DOCTRINE AND COVENANTS 124-128

Doctrine and Covenants 124

“The Spirit of Mormonism”

This was followed almost immediately by the revelation of the fullness of the ordinances of the temple.

Surely it can be said that the revelations received during this period constitute the strength, power, glory, and genius of Mormonism.

Truly the spirit of Mormonism is the spirit of Nauvoo.

The City of Nauvoo represents the capstone of the ministry of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

Doctrine and Covenants 124:3

There have been five times in the history of the Church that proclamations have been issued by the First Presidency:

1.1841 Invited Saints and others to gather to Nauvoo. It thanked Illinois for

letting them settle there and for the Nauvoo Charter.

2.1845 Proclaimed the Restoration to Kings and Rulers.

3. 1865 New doctrine to be introduced only by President of the Church.

4.1980 Discussed growth of the Church after 150 years.

5.1995 The Family! The three “P’s” and the one “N.”

Doctrine and Covenants 124:7

For they are as grass! Earthly leaders, (temporary) their power and glory are transient.

Doctrine and Covenants 124:12

Robert B. Thompson:

Appointed an associate editor of Times and Seasons in Nauvoo. He died in 1841 at the age of thirty, never able to fulfill the divine commission.

Doctrine and Covenants 124:15

“Hyrum Smith”

Heber J. Grant said:

“No mortal man who ever lived in this Church desired more to do good than did Hyrum Smith, the Patriarch” (C.R., October, 1920, 84).

Hyrum Smith was described by his Prophet brother as having “the mildness of a lamb, and the integrity of Job, and in short, the meekness and humility of Christ” (Smith, HC, 2:338).

When John Taylor looked upon Hyrum’s slain body, reflected, “He was a great and good man, and my soul was cemented to his. If ever there was an exemplary, honest, and virtuous man, an embodiment of all that is noble in the human form, Hyrum Smith was its representative” (Smith, HC, 7:107).

Doctrine and Covenants 124:16

“John C. Bennett”

Served as assistant to the Prophet. He was the first Mayor of Nauvoo in 1841. In May of 1842 he apparently intended to do harm to the Prophet during a mock battle conducted by the Nauvoo Legion.

He was guilty of adultery and of teachings that his illicit sexual behavior was condoned by church leaders.

He started “spiritual wifery” and told the women he seduced that Joseph was also living it for it was a Celestial Law and only a few were chosen to live it.

He was well educated and possessed many accomplishments. He was a physician, a university professor, and brigadier general. He was a good man, but fell into adultery.

He was excommunicated and became a bitter enemy to the Church. He slandered and spread falsehoods about Joseph Smith and the Church. He was one of the reasons Carthage Jail became a reality.

He spoke in eleven major cities against Joseph Smith and Mormonism and wrote a book which did the same.

Joseph Smith told him if he did not repent of his sins and sin no more, the curse of God Almighty would rest upon him, that he would die a vagabond without friends. He died August 1867 in Iowa a miserable pauper with a hard fate.

Doctrine and Covenants 124:20-21

“George Miller”

He was the first Bishop in this dispensation of a regular ward.

At the suggestion of the Prophet Joseph Smith, the city council divided Nauvoo into four political divisions called wards on March 1st, 1841 (Smith, HC, 4:305-6).

Consequently, four bishops, Newel K. Whitney, George Miller, Isaac Higbee, and Vinson Knight (D&C 124:141), were assigned to preside over these areas.

On 20 August 1842 the Nauvoo Stake High Council determined, “that the city of Nauvoo be divided into ten (ecclesiastical) wards.

Doctrine and Covenants 124:28

“The Patriarchal Order”

It is in the temple we enter into the patriarchal order, the order of priesthood that bears the name “the new and everlasting covenant of marriage” (New Witness, 315).

Doctrine and Covenants 124:29

“Baptism for the Dead”

The revelation on baptism for the dead came while the Twelve were laboring in the British Isles.

