D&C 67:9-14

67:9 - Verse 9 reminds me of what Joseph Smith said, “no evil man could write the Book of Mormon and no righteous man would,” because the writings in it bring people closer to Christ and no evil thing does that, Satan’s goal is to destroy the work of God and all happiness and the Book of Mormon inspires people to do good works and be happy, so therefore, if the Book of Mormon accomplishes a goal that is contrary to the mission of Satan, it therefore cannot be inspired by the devil and by default must be inspired by God. That’s the logical way to process the truthfulness of the scriptures, and like Joseph Smith said, anyone who relies on logic, forsaking the spiritual, misses out on the better part of the gospel. Verse 8 refers to the challenge to anyone who disputes the wording of the revelations given by the Lord, to write their own revelation, and leads up to verse 9 saying, “But if ye cannot make one like unto it, ye are under condemnation if ye do not bear record that they are true. For ye know that there is no unrighteousness in them, and that which is righteous cometh down from above, from the Father of lights.”  Not only are we told in the scriptures that all that is good comes from God, and all the is evil comes from the devil, but it makes sense, especially when we consider the goal and mission of each party. I really like this verse, why dispute whether or not it is of God, it there is righteousness there, it is of God, whether dictated or inspired. Concerning the phrase “Father of lights,” DJR reminds us that this “same expression is used in James  1:17,” and the IM says “Of this expression, also found in James 1:17,  Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote: ‘God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.; That is, he is the embodiment, author, and source of light, or in other words the Father of Lights.” I think that this speaks clearly of the concept we’ve discussed. Light is an abstract concept, there’s so much light, and at least some in most places, so I think that that is similar to Heavenly Father’s influence, some is strong and obvious, like light from the sun, and some is subtle, like moon light, if that makes sense.

