6/21/2017 - Section 45:1-6

June 21, 2017

Section 45:1-6

Difficult Times Where to Look, Judgment Day, Christ as Our Advocate, Atonement Access Advantages, Faith Belief Happiness Success, Comfort, Peace Assurance,

Joseph Smith is now in Kirtland, and the Church is growing with amazing speed—with membership now at 2000 people. The people who had not joined the church joined together, hoping to stop the conversion of any more of their friends and neighbors. This is what Joseph recorded: “Many false reports, lies and foolish stories, were published in the newspapers and circulated in every direction, to prevent people from investigating the work, or embracing the faith….To the joy of the Saints who had to struggle against every thing that prejudice and wickedness could invent, I received the following [D&C 45]. (History of the Church 1:158)

P 91 “During these trying times of slander and abuse, the Lord blessed the Saints with revelations of comfort, peace, and assurance.” I think this is an important thing for us to remember in our day as the accepted ways of the world move farther and farther away from Biblical and gospel standards. Fortunately section 45 is just one of these revelations of  comfort, peace and assurance—the things of the Lord that are an integral part of my life’s foundation.

 Christ uses the present tense as He speaks of currently pleading for Heavenly Father to spare those who believe on Christ’s name—v 3. Christ’s pleas to us are to “hearken” (listen and obey), to hear His voice now, and to harden not our hearts—v 6.

P 92: In the New Testament the same word “paraclaytos” is used for Christ AND the Holy Ghost. Both are Comforters. John 14:16 refers to the Holy Ghost as ‘another Comforter’. But Christ is also an Advocate…another name for a lawyer who pleads our case. But He is bound to perform that service for His “brethren that believe on my name” (v 5). At the bar of judgment, where we stand before our Heavenly Father, Christ will be next to us. “he will stand beside us to plead our cause before the Great Judge; however, He does not plead our case by pointing to our lack of guilt; rather it is His own sinlessness to which He calls God’s attention (v4). His perfection and His suffering pay the price to satisfy justice for those of His “brethren that believe on my name” (5).” We are promised His total help—and that includes in our here and now, as well as at our final judgment—if we go to Christ in this earth life, where our task is to live by faith, and if we ask Christ for His help and if our belief is strong enough for us to work to conform our actions to His laws for us here on this earth—then we WILL have His comfort, His peace, and His assurance here on earth, and also as we prepare to resume our eternal life with our Father in Heaven.

This is better than the best earthly insurance policy we will ever have—for we know we cannot live this life without making mistakes—for we are here to learn and learning often involves mistakes followed by correction. We also know (by faith) that there WILL be a final judgment for each of us as to how we used our total time on this earth. Thus it follows that we WILL need someone who cared for us and watched us, and came to us when we called for help as we walked the path of our earthly life. Our faith in Him, and our work to access His atonement is the only price we must pay. Plus our becoming closer to Him while on our earthly journey only works to make that earthly journey so much closer to goodness, so much more enjoyable, such a tremendously better learning experience. This is the greatest win-win situation ever offered.

4/26/2021 – D&C 45:1-17

It’s now the spring of 1831. More members of the church were coming into Kirtland, and more converts from the missionary work being done were also coming into Kirtland. Joseph Smith wrote this about these times:

“At this age of the church many false reports, lies, and foolish stories, were published in the newspapers, and circulated in every direction, to prevent people from investigating the work, or embracing the faith. … But to the joy of the saints who had to struggle against every thing that prejudice and wickedness could invent, I received the following [Doctrine and Covenant 45]” (from The Joseph Smith Pappers)

This section helped the saints in those difficult days, it can be just as beneficial to us in our days.

I love the word ‘hearken’. It’s a call for me to perk up and examine things more carefully, and then get busy incorporating the Lord’s messages into my daily living. When I see this word, I usually think “go and do”, but an institute instructor once interpreted it as “listen and obey”. Both phrases stimulate me to work harder for understanding, and for adjusting my life for the better.

V 2 encourages me to not linger in changing my good intentions into good actions. Christ puts it this way “…listen together, and hear my voice…and harden not your hearts.” (v 6) He has given us the gospel to be our “preparer”—to be ready to come unto Him as soon as we graduate from this earthly education. 

Christ continues to use the word ‘hearken’ throughout this section. When we hearken, He will give us wisdom (v 11).  If we hearken, He will reason with us and “I will speak unto you and prophesy as unto men in days of old.” (v 15) He also promises to “show it plainly, as I showed it unto my disciples as I stood before them in the flesh…” (v 16). I am reminded that even His 12 disciples did not fully understand His gospel until after His resurrection. We are blessed to have the knowledge that it took them a long time to fully understand, because we now have all the Lord’s explanations to their questions and His corrections to their mis-understandings.