What we tend to forget is that everything the church does, is based on the revelations of the Doctrine and Covenants. This is one reason that the church is so successful. All actions, whether spiritual or business, are based on the principles found in the Doctrine and Covenants. It contains the rules by which the church is governed. Because these principles are divinely inspired, the church will not fail as long as it continues in this manner. The same is true of the members. If they live their lives by the principles and ordinances found in this book, they will not fail. This is why some people in the church will fail, but the church will not. Joseph is still 24 years old and to come up with, on his own, a revelation like this, would have been impossible without divine inspiration. It is too timeless. This section, as well as the others, have stood the test of time and will continue to do so and there is much in them that is yet to be fulfilled. Plus, they are timeless in that they will always be applicable to the church and how it conducts its business.
Verses 1-17 deal with missionary work. The Lord instructs the church to send missionaries. They are to go west two by two. In those days, missionaries were called to go to certain regions of the world, but not specific places. They were simply told to follow the Spirit as to what cities and towns they should go to. And they continued their missions until the Spirit told them to come home or the church notified them their mission was over. Often the missions were a matter of months. Sometimes though, they lasted for years like we will see when they go to Europe and England. There are three important laws given concerning missionary work. One is, no one is to preach the gospel who has not been called and ordained by the authorities of the church. The second is, only the principles of the gospel are to be taught. And third, the only teaching that can take place is that which is done under the power of the Spirit. Since it is the Holy Ghost that testifies of truth, no one can teach the gospel without this power; a person could say all that they wanted about the gospel, but it would be meaningless in the lives of those they taught. It isn't the convincing of men that must take place; it is the convincing of power of God. It is this witness that changes the lives and hearts of people.
Verses 18-29 deal with basic commandments of Christian living, how we should conduct our lives and how we should treat others. These verses can be summed up by simply saying that our lives should be clean and moral. We should love each other and keep the commandments. One verse says we should not speak evil of our neighbors. I take this to mean that we should not say anything derogatory, meaning disrespectful or critical of others. Even if they never hear it, it still affects us negatively. The Lord sums these verses up saying, "If thou lovest me thou shalt serve me and keep all my commandments." That's a good measuring stick to know if we love him.
Verses 30-42 deal with the law of consecration. This is something that has been misunderstood by so many. How the the law worked was, a member would consecrate all that he has to the church, but keep all that he needed. In a sense we do this today by paying ten per cent tithing and keeping the rest for our needs. With the law of consecration, the person and the bishop discussed how much the church would keep and how much the person would keep. Those who were more wealthy, would have more excess and those who were poor would probably have need of some of that excess. This is a marvelous law. Just think of the millions and billions that are made by the sporting industries, or by lotteries, or other industries that bring in huge amounts of money. If instead of keeping all that money to themselves, they kept what they felt they needed and then gave the excess to hospitals, cancer research, creating jobs for the jobless, the wealth and health of our country would increase tremendously. I admire those that do this. With this law, all are expected to work. A person who did not work, would not receive assistance.
Verses 43-52 give principles for healing the sick and caring for them. We are to heal where it is possible and there is faith to heal, otherwise we bear each other's infirmities with love and care.
Verses 53-92 offer further explanations of the law of consecration. One important passage that we could all do a better of job of applying to our lives is in verses 88-92. If we are offended by someone, we should go to that person so the relationship can be restored to friendly terms. If the offense is serious enough, and the person who offended refuses to reconcile, then the offended person can take the matter before the church authorities. If something is done publicly that is harmful, the person who did the harm would be rebuked publicly. It was a private matter, it would be handled in a private manner.
No comments:
Post a Comment