67:10-14 - While he’s teaching all of us, it sounds like he is more directly addressing those Elders who are causing the disputations. He’s telling them that instead of being hostile towards elements of the gospel, “it is your privilege, and a promise I give unto you that have been ordained unto this ministry, that inasmuch as you strip yourselves from jealousies and fears, and humble yourselves before me, for ye are not sufficiently humble, the veil shall be rent and you shall see me and know that I am- not with the carnal neither natural mind, but with the spiritual.” The IM teaches, “One remarkable truth of the restored gospel is that the heavens are not sealed, that God still speaks to His children and reveals His will to them. And one amazing aspect of that knowledge is that God will reveal Himself to individuals who meet certain prerequisites. The scriptures record that many ancient prophets saw God, and the present dispensation was opened by a vision in which God and Christ appeared to Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove. But several places in the Doctrine and Covenants, including section 67, teach that this privilege is not reserved for prophets alone but for anyone willing to pay the price required in personal righteousness. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that ‘after a person has faith in Christ, repents of his sins, and is baptized for the remission of his sins and receives the Holy Ghost, (by the laying on of hands), which is the first Comforter, then let him continue to humble himself before God, and the Lord will soon say unto him, Son, thou shalt be exalted. When the Lord has thoroughly proved him, and finds that the man is determined to serve Him at all hazards, then the man will find his calling and his election made sure, then it will be his privilege to receive the other Comforter, which the Lord hath promised the Saints, as is recorded in the testimony of St. John, in the 14^th chapter, from the 12^th to the 27^th verses… Now what is this other Comforter? It is no more nor less than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself; and this is the sun and substance of the whole matter; that when any man obtains this last Comforter, he will have the personage of Jesus Christ to attend him, or appear unto him from time to time, and even He will manifest the Father unto him, and they will take up their abode with him, and the visions of the heavens will be opened unto him, and the Lord will teach him face to face, and he may have a perfect knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God; and this is the state and place the ancient Saints arrived at when they had such glorious visions- Isaiah, Ezekiel, John upon the Isle of Patmos, St. Paul in the three heavens, and all the Saints who held communion with the general assembly and the Church of the Firstborn.’ Such a privilege does not come easily. A high level of righteousness and commitment must be demonstrated in the life of an individual before God will appear to hi, and yet step by step a person can reach that degree. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught how this growth can occur: ‘We consider that God has created man with a mind capable of instruction, and a faculty which may be enlarged in proportion to the heed and diligence given to the light communicated from heaven to the intellect; and that the nearer man approaches perfection, the clearer are his views, and the greater his enjoyments, till he has overcome the evils of his life and lost every desire for sin; and like the ancients, arrives at that point of faith where he is wrapped in the power and glory of his Maker and is caught up to dwell with Him. But we consider that this is a station to which no man ever arrived in a moment: he must have been instructed in the government and laws of that kingdom by proper degrees, until his mind is capable in some measure of comprehending the propriety, justice, equality, and consistence of the same.’” There are several concepts that I really like here, the first one being “by degrees.” It can be overwhelming to the point of impossibility to look at where we need to be in terms of spiritual development compared to where we are at any given point in this life. If I was to be told 10 years ago that one of my spiritual struggle today would be speaking kindly to and about others, I would laugh because knowing all the progress I would have to make between now and then would seem impossible to reach in just 10 years. But step by step I’ve improved, I’m not perfect, not even close, I’m really not even a very good person, but I’m trying and the Lord takes us where we are and through baby steps we grow closer to him. Another concept that I liked in this was that the closer we get to perfection, “the clearer are his views, and the greater his enjoyments…and… he is wrapped in the power and glory of his Maker.” We have to know what purpose we are trying to change our natures, especially when we consider the work involved. But we are changing who we are so that we can become happier, wiser, have more clarity, greater joy, and to become closer to the God who loves us with all his being. Taking Abinadi for example, when he was on trial in front of King Noah, he was facing mortal peril, certain death, but he had clarity of his purpose, and what was waiting for him after his execution, and he had peace knowing why and where he was going, what he was going to receive there, that is true power. All the ancient prophets, and modern too if we think about it, who stood in the face of death, torture and imprisonment, stood tall, without fear and full of the Spirit of God, radiating knowledge and love, and knew they were going to happiness, that is power. We don’t have to be facing imminent death in order to have peace, joy, and wisdom, every step we take closer to the Savior brings us just that much further out of the mist of darkness and into the light.  And lastly, I loved the concept that anyone can have this privilege, not just the prophets, the privilege of personally knowing the Savior, not necessarily physically right now in this life, though for some that will be true, but through the means provided, we can grow closer to him until ultimately, we are exalted. The IM asks “What is the natural, or carnal, mind?” and answers saying, “A thing is natural if it is the same essential condition as the things around it. At the present time the earth is temporarily in a telestial mortal condition, and general speaking the people who are living on the earth are carnal, sensual, and devilish. Thus, all of these terms could be used as synonyms for natural. In (D&C) 29:35 we read that the commandments of God ‘are not natural nor temporal, neither carnal nor sensual,’ and (D&C) 67:10 indicates that man cannot see God ‘with the carnal neither natural mind, but with the spiritual.’ In this life, natural could be considered almost as an opposite or antonym of spiritual.”  Finally the Lord encourages them, and us, saying, “Let not your minds turn back; and when ye are worthy, in mine own due time, ye shall see and know that which was conferred upon you by the hands of my servant Joseph Smith, Jun.” I love that the Lord reassures us that our perfection is a process that he doesn’t expect us to master right away, it is in his own time, there is no rush to move the process along faster than he has deemed necessary, we are to be patient with ourselves, just as he is, and do our best.  

DJR gives the remainder of the account of William E. McLellin’s life, which I found interesting. He served a mission with Parley P. Pratt in 1832, and became a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on February 15, 1835. He left the church in August 1836 after writing a “letter criticizing the First Presidency” and was excommunicated in 1838. Another example of leaving neutral ground, after being excommunicated “he joined in mobbing and robbing the Saints in Missouri and in driving them from the state,” specifically the homes of Sidney Rigdon, George Morey, and “the widow Phebe Ann Patten,” that is bold to rob a widow. An account comes from the History of the Church saying that while the brethren were in prison in Richmond “McLellin, who was a large and active man, went to the sheriff and asked for the privilege of flogging the Prophet. Permission was granted on condition that Joseph would fight. The sheriff made known to Joseph McLellin’s earnest request, to which Joseph consented, if his irons were taken off. McLellin then refused to right unless he could have a club, to which Joseph was perfectly willing; but the sheriff would not allow them to fight on such unequal terms.” That was absolutely insane to me, this man who was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, actively sought out the opportunity to torture the man he knew to be a prophet of God, that is bold, that is immersion into evil. And the fact that Joseph Smith was like “yeah, ok, he wants to fight me, and viciously beat me with a club… sure, let’s do it.” This whole thing is insane. Apparently William spent the rest of his life going from apostate church to apostate church, always maintaining that tie to much of Mormon doctrine but just enough to where he could still do whatever he wanted, until he died at the age of 77 in Independence, Missouri. DJR comments, “Despite his opposition to the First Presidency and his bitterness toward the Church, he bore witness to his dying day of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.”