I hope you enjoy some insights from my Come, Follow Me for Doctrine and Covenants 111-114 If you missed last week’s insight, for Doctrine and Covenants 109-110 click here for it. Please share this with your friends or use this picture to save this pin to read later:
God’s plan and timing.
“Therefore, be ye as wise as serpents and yet without sin; and I will order all things for your good, as fast as ye are able to receive them. Amen.”
Doctrine and Covenants 111:11
God desires to bless us, all things will work together for our good. But only as fast as we will receive them. How often do we resist the will of the Father? When someone is appointed unto death, how often do we pray that they are healed? When a relationship is not meant to pan out, how often do we try to force it? Or when something is promised, how often do we doubt it will come when the Lord tests our patience?
It reminds me of a story about President Marion G. Romney. His wife (Ida) had a stroke. He gave her a blessing but he did not bless her to be healed. He merely said, “Thy will be done O Lord.” He wanted to make sure his prayers and blessing were aligned with the will of the Lord.
After months of fasting and prayer, his wife’s situation got worse. They put her on life support and recommended he take her off it. Brother Romney prayed asking for help to understand the will of the Lord. At 2 AM he read Helaman 10:4-5: “Blessed art thou, . . . for those things which thou hast done. . . . And thou . . . hast not sought thine own life, but hast sought my will, and to keep my commandments.”
He fell to his knees in prayer and heard “It is not contrary to My will that Ida be healed.”He put on his tie and suit and drove to the hospital. Arriving just before 3 AM. Laying his hands on his wife who has been in a vegetive state for weeks now. He blessed her to recover fully, with no side effects and stated that she still had a mission to fulfill.
As he lifted his hands off her head she opened her eyes and said: “For goodness’ sake, Marion, what are you doing here?” She started her miraculous recovery from that very moment. Later Marion G. Romney was called to serve in the 1st Presidency of the Church and his wife aided him in those efforts. (See: The Will of the Father Jan. 17, 1989)
In the words of Elder Neal A. Maxwell, “The issue for us is trusting God enough to trust also His timing. If we can truly believe He has our welfare at heart, may we not let His plans unfold as He thinks best?”
The humility cycle.
“Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers.”
Doctrine and Covenants 112:10
I feel like sometimes we focus so much on pride and the pride cycle that we completely forget humility and the humility cycle. We forget that you can’t just focus on not being prideful, the way to prevent pride is by being humble.
This verse was given to Thomas B. Marsh, he was told to be humble. Because he did not humble himself he fell into the trap of pride and apostatized. We don’t realize that humility is one of the basic building blocks of a Christ-like life.
As Richard G. Scott put it. “Humility is the precious, fertile soil of righteous character. It germinates the seeds of personal growth. When cultivated through the exercise of faith, pruned by repentance, and fortified by obedience and good works, such seeds produce the cherished fruit of spirituality.”
To learn more about the humility cycle and how trials teach us to be humble click here.
“Thus saith the Lord”
“Verily thus saith the Lord: It is Christ.”
Doctrine and Covenants 113:2
Why do I love Doctrine and Covenants 113:2? It is simple. In every other church to figure out the will of the Lord they debate it, they analyze it, and ultimately, they vote on what they think is doctrine.
That is how the creeds came about. That is how every false doctrine from having a closed canon, to absolute depravity, to the Trinity, and more. Each time the church or splinter group has an issue they take it up and settle it by the word, vote, and opinion of men.
In NO other church do the leaders claim to Prophets or Apostles. So the phrase ” thus saith the Lord” is unknown to them. An unchanging God who has always spoken to his people by ” thus saith the Lord” apparently has stopped?
God forbid! I refuse to believe in a dead gospel and church! Christ is alive, He still speaks! And His chosen Prophets and Apostles still say ” thus saith the Lord” and declare the mind, will, and admonition of the Lord! I add my testimony to that of Elder Theodore M. Burton, “True apostles and prophets now live who can and do say, ‘Thus saith the Lord!'”
Prophetic infallibility.
