D&C 4
Again, here’s another short but exceptionally content heavy section. The IM gives the background as quoted by JS saying, “After I had obtained the above revelation (D&C 3), both the plates and the Urim and Thummim were taken from me again; but in a few days they were returned to me, when I inquired of the Lord, and the Lord said this unto me: (D&C 10). I did not, however, go immediately to translating, but went to laboring with my hands upon a small farm which I had purchased of my wife’s father, in order to provide for my family. In the month of February, 1829, my father came to visit us, at which time I received the following revelation for him: (D&C 4).” The IM continues by teaching, “Even though this revelation was given for the Prophet’s father, it is addressed to all people who would serve God. Elder Joseph Fielding Smith pointed out that while only seven verses long, ‘it contains sufficient counsel and instruction for a lifetime of study. No one has yet mastered it. It was not intended as a personal revelation to Joseph Smith, but to be of benefit to all who desire to embark in the service of God. It is a revelation to each member of the Church, especially to all who hold the Priesthood. Perhaps there is no other revelation in all our scriptures that embodies greater instruction pertaining to the manner of qualification of members of the Church for the service of God, and in such condensed form than this revelation. It is as broad, as high and as deep as eternity. No elder of the Church is qualified to teach in the Church, or carry the message of Salvation to the world, until he has absorbed, in part at least, this heaven-sent instruction.’” It seems this section focuses on motives and intentions, the CHM comments, “He (JS) faced despair when the 116 pages were lost, but from that experience he learned obedience and was later able to say, ‘I made this my rule: When the Lord commands, do it.’ He also learned valuable lessons about controlling his motives and purposes and was, therefore, able to keep his ‘eye single to the glory of God’ and channel his energies and thoughts toward building the kingdom… We should not conclude that revelation came easy to him, for another lesson he learned during this time was the price in faith, diligence, persistence, worthiness, and obedience he had to pay to receive communication from God.” Just like us, especially when it comes to serving God, first we have to know his will before we can do it. We can guess or “think” we know what needs to be done but usually, or at least many times, we are wrong.
4:1 - The IM comments on the predicting of “the great and marvelous work,” by teaching, “Doctrine and Covenants 6:1; 11:1; 12:1; 14:1 were also given before the Church was organized on 6 April 1830. If the Lord calls something great and marvelous, then it truly is. Though the latter-day work had small beginnings, it will yet penetrate the entire world of the living and the dead, until every knee will bow and every tongue confess. Elder John A. Widtsoe declared that this prophecy has literally been fulfilled: ‘Unknown, untaught, with no reputation, (Joseph Smith) should have been forgotten in the small hamlet, almost nameless, in the backwoods of a great state; but he dared to say that the work that he was doing, under God’s instruction, was to become a marvel and a wonder in the world. We know, my brethren and sisters, that whether it be friend or enemy who speaks of us, if he is a sober-thinking, honest man, he will declare that whatever in his opinion the foundations of this work may be- we know the foundations- it is a marvelous work and a wonder, none like it in the long history of the world. The truths set loose by the Prophet Joseph Smith have touched every man of faith throughout the whole civilized world, and measurably changed their beliefs for good.’” The more I learn about Jesus and the more I learn about the gospel, the more that I realize that really, the gospel is the only thing that matters, that of anything and everything that is possible in this life and eternity without the gospel, without the atonement nothing else is possible and we are all lost. So if only one thing in the entire universe that matters, then what should be the thing of utmost importance in our lives? The gospel. This begs the question, if the gospel is the most important thing in the universe and eternity, why do I have to know about it now? Why can’t I just focus on my other life endeavors and worry about the gospel later? I’ve thought about this question a lot, mostly in terms of “why do I have to tell people about the gospel now if they can just deal with it in the next life?” And if that question is valid, then I have to admit that the gospel is not important in my life, that it adds nothing of value to me at this point in my eternal journey, and nothing could be further from the truth. I love the gospel, I love it so much, I love Jesus. The gospel enriches my life beyond measure, because of the plan of salvation I have hope that not only there will be eternal happiness but also that all suffering will work for my good and eternal welfare. The grace of God shows me that I can be better, that I can be perfect, gives me strength to overcome challenges and unhappiness. The atonement allows me to be free from guilt and regret, allows me to be and feel clean and worthy and that even though I’m not perfect, that my offering can still be acceptable to the Lord for salvation. The scriptures give me insight and perspective in all situations, and experience through learning the lessons of others. The Holy Ghost gives me peace and comfort and guidance and knowledge so rich and voluminous that I can’t even receive it many times. The love of God shows me who He is and more importantly, who I am to him and it’s a beautiful thing. Because of the gospel I have hope, peace, comfort, safety, courage, love, companionship, trust, and value and to keep that to myself is denying that it is of any worth to me and implies that no one else deserves it, and none of that it true. I have a friend who told me that another friend of his goes to church every Sunday and doesn’t want anyone else to join his church, he likes it small and uneventful, and that made me sad, it made me think that his religion wasn’t very valuable to him, and that was true. Because the gospel gives me so much and is so incredibly important to me, then I have to desire that same happiness and value for all other people.
