12/26/2018 - Section 129:1-9

December 26, 2018

Section 129: 1-9

Angels, Angels True and False, Atonement Daily, Unwearyingness, Repentance Daily, Draw Near Unto Me, Journal, 

Just a quick explanation: last October in General Conference, President Nelson asked everyone to read the Book of Mormon before the end of the year. It took us a few weeks to get our act together, but Bob and I began to read. We read together, and we read out loud, and our goal each day was to read 10 pages. There were several days that were so busy, we didn’t plan well enough to get our reading into the day’s activities. So on December 10, we told ourselves, no more missing any days of reading. I’m proud to report that we finished the Book of Mormon on Christmas day. To do that, we had to read the final 20 pages. It was a great addition to Christmas, as well as a wonderful beginning to the coming new year. But as of today, I’m back to the almost-every-day D&C, and all the insights this reading is bringing to me. It’s like going from good to good!

I’ll start today with a quote fro Elder Orson Pratt that seems to be a very good way in which to look forward to beginning the new year of 2019 (a new year that when we are looking at the current state of our country and world, may at first seem a little daunting): “We are willing to go the earth over to save the living; we are willing to build temples and administer in ordinances to save the dead; we are willing to enter the eternal worlds and preach to every creature who has not placed himself beyond the reach of mercy. We are willing to labour both in this world and in the next to save men….Let all rejoice that the great day of the dispensation of the fullness of times has come. Let the living rejoice; let  the dead rejoice; let the heavens and the earth rejoice; let all creations shout hosanna! Glory to God in the highest! For he hath brought salvation , and glory, and honour, and immortality, and eternal life to the fallen sons of men.” (Journal of Discourses 7:90-91)

Now, on to Section 129…in which Joseph tells us the three grand keys by which the correct nature of ministering angels and spirits may be distinguished.  The first 3 verses describe the two types of beings who might come to us: “Angles, who are resurrected personages, having bodies of flesh and bones--   For instance, Jesus said: Handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.  Secondly: the spirits of just men made perfect, they who are not resurrected but inherit the same glory.”

Then in verses 4-8 Joseph tells us how to determine between a being from the Lord and a being there to deceive or misdirect us: “When a messenger comes saying he has a message from God, offer him your hand and request him to shake hands with you. If he be an angel he will do so, and you will feel his hand. If he be the spirit of a just man made perfect [dead but not yet resurrected] he will come in his glory; for that I the only way he can appear—Ask him to shake hands with you, but he will not move, because it is contrary to the order of heaven for a just man to deceive; but he will still deliver hi message. If it be the devil as an angel of light, when you ask hi to shake hands he will offer you his hand, and you will not feel anything; you may therefore detect him. These are the three grand keys whereby you may know whether any administration is from God.” 

I don’t think I will ever need this information. I truly do not need to see Christ or see an angel to know the things of the gospel that I so strongly believe and feel are right. What I do need is to stay in daily contact with my Heavenly Father via prayer—morning and night. What I do need is to examine my life each day and if there are things large, or small, that I have stumbled over, then I should do my best to ponder how I can change those things, and then go to Heavenly Father in sincerity and in faith and in determination to seek the merciful effects of Christ’s atonement…to work to make myself a little better tomorrow than I was today…to learn more about the joys of living as closely as I can to the Lord’s commandments. It’s slow work for me, and not as steady as I would like—but it is certainly the direction I want to go.

11/8/2021 – D&C 129 

Joseph wrote that prophets have the responsibility to “make known God’s will and true character to mankind and to show the meaning of His dealings with them”. I think we see this especially in sections 129 & 130. 

V’s 1-3 explain that in heaven there are two kinds of angels: 1) Angels who are resurrected personages, having bodies of flesh and bones—as Christ was when He visited His apostles after His resurrection: “Handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have”. And then there are angels who are “just men made perfect, they who are not resurrected, but inherit the same glory.”

In my last Education Week, I enjoyed three days of lectures on Angels, and I learned a lot. The Lord has His hosts of angels, and Lucifer also has his host—but Lucifer’s group is not as numerous, nor as powerful. But Lucifer’s host can fool us if we are not careful. Joseph had been visited by both camps, and he shares with the saints his knowledge of angels. The section synopsis explains that this section will make “known three grand keys by which the correct nature of ministering angels and spirits may be distinguished”. Our Education Week BYU professor worked hard to help us put into our memory banks the information from v’s 4-8: “When a messenger comes saying he has a message from God, offer him your hand and request him to shake hands with you. If he be an [resurrected] angel he will do so, and you will feel his hand. If he be the spirit of a just man made perfect [not yet resurrected] “he will not move, because it is contrary to the order of heaven for a just man to deceive, but he will still deliver his message” (v 7) 

But “if it be the devil as an angel of light, when you ask him to shake hands he will offer you his hand, and you will not feel anything; you may therefore detect him.” (v 8) 

I don’t think I need to see an angel to know they exist. I certainly don’t need to see God to know that He exists. I KNOW that angels, AND the Lord, are both there when, and if, I need them. I love to feel the Lord’s sprit flow through me when truth is spoken; I am grateful to feel answers to my questions and problems flow suddenly into my mind (sometimes after a lot of prayer and searching on my part). I have so appreciated the warmth and comfort that has filled my mind and heart when I have petitioned the Lord in my most difficult times. There is no doubt that He is there. My only worries are that in order to know these things, I must take the time and the effort to stay close to Him, and endeavor, each day, to follow his commandments to the best of my ability. That is when I am the very most comfortable. 

I read something the other day that I loved: “When you want to talk with God, pray. When you want God to talk with you, read His scriptures.” And it is when I read the scriptures with a pen in hand, or with my hands on my computer key pad, that I make reading the scriptures a two way street, and the very best form of education for me.