should yield more often to a Mary-like sense of proportion about what matters most; then the good part will not be taken from them (Neal A. Maxwell, Men and Women of Christ, 3).

Doctrine & Covenants 10:5 Pray Always!

A prayerful attitude coupled with constant formal prayers is the source of power necessary to overcome Satan and his servants.

Doctrine & Covenants 10:25

Pres. Kimball said, “Satan will use his logic to confuse and his rationalizations to destroy. He will shade meanings, open doors an inch at a time, and lead from purest white through all the shades of gray, to the darkest black.” (Faith Precedes the Miracle, 152).

The scriptural advice, “Do not run faster or labor more than you have strength” suggest paced progress, much as God used seven creative periods in preparing man and this earth. There is a difference, therefore, between being “anxiously engaged” and being over-anxious (Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, November 1976, 12-13).

Doctrine & Covenants 10:37

You cannot always judge the righteous, or as you cannot always tell the wicked from the righteous.

Compilation of the Book of Mormon

Large Plates of Nephi

Made about 590 B.C. soon after arrival at the promised land (1 Nephi 19:1-2).

Used mainly for secular history until small plates of Nephi were filled in the days of Amaleki (Omni 1:30); thereafter they were used for both secular and religious history.

Small Plates of Nephi

Made about 570 B.C. (2 Nephi 5:28-32).

Contain the religious history of the Nephite people from Nephi to Amaleki.

The book Words of Mormon was added to the small plates of Nephi when they were included with the plates of Mormon (Words of Mormon 1:1-5).

Plates of Mormon

Consist of Mormon’s abridgment of the large plates of Nephi. Mormon’s own small book, which contained a more extensive account of his life, was also part of the large plates of Nephi. It was abridged by him with the rest of the large plates (Mormon 1:4; 2:17-18; 5:9).