Lessons from the Doctrine and Covenants 2021
Lesson No. One
The Lord’s Voice of Warning Unto All People (Particularly Members of His Church) - D&C 1
Vs 1 – The Lord’s voice of warning is to all people, but the first group called upon to “harken” are the “people of my church” (D&C 1:1) – D&C 1 the Lord’s preface to the Doctrine and Covenants, contains several warnings to all people, but members of the Lord’s Church have a greater need and a greater responsibility to “Hearken.”
Vs 14 – Members of the Church “who will not hear the voice of the Lord, neither the voice of his servants, neither give heed to the words of the prophets and apostles shall be cut off from among the people” (D&C 1:14) – Members of His Church are often called upon to raise our hand to indicate that we sustain those who the Lord has called as prophets and apostles.
Vs 15 – The only safe course in navigating modern life is to stay in the mainstream of the Church – Concerning those members, who by their actions, do not sustain these leaders the Lord said, “they have strayed from mine ordinances, and have broken mine everlasting covenant” (D&C 1:15) – To His people who sustain His servants, by the way they live, the Lord promises most remarkable blessings:
“Wherefore, meaning the church, thou shalt give heed unto all his (Joseph Smith and his successors) words and commandments which he shall give unto you as he receiveth them, walking in all holiness before me; For his word ye shall receive, as if from mine own mouth, in all patience and faith.
“For by doing these things the gates of hell shall not prevail against you; yea, and the Lord God will disperse the powers of darkness from before you, and cause the heavens to shake for your good, and his name’s glory” (D&C 21:4-6).
V 16 – The Lord warns those who “walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own god, whose image is in the likeness of the world, and whose substance is that of an idol – On the Bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence, President Spencer W. Kimball wrote a landmark message to members of the Church. The title was The False Gods We Worship. His theme was idolatry:
“The Brethren constantly cry out against that which is intolerable in the sight of the Lord: against pollution of mind, body, and our surroundings; against vulgarity, stealing, lying, pride, and blasphemy; against fornication, adultery, homosexuality, and all other abuses of the sacred power to create; against murder and all that is like unto it; against all manner of desecration.
“That such a cry should be necessary among a people so blessed is amazing to me. And that such things should be found even among the Saints to some degree is scarcely believable, for these are a people who are in possession of many gifts of the Spirit, who have knowledge that puts the eternities into perspective, who have been shown the way to eternal life.
“Sadly, however, we find that to be shown the way is not necessarily to walk in it, and many have not been able to continue in faith. These have submitted themselves in one degree or another to the enticings of Satan and his servants and joined with those of “the world” in lives of ever-deepening idolatry.
“I use the word idolatry intentionally. As I study ancient scripture, I am more and more convinced that there is significance in the fact that the commandment ‘Thou shalt have no other gods before me’ is the first of the Ten Commandments….
“Whatever thing a man sets his heart and his trust in most is his god; and if his god doesn’t also happen to be the true and living God of Israel, that man is laboring in idolatry” (Ensign, June 1976).
Vs. 30 – “The only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth, with which I the Lord, am well pleased, speaking unto the church collectively and not individually – When D&C 1 was given to on November 1, 1831 the Church was 1.5 years old with few members, and the Lord was pleased with the Church, collectively or as an organization, because it was His Church. However, the Lord made it clear that some of the individual members of the Church needed to repent. (See Vs 31-33)
Today the Church has come out of obscurity and has over 16 million members worldwide, and the Lord is still pleased with the Church, collectively and as an organization, because it is still His Church. As in the early days many individual members need to repent, and if they do they will be forgiven. “And he that does not repent, from him shall be taken even the light which he has received” (Vs 33).
Vs 34-35 – “I the Lord am willing to make these things known unto all flesh; For I am no respecter of persons” – The Lord is re-emphasizing what the Book of Mormon teaches that the Lord invites “all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he rembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile” (2 Nephi 26:33).
Because “God loves His children in every nation of the world” (Proclamation of the Restoration of the Gospel), and if we desire to be like Him, we will strive to love as He loves.
Vs 38 – “What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself….whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same” – Some think they need to apologize for what the Lord or His prophets may have said on the controversial issues the world is always debating. This is the first step to apostacy, and in all events will ultimately lead to unhappiness.
Testimony – Because the Lord loves all people, He gives them commandments - “Wherefore, I the Lord, knowing the calamity which should come upon the inhabitants of the earth, called upon my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and spake unto him from heaven, and gave him commandments” (Vs 17).
We should rejoice in the truth that the Lord loves us enough to give us commandments. And those who are “faithful and diligent” will “be crowned with blessings from above, yea, and with commandments not a few, and with revelations in their time” (D&C 59:4).