Lynne's Scripture Journal D&C

April 30, 2017 Section 20: 60 Revelation Line Upon Line, Progress Personal, Growth, Godhead, Draw Near Unto Me, Atonement, Heavenly Father, Holy Ghost, P 42 of the study manual asks a question of this section: “ Why didn’t the Lord Make Known All Priesthood Offices When the Church Was First Organized? And the answer was simply a quote from President Joseph Fielding Smith: “ The Lord could not reveal to the Church in the Beginning all the knowledge and organization which would be essential to the full and complete organization of the Church. Had this been done, it would have been like an overwhelming flood that would have brought destruction. The truth had to come piecemeal—line upon line, precept upon precept, just like knowledge comes to all of us. However, all that was revealed in this section was expedient for the government of the Church at the time of its organization.” ( Church History and Modern Revelation 1:95)    As I have said many times before in my study j...

April 28, 2917 Section 20:35-59 Baptism Readiness, Broken Heart, Contrite Spirit, Baptisms Two—of Water and of the Spirit, Holy Ghost is the Sanctifier, Ward Ideal, Gospel in Action, V 37 is the standard for explaining readiness for baptism into the Church: “ And again, by way of commandment to the church concerning the manner of baptism---All those who humble themselves before God, and desire to be baptized, and come forth with broken hearts and contrite spirits, and witness before the church that they have truly repented of all their sins, and are willing to take upon them the name of Jesus Christ, having a determination to serve him to the end, and truly manifest by their works that they hae receive of the Spirit of Christ unto the remission of their sins, shall be received by baptism into his church.” Now for important definitions: “What is a broken heart? One that is humble, one that is touched by the Spirit of the Lord, and which is willing to abide in all the cove...

April 27, 2017 Section 20:9-34 Book of Mormon Fullness of Gospel, Book of Mormon How To Book For Eternal Life, Commandments Reason For, Natural Man Put It Off, Justification, Sanctification, The student manual, commenting on v 9, has a quote from Bruce R McConkie that was eye-opening for me: “ Our revelations say that the Book of Mormon contains the fullness of the gospel. (D&C 20:9; 27:5; 42:12;135:3) This is true in the sense that the Book of Mormon is a record of God’s dealing with a people who had the fullness of the gospel, and therefore the laws and principles leading to the highest salvation are found recorded in that book.” (Mormon Doctrine) It is a true ‘standard of judgment’—we don’t have to guess to know what the Lord wants us to do, and what He will do for us if we but turn to him. V 19 starts a great listing of the reasons for commandments: “ And gave unto them commandments that they should love and serve him…”.   Then v 20 gives us the consequences of...

April 26, 2017 Section 20:1-8 Revelation Specific to Our Situation, Revelation Our Reaction, Missionary Behavior, This section (9 June 1830) on church organization and government, along with section 22, was the first to be formally sustained by the membership of the church and were referred to as ‘Articles and Covenants of the Church”. Joseph Smith wrote, “ In this manner did the Lord continue to give us instructions from time to time, concerning the duties which now devolved upon us…” The Church was officially organized April 6, 1830. In the Apr 1973 Gen Conf, President Harold B Lee said: “ April 6, 1973 is a particularly significant date because it commemorates not only the anniversary of the organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in this dispensation, but also the anniversary of the birth of the Savior, our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.” When the Church was organized Joseph Smith was designated the first elder of the Church. He stated, “ I ...