3/4/2018 - Section 88:32-50

March 4, 2018

Section 88:32-50

Obedience & Blessings, Quota System-NO!, Progress Begets Progress,

V 34 is such a simple statement of God’s law and the blessings of abiding by that law: “And again, verily I say unto you, that which is governed by law is also preserved by law and perfected and sanctified by the same.” V 35 gives further explanation that if we do not abide by His law then we “…cannot be sanctified by law, neither by mercy, justice, nor judgment….”

I love v37: “And there are many kingdoms for there is no space in the which there  is not kingdom, and there is not kingdom in which there is not space whether a greater or a lesser kingdom.” I love this because it takes out the mis-belief that some religions have that there is some sort of quota system—but there is not! There is room enough for each one of us to be wherever we really want to be.

And then there is v 4 which assures me that progress begets progress—what a wonderful reward for our work to be better…it allows us to be blessed with the possibility of better-er! “For intelligence cleaveth unto intelligence; wisdom receiveth wisdom; truth embraceth truth; virtue loveth virtue, light cleaveth into light; mercy hath compassion on mercy and claimeth her own: justice coninueth its course and claimeth its own; judgment goeth before the face of him who sitteth upon the throne and governeth and executeth all things. (41) He comprehendeth all things…” We will never have need to say: You just don’t understand!

8/10/2021 – D&C 88:32-50

V’s 32-39 explain that we can be preserved, perfected and sanctified by the law. They tell us that “the sons of perdition” will “not be redeemed” but that “all the rest shall be brought forth by the resurrection of the dead, through the triumph and glory of the Lamb. The study guide explains that the status of the sons of perdition is “that they will be ‘quickened’ (v 32), meaning they will be resurrected with a physical body, but since they “cannot abide the law of a telestial kingdom,” they will inherit “a kingdom which is not a kingdom of glory” (v 24). Because they “abideth not by law,…and altogether abideth in sin: (v 35), they cannot be “preserved by law and perfected and sanctified by the same.” (v 34).”

V 32-33 say it this way: “And they who remain [meaning the sons of perdition = ‘they who rebelled’—and that means rebelled BIG TIME] shall also be quickened; nevertheless, they shall return again to their own place, to enjoy that which they are willing to receive, because they were not willing to enjoy that which they might have received.   For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift? Behold, he rejoices, not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift.”

V 34 explains the connection between the Law and our blessing: “And again, verily I say unto you, that which is governed by the law is also preserved by law and perfected and sanctified by the same.”

I love v 40 for it describes how we grow and develop, both intellectually and spiritually: “For intelligence cleaveth unto intelligence; wisdom receiveth wisdom; truth embraceth truth; virtue loveth virtue; light cleaeth unto light; mercy hath compassion on mercy and claimeth her own; justice continueth its course and claimeth its own; judgment goeth before the face of him who sitteth upon the throne and governeth and executeth all things.” To me that says: progress begets progress.

Joseph wrote some of his personal history during the summer of 1832 in which he spoke of his reflections and observations. He spoke of the schooling he had been given in his own home. He also described how observing the vastness of God’s creations in the heavens had given him confidence to go to God for answers when he wanted to know which church to join: “I learned in the scriptures that God was the same yesterday, today, and forever, that He was no respecter [of] persons, for He was God. For I looked upon the sun, the glorious luminary of the earth, and also the moon, rolling in their majesty through the heavens; and also the stars shining in their courses; and the earth also upon which I stood; and the beast of the field and the fowls of heaven and the fish of the waters; and also man walking forth upon the face of the earth in majesty and in the strength of beauty, whose [God’s] power and intelligence in governing the things which are so exceeding great and marvelous, even in the likeness of Him who created them. And when I considered upon these things, my heart exclaimed, ‘Well hath the wise man said it is a fool that saith in his heart there is no God’ [see Psalm 14:1; 53:1]. My heart exclaimed, ‘All … these bear testimony and bespeak an omnipotent and omnipresent power, a Being who maketh laws and decreeth and bindeth all things in their bounds, who filleth eternity, who was and is and will be from all eternity to eternity.’ And when I considered all these things and that that Being seeketh such to worship Him as worship Him in spirit and in truth [see John 4:23; Alma 34:38], therefore I cried unto the Lord for mercy, for there was none else to whom I could go and obtain mercy” (in The Joseph Smith Papers, Documents, Volume 2, July 1831–January 1833, 281;

I think that v's 49-50 sum up today’s readings: “The light [that refers to the light of Christ] shineth in the darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not; nevertheless, the day shall come when you shall comprehend even God, being quickened in him and by him. Then shall ye know that ye have seen me, that I am, and that I am the true light that is in you, and that you are in me….”