Doctrine and Covenants 124:31-35

“Baptismal font dedicated”

Before the Nauvoo temple was completed, the baptismal font was dedicated by the Prophet Joseph Smith.

The Prophet Joseph Smith said, “If we neglect the salvation of our dead, we do it at the peril of our own salvation!”

In the fear that he might be killed before the Nauvoo Temple was completed, the Prophet was prompted to administer the ordinances of the temple to the Quorum of the Twelve and a few other trusted Saints before construction of the temple was completed.

Doctrine and Covenants 124:28

“Fullness of the Priesthood”

President Joseph Fielding Smith wrote:

Joseph Smith said, “If a man gets a fullness of the Priesthood of God, he has to get it in the same way that Jesus Christ obtained it, and that was by keeping all the commandments and having all the ordinances of the house of the Lord” (HC, 5:424).

“I hope we understand that if we want to receive the fullness of the Priesthood of God, then we must receive the Fullness of the ordinances of the house of the Lord and keep his commandments.

Doctrine and Covenants 124:29-36

“Baptisms for the Dead!”

First mentioned at Seymour Brunson’s funeral in 1840. Seymour was a High Priest and died at the age of forty I the home of Joseph Smith because of an illness.

Doctrine and Covenants 124:36

This has been fulfilled in the building of small Temples that share the ground, parking lots with Stake Centers.

D&C 124:39 “The Endowment”

President Brigham Young instructed the Saints on the significance of the endowment in the latter days. He reminded them that the first elders received only a portion of their endowments in the Kirtland Temple, terming them “introductory, or initiatory ordinances, preparatory to an endowment.”

He then defined the meaning of endowment:

“Your endowment is to receive all those ordinances in the House of the Lord, which are necessary for you, after you have departed this life, to enable you to walk back to the presence of the Father, passing the angels who stand as sentinels, being enabled to give them key words, the signs and tokens, pertaining to the Holy Priesthood, and gain your eternal exaltation in spite of earth and hell (Brigham Young, JD, 2:31-32).

The Nauvoo Temple

It took all the peoples time and energies for nearly 3 years and was used less than 6 weeks after its formal dedication.

1. It was the fifth temple contemplated by the early Church and the second one built.

2. Independence, Far West, and Adam-ondi-ahman were not yet built.

3. The construction took more than five years (Jan. 1841–May 1846).

4. Section 124 is the revelation in which the commandment to build the Nauvoo Temple was received.

5. April 6th, 1841, the cornerstones were laid, which included a Bible with the Apocrypha cut out and pasted in it, because the Bible being used didn’t have one in it (Reynold Calhoon).

6. Nov 21, 1841, the first baptisms were performed in it. 7. Dec. 10, 1845 – Feb. 1846 endowments were given to 5,600 members. 8. May 1st, 1846, official prayer of dedication was offered by Orson Hyde.9. Oct. 9, 1848, interior of the temple was burned by an arsonist. 10. May 27, 1850, a tornado demolished three of the

exterior walls. 11. 1856, the last remaining wall was leveled for safety reasons. Keep in mind that on May 4th, 1842, Joseph Smith began to administer the ordinances revealed to him (Washings, Anointing's, and the Endowment).

Where? Second floor of the Red Brick Store.

Almon Whiting Babbitt D&C 124:84

Born in Massachussets in 1812, died September 1856 in Nebraska while traveling to the Salt Lake Valley. He was killed by Cheyenne Indians.

It was reported that he “fought like a tiger, fired all his arms, then clubbed his rifle and fought the whole twelve savages, disputing every inch.

During his first eight years in the Church, Almon struggled to comply with Church leadership. In 1835 he was ordained to the First Quorum of Seventy.

Stake President of Kirtland in 1840.

He graduated as an attorney-at-law from the State University at Cincinnati and had obtained licenses to practice law in six states.