4:2 - The Lord continues, “Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind, and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day.” This seems to me to indicate that a complete commitment is required. For instance if a missionary goes on a mission because their parents promised to buy them a car when they get back, then their commitment isn’t to the Lord, their commitment is to the car. When we engage in any undertaking, school, a job, parenting, church assignments, etc. doing it half way, a half decent job is not acceptable to the respectable person, when agreeing to the undertaking, a full commitment is required. That means that you have to make adequate time to study or learn how to perfect your craft, or pray and study to magnify your calling. I know that I'm guilty of this myself, because it can be overwhelming and tiring at times, but the commitment has to be there, the pledge to stick it out and make it work no matter what happens. The IM teaches, “This is a way of saying that a person must be totally committed to the work and have no reservation. This commitment involves the emotional, spiritual, intellectual, and physical energy of the person. Other ways of saying the same thing are ‘with an eye single to the glory of God’ and ‘no man can serve two masters.’” Interestingly, the theme for Young Women’s this year is “Embarking in the Service of God.”
4:3 – I love the next verse, “therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work.” There is no stringent requirement, no test score, no school degree that has to be obtained, like all else, the Lord meets us where we are and how we are and then as we strive to keep his commandments and serve him, he changes our hearts. The IM asks, “Does this injunction apply only to full-time missionaries, or does it apply to every member of the Church? If a person desires to serve, must he be set apart as a missionary? Elder George Albert Smith, later the eighth President of the Church, showed that this scripture applies to all Latter-day Saints. ‘My understanding is that the most important mission that I have in this life is: first, to keep the commandments of God, as they have been taught to me; and next, to teach them to my Father’s children who do not understand them… It is not necessary for you to be called to go into the mission field in order to proclaim the truth. Begin on the man who lives next door by inspiring confidence in him, by inspiring love in him for you because of your righteousness, and your missionary work has already begun.” When people give up everything that they have and serve a full-time mission that is their only focus, they are to live and breathe the gospel. But the real test comes when you are to live and breathe the gospel while still living your full life, while focusing on temporal, Church, and family issues. Serving a full-time mission can be like learning how to walk, one foot in front of the other, gaining traction on the ground, and the real test of walking is being able to balance on a tight rope, that is what living the gospel in everyday life is like, that balancing act, holding all your things together while at the same time not plunging down to the ground spiritually.