“For verily thus saith the Lord, that inasmuch as there are those among you who deny my name, others shall be planted in their stead and receive their bishopric. Amen.”
Doctrine and Covenants 114:2
This verse in Section 114 teaches that sometimes Priesthood leaders go rogue. They can be removed from their office. In Latter-day Saint theology, we do not believe in prophetic infallibility. IE, the notion that the prophet/apostles can do no wrong. They are not gods, they are men. And are subject to apostasy. (Remember half the original apostles apostatized in Kirkland).
One of the great ironies is the fact that the Catholic church teaches that the Pope is infallible and the people don’t believe it. And The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that the Apostles and Prophet ARE fallible and the people don’t believe it!
There are two VERY important truths on this topic of prophetic infallibility that must be understood in conjunction with each other. Both by Joseph Smith: First, “A prophet [is] a prophet only when he [is] acting as such.” (Joseph Smith, in History of the Church, 5:265.). And Second: “if you will stay with the majority of the Twelve Apostles, and the records of the Church, you will never be led astray.” (Quoted in Young Woman’s Journal, Dec. 1906, p. 543; see also Ensign, June 1994, p. 15.)
Addressing the first point that a prophet is only a prophet when he is acting as a prophet, one must understand that not all statements by prophets and apostles are prophetic. Many times prophets and apostles give their own opinion, in conversations and books, and in other meetings. D. Todd Christofferson touching this topic said, “At the same time it should be remembered that not every statement made by a Church leader, past or present, necessarily constitutes doctrine. It is commonly understood in the Church that a statement made by one leader on a single occasion often represents a personal, though well-considered, opinion, not meant to be official or binding for the whole Church.”
For more help on this topic see this article: How Can I Tell if a Quote From a General Authority is Authoritative? which teaches what is authoritative vs what is not.
Addressing the second point, that we won’t be led astray if we follow, one must understand acceptability vs infallibility. We often think of revelation as railroad tracks, there is only one thing that can be done. It is a simple binary option, you are on the tracks or not. Therefore infallibility would mean you won’t go off the tracks. Therefore, if revelation was like a railroad then being assured you won’t go astray if you follow and that the prophets are not infallible would be mutually exclusive.
But revelation is not like railroad tracks, it is like a big highway. God’s plan has a BUNCH of wiggle room or gray areas that there are multiple acceptable options. Rather than only having one valid option “stay on the tracks” there are many lanes that can be used to get to our destination. The Prophet’s job is to seek revelation from the Lord on which lanes (polices and practices) the Church should move into. The Prophet, we are promised, won’t lead us astray, or in other words, he won’t drive the car into the ditch.
Infallibility would be that the best choice is always picked. But the best choice is not always picked, an acceptable one is. The Prophet prays, seeks revelation if the choice is acceptable. If it is acceptable, IE, won’t lead the Church into the ditch, then they move forward with it.
Say they, the Brethren, are trying to address the issue of children of those in gay marriage within the Church. The idea is that a policy adjustment should be made treating gay marriage like polygamy, IE an act of marital apostasy that prevents children from being baptized until they can move out of the house so as not to pit children against parents.
They pray, ask God, “Is this acceptable?” And the Lord says, “Yes, this is within the Plan’s limits.” So the Prophet moves the Church into the left lane so to speak. Once in that lane, the side effects are far worse than they thought it would be. Even though it is acceptable to the Lord, and within His plan’s they then go to the Lord and ask if it is acceptable to move to a different lane because this trial is too burdensome. If the Lord says NO, they’d stay. But if He says yes, they move over into another lane. If the prophet tried to move the Church even though the Lord said No, he would be removed from his office.
Understanding how revelation is not like railroad tracks but rather a highway is KEY to understanding how we can believe that the prophet is not infallible yet still teach that we should follow the prophet! This concept is what Wilford Woodruff attempted to teach when he said, “The Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as President of this Church to lead you astray. It is not in the programme. It is not in the mind of God. If I were to attempt that, the Lord would remove me out of my place, and so He will any other man who attempts to lead the children of men astray from the oracles of God and from their duty.”