The day before the martyrdom Patriarch John Smith visited his nephew Joseph in Carthage Jail and received instructions to “tell Almon that Joseph wanted him to assist him as an attorney at his expected trial. He delivered the message to which Almon replied, “You are too late, I am already engaged on the other side.

Heber C. Kimball said, “My house was sold for seventeen hundred dollars, intended to be used to help to gather the Saints; but Almon W. Babbitt put it in his pocket, I suppose.

In 1852 Almon was appointed by the president of the United States Franklin Pierce as secretary of the territory of Utah.

Samuel Bent: D&C 124:132

A well-respected member of the Presbyterian and Congregationalist churches. He was a deacon in the 1830’s of Presbyterian church in Pontiac, Michigan.

While visiting relatives in Pontiac, Lucy Mack Smith was introduced to Samuel’s Presbyterian pastor, Mr. Ruggles, who said, “And you are the mother of that poor, foolish, silly boy, Joe Smith, who pretended to translate the Book of Mormon.” Her retort to the pastor was faithfully pointed, and included the statement, “Mark my words --- as true as God lives, before three years we will have more than one-third of your church; and, sir, whether you believe it or not, we will take the very deacon, too.” Her remarks evoked “ a hearty laugh at the expense of the minister.

Within a few months Mormon Elder Jared Carter was preaching in Pontiac and went immediately into the midst of Mr. Ruggles’ church. In a short time he brought away seventy of his best members, among whom was a deacon named Samuel Bent just as Mother Smith had told the minister (History of Joseph Smith by His Mother, Bookcraft, 1954 215-16).

In January 1833 Samuel was baptized and ordained an elder by Jared Carter.

He attended the School of the Prophets and was present at the dedication of the Kirtland Temple in Ohio before joining the Saints in Liberty, Missouri.

He served on the Far West high council and was imprisoned in Richmond Jail for nearly three weeks.

At the age of 68 Samuel died.

The glory of his death is, that he died in the full triumphs of faith and knowledge of the truth of our holy religion, exhorting his friends to be faithful; having three days previous received intimations of his approaching end by three holy messengers from on high (LDS Biographical Encyclopedia 1:368).

Jesse Baker D&C 124:137

Born in January of 1778 at Rhode Island. Died in 1846 in Iowa.

He was a shoemaker and herb doctor. In 1837 he became an elder. He was called to be a counselor to John A. Hicks in the elders quorum presidency. He was ordained a high priest in 1845 and died a faithful member at the age of 68 in Iowa.

A notable event during his early Church years was his receiving of a vision with journalist John Pulsipher and John’s father, Elias.

One pleasant day in March, 1838, while I was at work in the woods, about one mile from the Temple, with father, Elias Pulsipher and Jesse Barker, there was a steamboat past over Kirtland in the air!...When we first heard the distant noise, we all stopped work….When it got down to the city it was seen by a number of persons. It was a large fine and beautiful boat, painted in the finest style. It was filled with people. All seemed full of joy….As it arrived over the Temple a part of it broke off and turned black and went north and was soon out of sight, while the boat, all in perfect shape, went to the west more beautiful and pure than before (Autobiography of John Pulsipher, typescript, 2, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah).

Doctrine and Covenants 126

Brigham Young was born to teach the gospel.

In 1840 Brigham Young accompanied by Heber C. Kimball, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, George A. Smith, and Reuben Hedlock, left New York for a mission to Great Britain, where he labored with great success.

Of that missionary experience he said, “through the mercy of God we gained many friends, established churches in almost every noted town and city in the Kingdom of Great Britain, baptized between seven and eight thousand souls, printed 5,000 Books of Mormon, 3,000 Hymn Books, 2,500 volumes of the Millennial Star, and 50,000 tracts” (Young, History, 1).

Doctrine and Covenants 126:1

The Lord called Brigham Young to remain in Nauvoo and direct the work as President of the Quorum of the Twelve. The wisdom of such a move was clearly seen in later years when Brigham Young was chosen by the Lord to succeed Joseph Smith.