4:4 – “For behold the field is white already to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickly with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul.” There are some really interesting concepts in this verse, the first being the metaphor of the laborer. If a laborer goes into his field and works cutting the wheat, he puts it in his barn and it sustains him. If we follow this same analogy with the idea of preaching the gospel, it’s saying that the laborer goes into the mission field and teaches the gospel and takes that who accept it and that is what sustains him. That seems kind of counter-intuitive, like it should be that the people who are saved are the “wheat” or those who received the gospel from the “laborer.” It makes sense that those who receive the gospel are saved, but this verse implies that those who preach the gospel are the ones who are saved. Oh now that’s very interesting. It’s one of those questions that can teach many messages at once. This goes along quite nicely with D&C 15:15, “And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto his people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!” This was always a tough concept for me because I thought “I haven’t converted one person to come to Christ, I won’t have any joy!” This of course is false, you don’t have to convert any other person in order to be saved. In fact, we don’t convert anyone, the Holy Ghost does, so we couldn’t count anyone else’s conversion for ourselves anyway, and secondly, the other person is the one who decides if they will come to Christ, there is no amount of teaching or preaching that you can do that will convince anyone of the truthfulness of the gospel if they don’t want to believe it. This implies that your chance at joy with Heavenly Father is linked to the choices of someone else, and a war was fought in heaven to dispute this very concept. This logic has always plagued me when considering this verse, so imagine my shock, relief, and enlightenment when I learned that the one soul that you had to bring to Christ is yourself. If you should labor all your days and only bring yourself to me, then how great will be your joy. Using similar logic we can understand this verse 4 here. Looking at it more carefully, the Lord never says that the people are the wheat that is laid up in store to sustain you. I’ve been reading too much into this. In the most basic sense, let’s start again, “For behold the field is white already to harvest,” there are many people who are ready and anxious to hear the gospel. “And lo, he that trusteth in his sickle with his might,” the person who actively engages in the work of preaching the gospel. “The same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul.” This person builds a reservoir that will sustain him and save his soul. So I guess the ambiguous part of this equation is what exactly the person builds up. I read into it that it was the people that he was storing up, that would save him, but that doesn’t make any sense, it’s Jesus who saves. What is laid up in store for that will save our souls is something that Jesus has to provide because he’s the one who saves. So let’s start from the beginning again. There is a great work to do and he that engages in that work becomes more like Christ, and that’s what saves him. Ok, there it is. That’s really incredible, I hadn’t considered that as a possibility until right now and it’s changes my whole outlook on missionary work. Yes, it’s so important to bring the gospel to people so that they can have a chance to decide for themselves and hopefully accept it and gain all that we have gained from the gospel, but that’s not the point of missionary work. The point of missionary work is to bring yourself closer to Christ in the process. Oh now that’s incredible, that’s a game changer. Then as you grow closer to the Savior, your motivation and ability to spread the gospel greatly increases because of who you are and who god is. Keep in mind that this is the gospel according to Amy, so take it with a grain of salt, but that makes so much sense to me. Let’s hear what the IM has to say about this verse. “The imagery here is of a field of wheat, no longer green, but a brilliant gold, which almost seems dazzling white in the summer sunshine. Such a sight signifies that the time of the harvest was at hand. In the early days of the restoration, thousands were prepared to receive the gospel. So many came into the Church that the enemies of the work were frightened. It was not one of a city of two of a family who joined; whole congregations united themselves with the work. Wilford Woodruff alone baptized over two thousand converts in less than a year’s ministry in Great Britain. Tens of thousands joined with the Church during its first decade of existence. Not is the time of the harvest yet over. The Church grew to over 1 million members in 1947, 4 million in 1978, and 11 million in 2000. That year the Church had over 60,000 full-time missionaries in the field. Truly the statement of the Lord given in 1829 is still being realized. The field is still white and ready for the harvest.”
4:5-7 – Whereas verse 2 sets forth the commitment requirements verse 5 appears to be the motivational requirements. In order to qualify for the work one has to have or be motivated by “faith, hope, charity, and love, with an eye single to the glory of God.” Surely you have to have faith in order to engage in the work, if you don’t believe that Christ is real, then you wouldn’t do what he says, but it’s more than that. We don’t just believe that Christ is real, we don’t just believe that he is there, but we believe that he can do all that he says he can do. For instance, we try to become like Jesus because we believe that he can change our natures to be better, because we believe that we will be resurrected, because we believe that we can live with Heavenly Father and Jesus again. Because we believe these things, we work to get closer to him and therefore become more like him. This is why we share the gospel because with that knowledge and belief, our lives and enriched eternally and we want to share that with others. We have hope in Christ, in the plan of salvation, we have peace because we believe and hope that what Jesus has taught us in the gospel is true. We share the gospel out of true charity, based solely on the pure love of Christ. We do it because we can see people the way the Lord sees them and we know that their soul is just as precious as ours. Young people don’t give up 2 years of their lives and several thousand dollars because they think they’re going to win the lottery later in life because of it. I like the saying, “Missionaries: a person who leaves their family for 2 years so that others can be with theirs forever.” The Lord continues to list virtues “Remember faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, diligence. Ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Amen.” I think that the last verse is a call for increased spirituality, a diligence in searching to obtain gospel knowledge, understand, and wisdom from the Lord. The IM comments on these verses as “Attributes to develop for the service of God” saying, “Peter, in his injunction to the Saints to take upon them the ‘divine nature,’ lists nearly the same characteristics found in Doctrine and Covenants 4:6. Peter encouraged them to give all diligence in developing these godlike characteristics. President David O. McKay applied Peter’s teaching to Latter-day Saint: ‘(Peter) wrote on one occasion:’… that we might be partakers of the divine nature.’ He realized what it means to be in touch with the spiritual, to rise above the temporal, the sensual, and partake of the divine Spirit of God… that is the purpose of making us more capable of responding to the Spirit and subduing the sensual… that is why we like to have every young man and every young woman utilize his or her time intelligently, usefully, to bring the soul in harmony with the spirit, that we all might be partakers of God’s Spirit, partakers of his divine nature.”
