4/25/2017 - Section19:13-41

April 25, 2017

Section 19:13-41

Atonement Christ’s Statement Of, Repentance, Missionary Instructions, Live Happy, Prayer, Draw Near Unto Me,

In v’s 15-20, Christ is speaking directly to Martin Harris, who has come to Joseph “seeking further assurance in relation to his standing before the Lord, being sorely troubled in spirit because of his transgression.” (Pres. Joseph Fielding Smith)

In the Oct 1947 Gen Conf, President Joseph Fielding Smith said: “We get into the habit of thinking, I suppose, that his great suffering was when he was nailed to the cross by his hands and his feet [and his wrists] and was left there to suffer until he died. As excruciating as that pain was, that was not the greatest suffering that he had to undergo, for in some way which I cannot understand, but which I accept on faith, and which you must accept on faith, he carried on his back the burden of the sins of the whole world. It is hard enough for me to carry my own sins. How is it with you? And yet he had to carry the sins of the whole world, as our Savior and the Redeemer of a fallen world, and so great was his suffering before he ever went to the cross, we are informed, that blood oozed from the pores of his body.”

 These are the words of Christ himself describing the Atonement…in principle, and in fact, of what occurred and how that will—if we desire and ask for it and work for it—affect our lives now, and our future life: “Therefore I command you [Martin Harris] to repent—repent, lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore—how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not.    For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;   But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;   Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink--   Nevertheless, glory be to he Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men.   Wherefore, I command you again to repent…lest you suffer these punishments of which I have spoken, of which in the smallest, yea, even in the least degree you have tasted at the time I withdrew my Spirit.”

In Smith and Sjodahl Commentary p 96, as they speak of Christ’s words to Martin Harris they write: “Notwithstanding the many manifestations he had received concerning the Book of Mormon, he was still tormented with doubts, to such an extent that it became sinful. Skepticism has its legitimate use, in so far as it prompts one to investigate, but to doubt in the face of overwhelming evidence [which Martin Harris had asked for, and pleaded for in prayer, and received] is perversity.”

I must take care of my own repentance. I don’t believe I have ever performed horrendous sins that would cause grief to others for an entire lifetime, or even to myself for an entire lifetime. But I have done some things that I felt were not in strict keeping of the Lord’s commandments—and I have also neglected to carry through on doing good things that I should have done. The point I want to make is that just because I have not done horrendous things, does not mean that I do not need repentance. Everyone on this earth needs repentance. And the marvelous thing is that it is tailored to each one of us individually. The commandment is to be perfect. As we strive day by day to better live that commandment, we will always go to the Lord for we will always fall short. The Lord doesn’t care where our starting point is on the heavenly graph from bad to good; He just cares that we start—that we progress—that we are better today than we were yesterday. And the amazing things are that, one, He will lead us gently by the hand no matter where we are when we begin, and that, two, we will feel His guidance, His support, His love and His profound comfort as we move closer to Him.

Repentance is a commandment from God. Three times, leaving no room for doubt, he declares: “I command you to repent” v 15); I command you again to repent” (v20); “I command you that you preach naught but repentance” (v21) because it is one of the things that brings us closer to Him and closer to our successful completion of the plan of salvation that we all agreed to long, long ago. Victor Ludlow once said: “…repentance means not only to stop doing those things which are wrong, but also to start doing those things which are right.” That’s the plan for our successful completion of this journey. It’s a journey that will continue even after we return to our heavenly home. And it’s a journey that brings only fuller and happier times.

And then His simple instructions in v 23 that is one of my favorite scriptures: “Learn of me,[and then He tells us how to learn of Him] and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and [and then our reward!] you shall have peace in me.” And in v 29-30 “And thou shalt declare glad tidings, yea, publish it upon the mountains, and upon every high place, and among every people that thou shalt be permitted to see.   And thou shalt do it with all humility, trusting in me, reviling not against revilers.” In v 37 & 29—remember to be happy: “And speak freely to all…with a sound of rejoicing….canst thou read this without rejoicing and lifting up they heart for gladness?” Then v 41 is important for us to remember in both our public and our private times: “Canst thou be humble and meek, and conduct thyself wisely before me?” And maybe the most important commandment, AND reward, is found in v 38: “Pray always, and I will pour out my Spirit upon you, and great shall be your blessing….”

