I hope you enjoy some insights from my Come, Follow Me for Doctrine and Covenants 98-101 If you missed last week’s insight, for Doctrine and Covenants 94-97 click here for it. Please share this with your friends or use this picture to save this pin to read later:
Proclaiming Peace and the Prince of Peace
“Therefore, renounce war and proclaim peace…”
Doctrine and Covenants 98:16
Something that did not hit me until today is one of the meanings of this verse. Satan is the father of war and contention and Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace. When Christ commands us to renounce war and proclaim peace, Christ is telling us to renounce Satan and proclaim Christ! With our action either renounce war, sin, and Satan. Or our actions renounce peace, love, and Christ. To paraphrase Joshua of old: Choose ye this day, but as for me and my house we will renounce Satan and proclaim Christ!
With that being said, one cannot ignore the fact that within the gospel plan, war itself would be denounced. If we truly internalized the fact that were are all brothers and sisters then we, like Moroni of old, would have no desire to shed blood. Marion G. Romney taught this when he declared, “A Latter-day Saint’s attitude toward war should be in harmony with the Lord’s commandment to ‘renounce war and proclaim peace.’ (D&C 98:16.) If all people were faithful Latter-day Saints, there would be no wars.”
But what about our enemies? What about evil? I too have wondered these things and used them as justifications until just recently when I heard the message, “The False Gods we worship” by President Spencer W. Kimball the Spirit called me to repentance. Here is his message on this vital topic:
We are a warlike people, easily distracted from our assignment of preparing for the coming of the Lord. When enemies rise up, we commit vast resources to the fabrication of gods of stone and steel—ships, planes, missiles, fortifications—and depend on them for protection and deliverance. When threatened, we become antienemy instead of pro-kingdom of God; we train a man in the art of war and call him a patriot, thus, in the manner of Satan’s counterfeit of true patriotism, perverting the Savior’s teaching:
“Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
“That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven.” (Matt. 5:44–45.)We forget that if we are righteous the Lord will either not suffer our enemies to come upon us—and this is the special promise to the inhabitants of the land of the Americas (see 2 Ne. 1:7)—or he will fight our battles for us (Ex. 14:14; D&C 98:37, to name only two references of many). This he is able to do, for as he said at the time of his betrayal, “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matt. 26:53.) We can imagine what fearsome soldiers they would be. King Jehoshaphat and his people were delivered by such a troop (see 2 Chr. 20), and when Elisha’s life was threatened, he comforted his servant by saying, “Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them” (2 Kgs. 6:16). The Lord then opened the eyes of the servant, “And he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.” (2 Kgs. 6:17.)
Enoch, too, was a man of great faith who would not be distracted from his duties by the enemy: “And so great was the faith of Enoch, that he led the people of God, and their enemies came to battle against them; and he spake the word of the Lord, and the earth trembled, and the mountains fled, even according to his command; and the rivers of water were turned out of their course; and the roar of the lions was heard out of the wilderness; and all nations feared greatly, so powerful was the word of Enoch.” (Moses 7:13.)
What are we to fear when the Lord is with us? Can we not take the Lord at his word and exercise a particle of faith in him? Our assignment is affirmative: to forsake the things of the world as ends in themselves; to leave off idolatry and press forward in faith; to carry the gospel to our enemies, that they might no longer be our enemies.
The False Gods We Worship By President Spencer W. Kimball June 1976 First Presidency message.
For an amazing Ensign article about the different scriptural meanings of Peace click here: “The Peace of Christ” April 1978
Receiving the Lord’s Servents
“And who receiveth you receiveth me; and you shall have power to declare my word in the demonstration of my Holy Spirit.”
Doctrine and Covenants 99:2
When we accept the Lord’s servants we are accepting Him who sent them. All true followers of Jesus Christ when they hear the glad tidings will accept the message. There are those who are blinded by the craftiness of men, they take more time, but when they recognize the truth they will accept it.
But the reverse also applies, when we reject the servants of Christ, we are rejecting who sent them. We must decide does our loyal fall first to Christ? Or to something else? If it is in Christ, then let us follow Him and the servants whom He has appointed and given the power to act in His name.
If our loyalty rests in creeds, political parties, or ideologies we will find ourselves rejecting our God just like the Jews rejected Christ, in favor of our traditions. I echo the testimony of Elder Maxwell, “I testify that what a wise man wrote is true: ‘If you have not chosen the kingdom of God first, it will in the end make no difference what you have chosen instead.'”
For the Salvation of Souls
“Therefore, I, the Lord, have suffered you to come unto this place; for thus it was expedient in me for the salvation of souls.”
Doctrine and Covenants 100:4
Storytime! In September of 2014, I had just finished five months of working on the East Coast. I was on my way home and excited to see my family. (I was home from my mission only 3 months before I left for work). On my way home I decided to stop by Snowflake Arizona to catch up with some good friends. While I was in Snowflake I got a call from my work. They were asking me to move to Williston North Dakota and work there for a few months. I did NOT want to go. I told them I would think about it, and they told me that they needed me there the following Monday.