4:1 - The IM comments on the predicting of “the great and marvelous work,” by teaching, “Doctrine and Covenants 6:1; 11:1; 12:1; 14:1 were also given before the Church was organized on 6 April 1830. If the Lord calls something great and marvelous, then it truly is. Though the latter-day work had small beginnings, it will yet penetrate the entire world of the living and the dead, until every knee will bow and every tongue confess. Elder John A. Widtsoe declared that this prophecy has literally been fulfilled: ‘Unknown, untaught, with no reputation, (Joseph Smith) should have been forgotten in the small hamlet, almost nameless, in the backwoods of a great state; but he dared to say that the work that he was doing, under God’s instruction, was to become a marvel and a wonder in the world. We know, my brethren and sisters, that whether it be friend or enemy who speaks of us, if he is a sober-thinking, honest man, he will declare that whatever in his opinion the foundations of this work may be- we know the foundations- it is a marvelous work and a wonder, none like it in the long history of the world. The truths set loose by the Prophet Joseph Smith have touched every man of faith throughout the whole civilized world, and measurably changed their beliefs for good.’” The more I learn about Jesus and the more I learn about the gospel, the more that I realize that really, the gospel is the only thing that matters, that of anything and everything that is possible in this life and eternity without the gospel, without the atonement nothing else is possible and we are all lost. So if only one thing in the entire universe that matters, then what should be the thing of utmost importance in our lives? The gospel. This begs the question, if the gospel is the most important thing in the universe and eternity, why do I have to know about it now? Why can’t I just focus on my other life endeavors and worry about the gospel later? I’ve thought about this question a lot, mostly in terms of “why do I have to tell people about the gospel now if they can just deal with it in the next life?” And if that question is valid, then I have to admit that the gospel is not important in my life, that it adds nothing of value to me at this point in my eternal journey, and nothing could be further from the truth. I love the gospel, I love it so much, I love Jesus. The gospel enriches my life beyond measure, because of the plan of salvation I have hope that not only there will be eternal happiness but also that all suffering will work for my good and eternal welfare. The grace of God shows me that I can be better, that I can be perfect, gives me strength to overcome challenges and unhappiness. The atonement allows me to be free from guilt and regret, allows me to be and feel clean and worthy and that even though I’m not perfect, that my offering can still be acceptable to the Lord for salvation. The scriptures give me insight and perspective in all situations, and experience through learning the lessons of others. The Holy Ghost gives me peace and comfort and guidance and knowledge so rich and voluminous that I can’t even receive it many times. The love of God shows me who He is and more importantly, who I am to him and it’s a beautiful thing. Because of the gospel I have hope, peace, comfort, safety, courage, love, companionship, trust, and value and to keep that to myself is denying that it is of any worth to me and implies that no one else deserves it, and none of that it true. I have a friend who told me that another friend of his goes to church every Sunday and doesn’t want anyone else to join his church, he likes it small and uneventful, and that made me sad, it made me think that his religion wasn’t very valuable to him, and that was true. Because the gospel gives me so much and is so incredibly important to me, then I have to desire that same happiness and value for all other people.
