7/12/2017 - Section 49:1-14

July 12, 2017

Section 49:1-14

Shakers, Converts Believe With Your Whole Heart, Holy Ghost Importance of Being With Us, Holy Ghost & Missionary Work, Second Coming, Conversion Study it All Out In Your Mind & Ask & Receive,

There is interesting background information on page 104: “Not far from Kirtland, Ohio, the new headquarters of the Church, was a religious society known as the Shaking Quakers. Formerly members of the Society of Friends (Quakers), they were called Shaking Quakers or Shakers for two reasons: Their dress and manners resembled in certain respects those of Quakers, and their manner of worship included shaking and physical contortions. The society seems to have had its beginning in England during the latter part of the 1700s. Ann Lee, founder of the Shakers, immigrated to America with her followers just before 1800. Settling in Ohio, they were in such close proximity to the Saints that it was only a matter of time until there was some intermingling between the two groups. One of the Shakers, Leman Copley, joined the Church but retained many of his former beliefs. Still, he wished to go and teach his former friends. Concerned, the Prophet inquired of the Lord and received the reply in section 49.” The Shakers were also called the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing. They believed that Christ’s second coming had already occurred, and that he had appeared in the form of a woman, Ann Lee. Baptism by water was not considered essential, eating of pork was forbidden, and many did not eat any meat, a celibate life was considered higher than marriage. The revelation that Joseph received after his request refuted some of the basic concepts of the Shaker group. Leman Copley, Sidney Rigdon & Parley P Pratt  took a copy of the revelation to the Shaker congregation, stayed with them for 2 days, and read the revelation to them in their Sunday service. The Shakers rejected it, the three LDS men withdrew.  

Once again, I love the synopsis at the beginning of the section: “1-7, Day and hour of Christ’s coming shall remain unknown until he comes; 8-14, Men must repent, believe the gospel, and obey the ordinances to gain salvation (short & sweet); 15-16, Marriage is ordained of God; 17-21 Eating of meat is approved; 22-28 Zion shall flourish and the Lamanites blossom as the rose before the Second Coming.  They also believed the Deity is dual in nature—in that God is both male and female. They believed, too, that angels were dual in nature—both male and female. While they did not condemn marriage, they believed that attaining a higher or angelic order of existence required virginity. They believed in open confession of sins to the entire group. They held possessions in common, and felt private property and luxury were sinful and unchristian. They believed in continuous revelation. They felt external ordinances (as baptism and the Lord’s supper) ceased in the apostolic age. They felt the Lord had not communicated with anyone on the earth from the time of Christ’s apostles to the time that the Shaker religion was born. They did not believe in the power of the atonement or resurrection. They felt disease was a sin against God. They did not believe that Christ was divine, but that there would be a return of the “Christ spirit” to this earth. They felt that only four people had ever been given “Christ’s spirit”: Adam, Abraham, Christ, and Ann Lee. Their religion thrived until the beginning of the 1900’s. Today there is only one active community left, and it is in Sabbathday Lake, Maine. The Lord specifically answered Joseph’s questions, but the neat thing is that He gave us more than just the answers—he gave us information that would lead to our greater understanding.

P 104 on v 2 “They desire to know the truth…but not all”: “Frequently people want to accept a part of the gospel, but not all of it. Some are willing to accept Sabbath day meetings but reject tithing. Others will obey the Word of Wisdom yet condone unchastity. When the message of the Restoration was presented to the Shakers, they accepted that which was compatible with their beliefs and rejected that which was not.”

2 Nephi 31:17 states that the gift of the Holy Ghost is received only after one has entered the gate of repentance and baptism. Joseph Smith said: “We believe in the gift of the Holy Ghost being enjoyed now, as much as it was in the Apostles’ days; we believe that it [the gift of the Holy Ghost] is necessary to make and to organize the Priesthood, that no man can be called to fill any office in the ministry without it; we also believe in prophecy, in tongues, in visions, and in revelations, in gifts, and in healings, and that these things cannot be enjoyed without the gift of the Holy Ghost. (History of the Church 5:27)

5/10/2010 – D&C 49

This week’s reading consists of sections 49 & 50. I think it is v 44 in section 50 that encompasses much of these two sections as the Lord lovingly leads His saints to the safety of His doctrine “Wherefore, I am in your midst, and I am the good shepherd, and the stone of Israel. He that buildeth upon this rock shall never fall.”, and v 2 where He leads us away from dangers such as “false spirits, which have gone forth in the earth, deceiving the world.”  Our road back to our Heavenly Father is described so beautifully in 50:24: “He that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day.”