After that phone call, I drove down from Snowflake to Phonix to visit one of the converts from my mission in New England. While we had dinner and talked that night he could tell something was bothering me and he asked what it was? I explained the situation, and that I did not want to go to North Dakota, but I felt like I should. He then said, “I got baptized because you told me to follow the Spirit, now you are not?” I looked at him and told him he was right. I called my work back and told them that I would be able to get to North Dakota by the following Monday.
To keep things short, I did get to North Dakota, I had nothing to do except work, so I threw myself at my job and was making nearly 2k a week at it. I was thankful that the Lord was blessing me with work as I needed the money for school. That is when Sunday came around. As I sat down in Church that first Sunday it was testimony meeting. Bishop Packer stood up and said “Some of you think you are here for money…YOU ARE WRONG! You are here to build the Lord’s Kingdom! The Lord never moves His elect for the sake of money but for the salvation of souls!” He then announced that they had six people who had been baptized the day before and that they were going to confirm next.
His testimony with the confirmations hit me like a ton of bricks! The Lord knew the only way He would get me to move to North Dakota was with money when in reality He needed me as a member missionary…It was with that in mind that I contacted the Elders, Will Dudley, and Taylor Sullivan. I asked to go out teaching with them. Throughout the coming weeks, we taught dozens of lessons together. Elder Sullivan taught me how to drive on the snow and ice, and in return, I fed them, a lot, like 3-4 times a week.
I had learned the lesson the Lord was teaching Joseph in Section 100. He does not move His saints for money, but for the salvation of souls. Bishop Packer may never know the impact he had on me. I started writing, I started becoming engaged in sharing the Gospel, all because I was able to internalize the message that God has put me here to bring souls to Christ. It was the experiences in North Dakota that turned me into the member-missionary I am today. True are the words of Thomas S. Monson “There are feet to steady, hands to grasp, minds to encourage, hearts to inspire, and souls to save. The harvest truly is great.”
The Lord Tries His People
“Therefore, they must needs be chastened and tried, even as Abraham, who was commanded to offer up his only son.”
Doctrine and Covenants 101:4
The Lord tutors us through trials. Trials are designed by a loving God to make sure they help us grow. Satan tells three great lies about trials.
- Only the wicked have tirals.
Jesus Christ’s life proves that wrong - If you live righteously you will be insulated from the bad trials.
Joseph Smith’s life disproves that. - No trial set before you is too hard for you.
This is the dirtiest lie of all. Trials are designed like callings. They are meant for us to realize we need God. The reason trials are so awful for so many people is they don’t act humble and turn to God, they act prideful and think “I can muscle my way through this.” Even Jesus Christ had an Angel come and help comfort him during the atonement! Call upon the same aid that is available to you!
For more on trials see The Most Important Reason For Trials That Latter-day Saints often Forget.
And always remember the truth that Elder H. Burke Peterson taught, “trials are an evidence of a Father’s love!”
The Constitution.
“That every man may act in doctrine and principle pertaining to futurity, according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment…
And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood”
Doctrine and Covenants 101:78,80
In this week’s come follow me we come across some very uniquely Latter-day Saint doctrines regarding the Constitution of the United States. In Section 98:5-6 the Lord declares that the Constitution belongs to all men, not just citizens of the United States in verse 5, and in verse 6, the Lord tells the Church that they should befriend the Constitution.
In Section 101:76-80, the Lord declares in verse 77 that the Constitution is meant to maintain the rights and protection of all flesh. In verse 78 the Lord declares Why the Constitution is so important, it is upon the principles of the Constitution that man is set free to use his agency to accept or embrace the gospel! The Lord then declares in verse 80 that ensuring that man had the freedoms vouchsafed by Constitutional Government were the reason that He, The Lord, established the Constitution of the United States by wise men and the shedding of blood!
Why is it so important? In the April 1966 General Conference Marion G. Romney taught that “He [The Lord] has told us that in preparation for the restoration of the gospel, he himself established the Constitution of the United States, and he has plainly told us why he established it. I hope I can get this point over to you. He said he established the Constitution to preserve to men their free agency, because the whole gospel of Jesus Christ presupposes man’s untrammeled exercise of free agency. Man is in the earth to be tested. The issue as to whether he succeeds or fails will be determined by how he uses his agency. His whole future, through all eternity, is at stake. Abridge man’s agency, and the whole purpose of his mortality is thwarted. Without it, the Lord says, there is no existence. (See D&C 93:30.) The Lord so valued our agency that he designed and dictated ‘the laws and constitution’ required to guarantee it.”
For more quotes on the constitution see this collection: 18 Quotes From Modern Prophets and Apostles on the Constitution of the United States