This revelation was given to James Covill on January 5th 1831. Little is known about him. He had been a Baptist minister for 40 but said he would keep any commandments the Lord gave him through the Prophet Joseph Smith. As a result, this revelation has the Lord telling him to be baptized and do missionary work. He is given great promises of power and faith and success and his first mission is to be in Ohio, not the eastern states as he seemed to think. I find it interesting the the revelation also states that in the past, he has rejected the Lord many times because of "pride and the cares of the world." And he is told, that if he rejects these things, he is rejecting the Lord. If he receives the gospel and the revelations, he is receiving the Lord.
Sometime not long after in the same month, Covill rejects the church and returns to the Baptist church. The Lord in Section 40 stated that "he received the word with gladness, but straightway Satan tempted him; and the fear of persecution and the cares of the word caused him to reject the word. Wherefore he broke my covenant, and it remaineth with me to do with him as seemeth me good." It is not known if he was ever baptized.
This reminds me of the parable of the sower. Of the seeds the sower cast, some were cast on stony places. In Matthew 13, the Lord says, "But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended." A true gospel will always require rigorous discipleship. Our blessings must in some way result from the kind of effort that reflects an appreciation for the price that has been paid in our behalf.
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