4:2 - The Lord continues, “Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind, and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day.” This seems to me to indicate that a complete commitment is required. For instance if a missionary goes on a mission because their parents promised to buy them a car when they get back, then their commitment isn’t to the Lord, their commitment is to the car. When we engage in any undertaking, school, a job, parenting, church assignments, etc. doing it half way, a half decent job is not acceptable to the respectable person, when agreeing to the undertaking, a full commitment is required. That means that you have to make adequate time to study or learn how to perfect your craft, or pray and study to magnify your calling. I know that I'm guilty of this myself, because it can be overwhelming and tiring at times, but the commitment has to be there, the pledge to stick it out and make it work no matter what happens. The IM teaches, “This is a way of saying that a person must be totally committed to the work and have no reservation. This commitment involves the emotional, spiritual, intellectual, and physical energy of the person. Other ways of saying the same thing are ‘with an eye single to the glory of God’ and ‘no man can serve two masters.’” Interestingly, the theme for Young Women’s this year is “Embarking in the Service of God.”
4:3 – I love the next verse, “therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work.” There is no stringent requirement, no test score, no school degree that has to be obtained, like all else, the Lord meets us where we are and how we are and then as we strive to keep his commandments and serve him, he changes our hearts. The IM asks, “Does this injunction apply only to full-time missionaries, or does it apply to every member of the Church? If a person desires to serve, must he be set apart as a missionary? Elder George Albert Smith, later the eighth President of the Church, showed that this scripture applies to all Latter-day Saints. ‘My understanding is that the most important mission that I have in this life is: first, to keep the commandments of God, as they have been taught to me; and next, to teach them to my Father’s children who do not understand them… It is not necessary for you to be called to go into the mission field in order to proclaim the truth. Begin on the man who lives next door by inspiring confidence in him, by inspiring love in him for you because of your righteousness, and your missionary work has already begun.” When people give up everything that they have and serve a full-time mission that is their only focus, they are to live and breathe the gospel. But the real test comes when you are to live and breathe the gospel while still living your full life, while focusing on temporal, Church, and family issues. Serving a full-time mission can be like learning how to walk, one foot in front of the other, gaining traction on the ground, and the real test of walking is being able to balance on a tight rope, that is what living the gospel in everyday life is like, that balancing act, holding all your things together while at the same time not plunging down to the ground spiritually.
4:4 – “For behold the field is white already to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickly with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul.” There are some really interesting concepts in this verse, the first being the metaphor of the laborer. If a laborer goes into his field and works cutting the wheat, he puts it in his barn and it sustains him. If we follow this same analogy with the idea of preaching the gospel, it’s saying that the laborer goes into the mission field and teaches the gospel and takes that who accept it and that is what sustains him. That seems kind of counter-intuitive, like it should be that the people who are saved are the “wheat” or those who received the gospel from the “laborer.” It makes sense that those who receive the gospel are saved, but this verse implies that those who preach the gospel are the ones who are saved. Oh now that’s very interesting. It’s one of those questions that can teach many messages at once. This goes along quite nicely with D&C 15:15, “And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto his people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!” This was always a tough concept for me because I thought “I haven’t converted one person to come to Christ, I won’t have any joy!” This of course is false, you don’t have to convert any other person in order to be saved. In fact, we don’t convert anyone, the Holy Ghost does, so we couldn’t count anyone else’s conversion for ourselves anyway, and secondly, the other person is the one who decides if they will come to Christ, there is no amount of teaching or preaching that you can do that will convince anyone of the truthfulness of the gospel if they don’t want to believe it. This implies that your chance at joy with Heavenly Father is linked to the choices of someone else, and a war was fought in heaven to dispute this very concept. This logic has always plagued me when considering this verse, so imagine my shock, relief, and enlightenment when I learned that the one soul that you had to bring to Christ is yourself. If you should labor all your days and only bring yourself to me, then how great will be your joy. Using similar logic we can understand this verse 4 here. Looking at it more carefully, the Lord never says that the people are the wheat that is laid up in store to sustain you. I’ve been reading too much into this. In the most basic sense, let’s start again, “For behold the field is white