The Prophet Joseph was the leading inspiration of Brigham Young’s life; spent in the Prophet’s presence, Brigham Young once said:

No pain was too severe, no inconvenience too great to be where Joseph was and learn of him.

“In the days of the Prophet Joseph, such moments were more precious to me than all the wealth of the world. No matter how great my poverty – if I had to borrow meal to feed my wife and children – I never let an opportunity pass of learning what the Prophet had to impart” (In Nibley, Brigham Young, 28).

Doctrine and Covenants 126:2-3

President Brigham Young said:

“I came into this Church in the spring of 1832. Previous to my being baptized I took a mission to Canada at my own expense; and from the time that I was baptized until the day of our sorrow and affliction, at the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum, no summer passed over my head but what I was traveling and preaching, and the only thing I ever received from the Church, during the twelve years, and the only means that were ever given me by the Prophet, that I now recollect was in 1842, when brother Joseph sent me the half of a small pig that the brethren had brought to him. I did not ask him for it” (JD, 4:34).

Doctrine and Covenants 127:1

Falsehood in the blackest dye:

Joseph Smith was a defendant in forty-six lawsuits, and every time Mr. Priest (a priest or a preacher) was at the head of it and led the band or mob hunted and persecuted him. And when Joseph and Hyrum were slain in Carthage jail, the mob, painted like Indians, was led by a preacher (JD, 14:199).

“Joseph Smith, in forty-seven prosecutions was never proven guilty of one violation of the laws of his country. They accused him of treason, because he would not fellowship their wickedness” (Brigham Young, JD, 10:111).

D&C 128: BAPTISMS FOR THE DEAD

Baptism for the dead was first publicly announced on 15 August 1840 at the funeral of Seymour Brunson.

Immediately after the announcement of the new doctrine, Church members began performing proxy baptisms in the Mississippi river and in local streams.

While those administering these vicarious ordinances in 1840 were not without authority, the actions were not recorded; consequently the baptisms were later repeated.

On 3 October 1841 Joseph Smith declared, “There shall be no more baptisms for the dead, until the ordinances can be attended to in the Lord’s House….For thus saith the Lord.”

Baptisms for the dead in the Nauvoo Temple were first performed on Sunday, 21 November 1841.

With few exceptions, endowments and sealings for the dead were first administered in the St. George, Utah, Temple.

Doctrine and Covenants 128

Few doctrines show the love of God more than baptisms for the dead!

Doctrine and Covenants 128:1-2

Nothing that is done in the temple will be accepted of the Lord, except it is properly witnessed and recorded (C.R., 1900, Elder Rudger Clawson).

Doctrine and Covenants 128:6

The Book of Life is literally the record kept in heaven of the names and righteous deeds of the faithful (Mormon Doctrine, 97).

Doctrine and Covenants 128:12

The Lord has placed the baptismal font in our temples below the foundation, or the surface of the earth. This is symbolical, since the dead are in their graves, and we are working for the dead when we are baptized for them. Moreover, baptism is also symbolical of death and the resurrection, in fact, is virtually a resurrection from this life of sin, or from spiritual death, to the life of spiritual life. Therefore, when the dead have had this ordinance performed in their behalf they are considered to have been brought back into the presence of God, just as this doctrine is applied to the living” (Church History and Modern Revelation, 2:332).

Doctrine and Covenants 128:14-18

Baptism for the dead helps to prevent the earth from being smitten with a curse.

As President Joseph Fielding Smith taught, “If Elijah had not come, we are led to believe that all the work of past ages would have been of little avail, for the Lord said the whole earth, under such conditions, would be utterly wasted at his coming.

Why Would the Earth Be Wasted?

Simply because if there is not a welding link between the fathers and the children which is the work for the dead – then we will all stand rejected; the whole work of God will fail and be utterly wasted. Such a condition, of course, shall not be” (Doctrines of Salvation, 2:121-22).

