I hope you enjoy some insights from my Come, Follow Me for Doctrine and Covenants 60-63. Because I missed last week I combined it with this week. For insights on Doctrine and Covenants 58-59 click here for it. Please share this with your friends or use this picture to save this pin to read later
Our Missionary Duty.
“But with some I am not well pleased, for they will not open their mouths, but they hide the talent which I have given unto them, because of the fear of man. Wo unto such, for mine anger is kindled against them.”
Doctrine and Covenants 60:2
When we think about missionary work we often think of young men and young women going on missions to exotic areas of the world to declare the Gospel. But in reality, the majority of missionary work you will do won’t be in Mozambique or in Cambodia, It will be right down the street from where you live. We have a duty to share the gospel with our family, friends, and neighbors.
In this section of the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord says that He is unhappy with those who refuse to share the gospel. The excuses they make are irrelevant, the cause the Lord declared is that they fear man. Often we fear man and the potential ‘harm’ that could come if we share the gospel and get rejected. We could lose a friendship, a job, or be ostracized by a family member! But that is the fear of man speaking. One day each one of us will give an accounting for our duty. We will stand before God and I doubt that explaining our fear of men will be a justifiable rationale. Rather than fear men, let us raise our voice and lovingly declare the gospel and the plan of Salvation. For if we fail in our duty to declare the gospel, God will hold us accountable for the blood and sins of those whom we would’ve saved. John Taylor taught that “God will hold you responsible for those whom you might have saved had you done your duty.”
Alpha and Omega
“ Behold, and hearken unto the voice of him who has all power, who is from everlasting to everlasting, even Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.”
Doctrine and Covenants 61:1
I recently read an Ensign article where Jeffrey R. Holland expounds upon this title that the Lord uses. I loved it so much that I want to share it with y’all:
I Am Alpha
To John on the Isle of Patmos, the resurrected Jesus announced himself, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, … which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” (Rev. 1:8.) Nothing is so pervasive in our lives, nothing so encompassing and enfolding and upholding, as the Savior of this world and the Redeemer of all men. Alpha, the first letter of the Greek alphabet, suggests commencement and inception. “… I was in the beginning with the Father, …” he reveals (D&C 93:21), and, as the Firstborn, he stood at the right hand of the Father in the councils of heaven and in the work of creation. It was by our unity with him (as he was one with the Father) that we survived a great conflict between good and evil before this world was created. By the “blood of the Lamb, and by the word of [our] testimony,” we overcame the opposition of Satan, “that old serpent, called the Devil” (see Rev. 12:7–11), and we saw him cast out into the earth ahead of us. Reaching back in time to scenes untouched by memory but still resonant in our souls, we realize that even then we recognized the role of one who, as both friend and brother, would pave for us the narrow path of perfection. However little we know of our premortal state, we know that this beloved Son of God strengthened our convictions and created this world to which we would come. He was “the firstborn of every creature.” (Col. 1:15.) I am Alpha.
I Am Omega
As he was in the beginning, so will he be when this world ends. As Omega, a name taken from the last letter of the Greek alphabet, Christ is the terminus, the end cause as well as the end result of mortal experience. At his coming we will know what we might have become. John wrote, “… now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” (1 Jn. 3:2.)
Hopefully, we will be very much like him—not in sovereignty or station or degree of sacrifice, but perhaps in some portion of virtue and love and obedience. He will come to reign as the Messiah, Lord of lords and King of kings, and we will call him Master. In this finality, which is for the redeemed a beginning, the Lord of this earth will come, in Solomon’s language, as “fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners.” (Song 6:10.) I am Omega.
I Am Alpha and Omega
These letters from the Greek suggest the universal role of Jesus from the beginning of the world to its end. But he ought to be Alpha and Omega in the particular as well—our personal beginning and our individual end—that model by which we shape our journey of three score years and ten, and the standard by which we measure it at its conclusion.
In every choice we make, he ought to be our point of reckoning, our charted course, our only harbor ahead. He should be for us individually what he is for all men collectively—the very brackets of existence, the compass of our privilege. We should not stray outside him. We should not want to try. I am Alpha and Omega.
It mattereth not.
“And then you may return to bear record, yea, even altogether, or two by two, as seemeth you good, it mattereth not unto me; only be faithful, and declare glad tidings unto the inhabitants of the earth, or among the congregations of the wicked.”
Doctrine and Covenants 62:5
There is a dangerous trend I have found among members of the Church, some members think that personal revelation can be used to replace our agency. What do I mean? Simply put, we believe that we can ask God any question and expect Him to answer. On my mission, I met a lady who claimed she did not even get dressed or eat lunch unless it was what the Spirit directed her to do. She would ask, should I eat this food or that food and wait for ‘revelation.’ This is what I call begging revelation. When you seek revelation incessantly that violates the two guiding principles of revelation you are never going to receive revelation from The Spirit. And if you do receive ‘a revelation’ it will be from Satan and the spirits that follow him. Needless to say, this lady who told me the spirit literally tells her what to eat and what to wear was less active because ‘the spirit’ told her that her priesthood leaders were wrong on XY or Z subject. (If you don’t know what the two guiding principles of revelation are, I suggest you read this article I wrote about them).
What it comes down to is that there is a LOT of wiggle room in the Plan of Salvation. With the exception of a few rare cases, you were not foreordained to go to a specific college, or marry a specific person. This is why questions like “What should I study at college?” or “Should I marry this person?” are inappropriate. Whereas these are legitimate questions, we can’t expect God to answer questions that take away our need to use our agency. Oliver Cowdrey made this same mistake, and the Lord corrected him for taking “no thought save it was to ask” (D&C 9:7-8). The Lord expects us to use our agency to study it out, to think about it, come to what we think is a proper conclusion, and then go before Him in prayer with our conclusion and ask for confirmation.
For example, “I want to be a Doctor, is that within Thy plan?” or “I want to marry this person, is that within Thy plan?” When it is within our stewardship and we exercise our agency to make a choice; then we are ensured we are acting within our purview when we ask for confirmation. But many times it simply does not matter. Elder Hartman Rector, Jr. addressed this idea that the Lord will give us all the details when he taught: “Sometimes young people get upset because they do not know what profession to follow. They feel it is so vital that they must have a revelation from the Lord, so they will know what to do with their lives. Generally speaking, I’m not sure that the Lord really cares what we choose as a vocation–whether we are a plumber or a librarian–so long as we keep the commandments of God.”
As you read the scriptures take notice of how often the Lord says things like it mattereth not, or does not matter. Returning to the story of the lady I shared at the start of this insight. ‘it mattereth not.’ So use your agency wisely, follow the principles of revelation. Study things out in your mind, seek confirmation, and remember, a lot of the time, it simply does not matter.
Taking The Name Of The Lord In Vain.
“For behold, verily I say, that many there be who are under this condemnation, who use the name of the Lord, and use it in vain, having not authority.”
Doctrine and Covenants 63:62
Often when we hear the phrase “taking the name of the Lord in vain” we think of swearing. But this verse shows it is much deeper. It is doing things “in the name of Jesus” without authority. This verse is decrying false priesthoods. But it also applies to those who hold the Priesthood and don’t live worthy of it. Elder Joseph Anderson taught, “of what good is the priesthood to one if he does not honor it and live worthy of that great power?”
Now, least you think this only refers to the men who have been ordianined to the Priesthood, remember, all members, men and women, are given authority within the Priesthood. How to you sustain those whom have priesthood authority in your life? How do you keep your temple comvenants? When you partake of the Sacrament and renew your convenants are you taking His name in vain? Or are you really recommiting and renewing your covenants?