already to harvest,” there are many people who are ready and anxious to hear the gospel. “And lo, he that trusteth in his sickle with his might,” the person who actively engages in the work of preaching the gospel. “The same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul.” This person builds a reservoir that will sustain him and save his soul. So I guess the ambiguous part of this equation is what exactly the person builds up. I read into it that it was the people that he was storing up, that would save him, but that doesn’t make any sense, it’s Jesus who saves. What is laid up in store for that will save our souls is something that Jesus has to provide because he’s the one who saves. So let’s start from the beginning again. There is a great work to do and he that engages in that work becomes more like Christ, and that’s what saves him. Ok, there it is. That’s really incredible, I hadn’t considered that as a possibility until right now and it’s changes my whole outlook on missionary work. Yes, it’s so important to bring the gospel to people so that they can have a chance to decide for themselves and hopefully accept it and gain all that we have gained from the gospel, but that’s not the point of missionary work. The point of missionary work is to bring yourself closer to Christ in the process. Oh now that’s incredible, that’s a game changer. Then as you grow closer to the Savior, your motivation and ability to spread the gospel greatly increases because of who you are and who god is. Keep in mind that this is the gospel according to Amy, so take it with a grain of salt, but that makes so much sense to me. Let’s hear what the IM has to say about this verse. “The imagery here is of a field of wheat, no longer green, but a brilliant gold, which almost seems dazzling white in the summer sunshine. Such a sight signifies that the time of the harvest was at hand. In the early days of the restoration, thousands were prepared to receive the gospel. So many came into the Church that the enemies of the work were frightened. It was not one of a city of two of a family who joined; whole congregations united themselves with the work. Wilford Woodruff alone baptized over two thousand converts in less than a year’s ministry in Great Britain. Tens of thousands joined with the Church during its first decade of existence. Not is the time of the harvest yet over. The Church grew to over 1 million members in 1947, 4 million in 1978, and 11 million in 2000. That year the Church had over 60,000 full-time missionaries in the field. Truly the statement of the Lord given in 1829 is still being realized. The field is still white and ready for the harvest.”
4:5-7 – Whereas verse 2 sets forth the commitment requirements verse 5 appears to be the motivational requirements. In order to qualify for the work one has to have or be motivated by “faith, hope, charity, and love, with an eye single to the glory of God.” Surely you have to have faith in order to engage in the work, if you don’t believe that Christ is real, then you wouldn’t do what he says, but it’s more than that. We don’t just believe that Christ is real, we don’t just believe that he is there, but we believe that he can do all that he says he can do. For instance, we try to become like Jesus because we believe that he can change our natures to be better, because we believe that we will be resurrected, because we believe that we can live with Heavenly Father and Jesus again. Because we believe these things, we work to get closer to him and therefore become more like him. This is why we share the gospel because with that knowledge and belief, our lives and enriched eternally and we want to share that with others. We have hope in Christ, in the plan of salvation, we have peace because we believe and hope that what Jesus has taught us in the gospel is true. We share the gospel out of true charity, based solely on the pure love of Christ. We do it because we can see people the way the Lord sees them and we know that their soul is just as precious as ours. Young people don’t give up 2 years of their lives and several thousand dollars because they think they’re going to win the lottery later in life because of it. I like the saying, “Missionaries: a person who leaves their family for 2 years so that others can be with theirs forever.” The Lord continues to list virtues “Remember faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, diligence. Ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Amen.” I think that the last verse is a call for increased spirituality, a diligence in searching to obtain gospel knowledge, understand, and wisdom from the Lord. The IM comments on these verses as “Attributes to develop for the service of God” saying, “Peter, in his injunction to the Saints to take upon them the ‘divine nature,’ lists nearly the same characteristics found in Doctrine and Covenants 4:6. Peter encouraged them to give all diligence in developing these godlike characteristics. President David O. McKay applied Peter’s teaching to Latter-day Saint: ‘(Peter) wrote on one occasion:’… that we might be partakers of the divine nature.’ He realized what it means to be in touch with the spiritual, to rise above the temporal, the sensual, and partake of the divine Spirit of God… that is the purpose of making us more capable of responding to the Spirit and subduing the sensual… that is why we like to have every young man and every young woman utilize his or her time intelligently, usefully, to bring the soul in harmony with the spirit, that we all might be partakers of God’s Spirit, partakers of his divine nature.”
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