Doctrine and Covenants 128:15

“Salvation is a community affair”

Salvation is a community affair, and the covenant of salvation is made with the community of Saints rather than with people individually.

Would those men who laid the foundation of this American Government and signed the Declaration of Independence have called upon me, as an Elder in Israel, to perform that work if they had not been noble spirits before God? They would not. I bear testimony because it is true. The spirit of God bore record to myself and the brethren while we were laboring in that way to do temple work (Temples of the Most High, 82).

To President Woodruff they said, “You have had the use of the Endowment House for a number of years and yet nothing has ever been done for us. We laid the foundation of the government you now enjoy, and we never apostatized from it, but we remained true to it and were faithful to God” (JD, 19:229).

Elder George F. Richards taught: “The ordinances of the Gospel have virtue in them by reason of the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, and without it there would be no virtue in them for salvation” (In Madsen, “Temple and Atonement,” 72).

Accordingly, if we want to better understand a saving ordinance and its symbolism, we might appropriately ask, “How does this ordinance relate to the Atonement of Jesus Christ? (Tad R. Callister, The Infinite Atonement, 279).

Doctrine and Covenants 128:20

“No formal account exists of the restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood”

We have two reminiscences that bear examination.

Addison Everett in a letter to Oliver B. Huntington written in 1881 states as follows:

“I heard the following conversation between Joseph & Hyrum a few days before they were martyred..

“…Oliver Cowdery was spoken of and Joseph went on to state that ‘at Colesville he and Oliver were under arrest on charge of deceiving the people and in court he stated that the first miracle done was to create this earth.’ About that time his attorney told the court that he wanted to see Mr. Smith alone for a few moments. When alone Mr. Reid said that there was a mob in front of the house and hoisting the window, Joseph and Oliver went to the woods in a few rods, it being night, and they traveled until Oliver was exhausted and Joseph almost carried him through the mud and water. They traveled all night and just at the break of day Oliver gave out entirely and exclaimed “O! Lord! How long Brother Joseph have we got to endure this thing,”

“Brother Joseph said that at that very time Peter, James and John came to them and ordained them to the apostleship.

“They had 16 or 17 miles to travel to get back to Mr. Hales his father in law, and Oliver did not complain anymore of fatigue” (Porter, “Priesthood Restored”, 403).

Elements of this account can be accepted but only with some reservation.

John Reid was involved in Joseph Smith’s June-July 1830 trial, which took place a year later than Brother Everett is remembering it. In relation to the fleeing from enemies, however, Erastus Snow gave a similar account in an address given at conference held in Logan, Utah, in 1882:

“In due course of time, as we read in the history which he (Joseph) has left, Peter, James and John appeared to him – it was a period when they were being pursued by their enemies and they had to travel all night, and in the dawn of the coming day when they were weary and worn, who should appear to them but Peter, James and John, for the purpose of conferring upon them the Apostleship, they keys of which they themselves had held while upon the earth, which had been bestowed upon them by the Savior. This Priesthood conferred upon them by those three messengers embraces within it all offices of the Priesthood from the highest to the lowest” (JD, 23:183).

Doctrine and Covenants 128:21

“Gabriel, and of Raphael”

The Prophet learned by revelation that Gabriel was Noah (Teachings, 157).

Raphael may have been Enoch.

This conclusion is deduced by listing the six major gospel dispensations prior to our own – Adam’s, Enoch’s, Noah’s, Abraham’s, Moses’, and the meridian of time, and then noting that we can identify someone coming to restore keys from each of them except Enoch’s. Since we have both a name and a dispensation unaccounted for, the answer may be found in putting the two together.

Doctrine and Covenants 128:22

So great a cause?

Never has a people had to opportunity to do so much for so many as do the L.D.S., however, if they fail in the effort they do so at the peril of their own salvation. (Teachings, 193).

Every Latter-day Saint should feel the urgency of the work and wear out his life in this selfless service.

The greatest service we will ever render will be doing temple work.