Now, back to the concerns that led to Section 49. The foreword to this section tells us about Leman Copley, who had “embraced the gospel, but still held to some of the teachings of the Shakers…to which he had formerly belonged.”  Joseph Smith wrote: In order to have a more perfect understanding on the subject [of the differences in the two religions] I inquired of the Lord, and received the following.” [which was section 49]

One of the things the Shakers believed is that Christ’s second coming had already occurred, and that he had appeared in the form of a woman: Ann Lee. Among other things, they believed baptism was not essential, and that a celibate life was considered higher than marriage. 

The Lord speaks specifically to Sidney Rigdon, Parley Pratt and Leman Copley. Lemam is the new convert from the Shakers, and the Lord has called him, along with the other 2 men, to preach the gospel to the Shakers—for “they desire to know the truth in part, but not all for they are not right before me and must needs repent” (v 2)

In v 7 the Lord declares this truth about the second coming: “I, the Lord God, have spoken it; but the hour and the day no man knoweth, neither the angels in heaven, nor shall they know until he comes.” He then goes on telling us the importance of our repenting of our mistakes and errors, and coming unto Him now --so that we may help others to come to Him, and that more of His children will be ready when the Second Coming does occur.

This is what Matthew 1:21-22, 25-26 of Joseph’s translation of the New Testament says: “Behold … if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe him not; “For in those days there shall also arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch, that, if possible, they shall deceive the very elect, who are the elect according to the covenant. …Wherefore, if they shall say unto you: Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: Behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not; For as the light of the morning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west, and covereth the whole earth, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.” 

 

The Lord continues on in helping the three men who will go back and preach to the Shakers: “And again, verily I say unto you that whoso forbiddeth to marry is not ordained of God, for marriage is ordained of God unto man.”  The Shakers had created a community in which men and women lived separately and abstained from marrying and having children. In Christ’s time, the Apostle Paul described similar false teachings that would lead to apostasy in the last days, including “forbidding to marry” ( 1 Timothy 4:1, 3).

The Shakers also taught that the eating of pork was specifically forbidden, and many did not eat any meat. The Lord addressed this also: “And whoso forbiddeth to abstain from meats, that man should not eat the same, is not ordained of God. For, behold the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and that which cometh of the earth, is ordained for the use of man for food and for raiment, and that he might have in abundance….and wo be unto man that sheddeth blood or that wasteth flesh and hath no need.” (v’ 18-19, 21)

The Lord continues with this tutorial to the 3 men whom he has asked to go back and preach to the Shakers—who are good people searching for the truth. He assures them that the Lord WILL come but “not in the form of a woman, neither of a man traveling on the earth.” (v 22) He wants to prepare us all to avoid being deceived. His promises to them, and to us as we try our best to follow His commandments; “Wherefore, be not deceived, but continue in steadfastness…(v 23). “Behold, I will go before you and be your rearward, and I will be in your midst, and you shall not be confounded.” (v27)

The Lord taught each of those three men the things they needed to know in order to teach the Shakers, and promised them that they would not be confounded. I have felt the truth of this promise. When I was called to be the mission nurse in Manilla, I KNOW I was led by the Lord so many times. Missionaries would call me with health symptoms of tropical diseases I had never heard of, and I would immediately be impressed to bring them into Manilla and get them under a doctor’s care. I was guided practically every day. And when we left that mission, I left knowing that I had truly been His servant to those who were preaching His gospel. I knew that I had done work far beyond my normal capacities. I knew that the Lord had used my efforts to help and protect his missionaries. It was one of the grandest blessings of my life, and it was such an honor to serve Him by serving all those missionaries (young and old) in our mission.