I’ll stop today with a quote from Elder Rudger Clawson as he expressed his impressions from reading v 38: “[We] must pray under all circumstances. Prayer is not reserved for the Sabbath day or for any particular occasion. It is not only to be used at the general conferences of the Church, but the spirit of prayer must be in our hearts unceasingly. We must pray in our families; we must pray in secret; we must pray in our hearts. The spirit of prayer must be with us when we retire at night and when we arise in the norming. It must be upon us when we leave our homes for our daily employment; in the office; in the shop; in the field; in the mountains or in the valleys, or wherever we are. We are told…that if the spirit is upon us the Lord will bless us, and the blessings which will come in answer to prayer will be of more importance to us than treasures of the earth.”

(Apr 1904 Gen Conf)

   

2/26/2021 – D&C 19:17-41

 

I just found this quote from the Ludlow Companion : “The heading of this section of the Doctrine and Covenants indicates that it is ‘A Commandment of God’ rather than referring to it only as a ‘revelation’ as is the usual format. Section 19 might thus be referred to as a revelatory commandment, for the revelation contains not only instruction but also a definite and clear commandment—to repent: ‘I command you to repent’ (verse 15), ‘I command you again to repent’ (verse 20), ‘I command you that you preach naught but repentance’ (verse 21).

“When the doctrine of repentance is fully understood, then it is seen that repentance is all that ever needs to be taught, for repentance means not only to stop doing those things which are wrong but also to start doing those things which are right.” (Ludlow Companion, 1:143; see also D&C 1:31–32; 58:42–43; 82:7.)

This is certainly a strong section on the importance of our repentance, AND on the Lord’s deep love for us. He pleads for us in v 23: Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me.” And then in the very next verse, he reminds us of the 10 commandments, which certainly help us in keeping those important basics, but he goes further in v 26: “And again, I command thee that thou shalt not covet thine own property, but impart it freely to the printing of the book of Mormon which contains the truth and the word of God.”

Christ then gives us a list of things we should do: 

V 28: And again, I command thee that thou shall pray vocally as well as in thy heart; yea, before the world as well as in secret, in public as well as in private.

V29 Thou shalt declare glad things…(like taking Bob to the ER thinking there was no way he was having a heart attack. The ER quickly found he was having no heart attack, but they kept him there and then found that 13% of his heart was not working. That led to having a angiogram, which led to having a stent placed in his right coronary artery where they had found an 80% blockage. That gave Bob a longer life!

In V 37 He asks us to share our joys: “And speak freely to all;;; yea, preach, exhort, declare the truth even with a loud voice, with a sound of rejoicing…”. (This verse ends with Hosanna, Hosanna. I looked that up-- “Hosanna is a transliteration of a Hebrew (or Semitic) word that literally means ‘save now’ and that could be translated ‘grant us salvation.’ Most of the prayers said by the Jews at the Feast of Tabernacles begin with this word, and it was also used by the multitude as they greeted Jesus Christ when he came into Jerusalem during the last week of His life upon the earth. (Matt. 21:9, 15.) This term appears in five sections of the D&C 19:37; 36:3; 39:19; 109:79; 124:101.” (Ludlow, Companion, 2:136.)

V 38. Pray always, and I will pour out my spirit upon you, and great shall be your blessing –yea, even more than if you should obtain treasures of earth and corruptibleness to the extent thereof.

Basically He’s telling us to work hard to help others by sharing the gospel throughout our ordinary days.

And then he follows up with things that are important for us remember as we go through our daily lives:

We are to rejoice and lift up our hearts in gladness. (39). 

We are to be humble and meek and conduct ourselves wisely. (41)

It’s like getting an assignment at the beginning of a course for a massive term paper, and instead of thinking “This is really going to put a cramp in my social life!” We find ourselves thinking: “Oh boy! The things I’m going to learn with this paper!”