Transcript D&C 78-82 - Brigham Young University

D&C 78-82
Law of Consecration
And
The Priesthood
D&C 78
• Verse 6-7: George Q. Cannon states, “He does not design
to make us of equal height; He does not design that we
should all have the same colored hair or eyes, or that we
should dress exactly alike. This is not the meaning of the
word ‘equality,’ as it is used in the revelation; but it means
to have an equal claim on the blessings of our Heavenly
Father--on the properties of the Lord’s treasury, and the
influences and gifts of His Holy Spirit. . . . Until we attain
to this equality we cannot be equal in spiritual things, and
the blessings of God cannot be bestowed upon us until we
attain to this as they otherwise would” (JD, April 6, 1869,
13:99)
• Bruce R. McConkie: “The law of sacrifice is that
we are willing to sacrifice all that we have for the
truth’s sake--our character and reputation; our
honor and applause; our good name among men;
our houses, lands, and families: all things, even
our very lives if need be.
• But what the scriptural account means is that to
gain celestial salvation we must be able to live
these laws to the full if we are called upon to do
so. Implicit in this is the reality that we must in
fact live them to the extent we are called upon so
to do” (CR, April 1975, pp. 74-75)
• Verses 8-12: Joseph Fielding Smith states, “The Lord does
not think in temporal terms; his plan is to bring to pass the
immortality and eternal life of man (Moses 1:39). In his
eyes, therefore, all the commandments that have to do with
our present welfare, are considered to be but steps on the
way to his eternal salvation. Therefore in the spirit of faith
and humility, free from selfishness or envy, we should
labor that we may be equal here and then will come the
equality hereafter.” (CHMR, 1948, 2:76-77)
• Verse 11: Stephen L. Richards, “I believe that no one is
entitled to the full measure of its blessings unless he
subjects himself to all the conditions upon which those
blessings are predicated, and I construe that covenant to be
broad enough to embrace every principle of the gospel”
(CR, Oct 1922, p. 67)
• Verse 19: James E. Talmage, “Gratitude is an ennobling
quality in man; and he in whose soul it has no place is a
defective . . . .
• “Gratitude is twin sister to humility; pride is a foe to both.
The man who has come into close communion with God
cannot fail to be thankful; for he feels, he knows, that for
all he has and all he is he is indebted to the Supreme Giver;
and one would think that there is no need of commandment
in the matter of thanksgiving” (Sunday Night Talks by
Radio, 1931, pp. 483, 486)
D&C 79
• Verses 1-4: John Taylor, “it is for us to magnify our calling and honor
our God in any and every position that we may be called upon to fill. .
. . I would say that this Priesthood is not for the honor of man, not for
his exaltation alone; but it is imparted to man in order that he may be
made the medium of salvation to others . . . .” (JD 24:35-36)
• Verse 3: “God has in reserve a time, or period appointed in His own
bosom, when He will bring all His subjects, who have obeyed His
voice and kept His commandments, into His celestial rest. This rest is
of such perfection and glory, that man has need of a preparation before
he can, according to the laws of that kingdom, enter it and enjoy its
blessings” (History of the Church, 2:12)
D&C 81
• Verse 1: Anton H. Lund, “It took time for the work to grow; but the
Lord had given revelation upon the subject, and when the proper time
came the Presidency of the Church was organized, with the Prophet
Joseph Smith as President and Sidney Rigdon and Frederick G.
Williams as his counselors” (CR, Oct 1901, p.75)
• Verse 2: Joseph Fielding Smith, “These keys are the right of
presidency; they are the power and authority to govern and direct all of
the Lord’s affairs on earth. Those who hold them have power to govern
and control the manner in which all others may serve in the priesthood.
All of us may hold the priesthood, but we can only use it as authorized
and directed so to do by those who hold the keys” (CR, Apr. 1972, pp.
98-99)
D&C 82
•
•
•
Verses 3-4: George Albert Smith, “We will not be judged as our brothers and
sisters of the world are judged, but according to the greater opportunities place
in our keeping. We will be among those who have received the word of the
Lord, who have heard His sayings, and if we do them it will be to us eternal
life, but if we fail condemnation will result” (CR, Oct. 1906, p. 47)
Verse 3: James E. Talmage, “Are men to suffer penalty in the hereafter because
they cannot understand what is required of them in mortality? The degree of
their culpability is to be determined by the fundamental cause of their
ineptitude in matters spiritual. Failure to comprehend may be due to bias or to
lack of desire to know.”
Willful ignorance of Gospel requirements is sin. Man is untrue to his divine
lineage and birthright of reason when he turns away from the truth, or
deliberately chooses to walk in darkness while the illuminated path is open to
his tread” (The Vitality of Mormonism, 1919, pp. 280-282)
• Verse 4: Brigham Young, “So it is; it always has been, and
it always will be so: when light comes, if the people reject
that light, it will condemn them, and will add to their
sorrow and affliction” (JD, Aug 15, 1852, 6:288).
• Verse 7: Brigham Young, “When an individual refuses to
comply with the further requirements of Heaven, then the
sins he had formerly committed return upon his head; his
former righteousness departs from him, and is not
accounted to him for righteousness: but if he had continued
in righteousness and obedience to the requirements of
heaven, he is saved all the time, through baptism, the
laying on of hands, and obeying the commandments of the
Lord and all that is required of him by the heavens--the
living oracles” (JD, 8:124)
• Verse 10: James E. Talmage, “. . . God holds himself accountable to
law even as he expects us to do. He has set us the example in
obedience to law . . . . He operates by law and not by arbitrariness or
caprice. He is no tyrant to be propitiated and placated by honeyed
words. He cannot be moved by wordy oratory. He is not a judge sitting
to be influenced by the specious pleas of crafty advocates; and yet
there is an eloquence that moves Him; there is a plea that influences
Him. The eloquence of prayer from a broken heart and a contrite spirit
prevails with him” (CR, Apr 1930, p. 96)
• Verse 19: Joseph Fielding Smith, “It is verly true that before we can
enter into the celestial kingdom we will have to learn how to live in
unity with the love of our fellows at heart, desiring their good as well
as our own, and not preferring ourselves before them” (Church History
and Modern Revelation, 1: 322)