What qualifies us to assist in this work? (D&C 12-17)

12:8

What does it take to contribute to the church in a significant way? What qualifications must I have? The Lord answers in verse eight. “And no one can assist in this work except he shall be humble and full of love, having faith, hope, and charity, being temperate in all things, whatsoever shall be entrusted to his care.” So, the requirements to assist in this work are to be:

• Humble. How does “being humble” make a difference in our ability to assist?

  • We must be willing to take direction from others who have stewardship over us.

  • Being humble is about not thinking you know it all. This makes you a good listener.

  • Your spiritual development is made possible through humility.

• Full of love. How is being full of love necessary?

  • If we truly love those who we interact with, the chances that we will be offending people regularly and pushing others away from the church is radically decreased.

  • Sincerely loving others will affect every interaction. They will feel this love and be drawn to you.

  • If our actions are rooted in love, what choices will we make? How will our decisions be affected?

• Charity.

  • Having a serving mindset is build on a foundation of charity.

  • In any organization, there is going to be friction between individuals. If both have charity for the other, there will be no significant problem.

  • Instead of judgment of others, there will be complete acceptance if we feel true charity towards others.

• Being temperate in all things, whatsoever shall be entrusted to his care.

  • When you’re working with other humans, there are many opportunities to get worked up and frustrated. If we can, instead, be temperate, that makes us much more valuable.

  • When we’re temperate, we won’t swing wildly between strong emotions. This is a requirement in assisting in this work in any significant way.

  • There shouldn’t be extreme reactions to what is happening in your congregation. It is better to be steady and consistent - which qualities are born of being temperate.

13:1

This is what John the Baptist said to Joseph and Oliver. “Upon you my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; and this shall never be taken again from the earth, until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness.”

We teach the 15 to 18 year olds. The boys are holders of the Aaronic priesthood. When I was a Deacon, Teacher or Priest, I probably didn’t appreciate the priesthood that I held. I didn’t fully receive the priesthood. It didn’t affect my behavior very much as I recall. I just didn’t think about it very much.

The keys promised in this verse are substantial and worth pondering for any Aaronic priesthood holder.

• Keys of ministering of angels. The Aaronic Priesthood holds authority that allows access to angelic ministration. This doesn’t mean that all who hold the Aaronic Priesthood will see angels, but that they have the right to divine guidance and ministering from heavenly messengers as they fulfill their duties. President Gordon B. Hinckley and other leaders have taught that the ministering of angels is not always through physical appearance but often through inspiration, revelation, and promptings of the Holy Spirit.

• Gospel of repentance. The Aaronic priesthood gives holders the authority to preach repentance - which is the singular topic that will bring people to Christ. The Aaronic priesthood holders have the authority to administer the sacrament to members - which invites others to repent. If all holders of the Aaronic priesthood accurately felt this responsibility to preach repentance, their world and the world around them could change for the better.

• Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins. Holders of the Aaronic priesthood have the authority to baptize others, under direction of the Bishop. This is very awesome that these young men can perform a saving ordinance.

14:6

“Seek to bring forth and establish my Zion.” This is a revelation to David Whitmer. He’s being commanded to bring forth and establish my Zion. This scripture hit me a little because of a new calling we’ve received. Without getting into the details of it, we were called and told that this calling is a little amorphous and that we would be figuring it out. When we were called, we explained that we wanted to go on a mission soon. We were told to “just get something set up for the next person to take over.” In other words, our work would carry on after we were done with it.

I think this is what we’re all doing with our callings. We’re attempting to establish Zion and set something up that will continue long after we have moved on. Whether you’re teaching primary or establishing a new branch in a faraway place - you’re working on something that will continue on after you’re gone.

We are all very temporary. David Whitmer is long gone. But his work in establishing Zion continues. He was there at a critical moment that had lasting impact. So are we - even though we weren’t at the inception of the restored church. We are continuing to establish Zion - which will continue long after Eric and Marci move on.

14:8

“And it shall come to pass, that if you shall ask the Father in my name, in faith believing, you shall receive the Holy Ghost, which giveth utterance, that you may stand as a witness of the things of which you shall both hear and see, and also that you may declare repentance unto this generation.” This verse also hit me in how I teach or speak. I think I’ve written before that I believe I lack faith when it comes to presenting or teaching. I like to thoroughly prepare - which, by itself isn’t wrong - as if I am relying on myself. I practice and prepare so that my frontal lobe is fully briefed on the topic.

Again, there’s nothing wrong with this. We can think about “study it out in your mind” or “seek first to obtain my word before you declare my word.” These verses support what I’m doing. It’s good to be prepared so you’re not needing to worry about the material and can focus on the learners. However, this can be taken too far. The problem is that, if I am really prepared, I often don’t feel the need to beg for help from the Spirit. I love feeling prepared and self-reliant. The preparedness is good, the self-reliance is bad. I must always walk into every presentation or lesson relying on the Spirit to give me “utterance”

If I do this in a well-balanced way, I will be able to stand as an effective witness and “declare repentance unto this generation.”

14:9

“Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, who created the heavens and the earth, a light which cannot be hid in darkness.” A thought that occurred to me that was novel to me (likely not for you). The thought was that darkness can have no power over light. Darkness cannot extinguish light. Darkness cannot cover light. Darkness cannot chase away the light.

The effect only goes in one direction. Light can chase away darkness. Light will travel for eternity until it is absorbed or reflected by a solid object. The darkness itself cannot absorb light. In our universe, there is light and dark. The darkness surrounding the devil cannot have ANY effect on the Light of Christ. The Light of Christ acts independently of any darkness.

However, light has power to actually illuminate an object if that object is close to it. Think of a flashlight. The light coming from the flashlight will continue forever - but the flashlight’s ability to illuminate is limited to 30-40 feet. If we are very far away from a light source, we can see it but it’s ability to illuminate requires us to move closer to the light. I think the same can be said of the Light of Christ.

15:6

“And now, behold, I say unto you, that the thing which will be of the most worth unto you will be to declare repentance unto this people, that you may bring souls unto me, that you may rest with them in the kingdom of my Father. Amen.” This is a very simple, profound scripture about what is the most worthwhile thing that we can do in life. If we understand the plan of salvation - if we truly get it down to our bones, we will feel driven to declare repentance. Our love for others is manifested in our willingness to declare repentance.

Does this mean that we are standing on a soapbox on a corner yelling at the passers-by to REPENT! No. I don’t think so. What does it look like then? Here are a few examples:

• Teach others how repentance is a beautiful thing and THE tool of our progression in the gospel - rather than a punishment for wrongdoing. In fact, the more righteous among us do the most repenting.

• Demonstrate repentance by doing it quickly when there has been contention with another. Through your example, you are declaring repentance.

• Looking for opportunities to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our approach should begin with the first two principles of the gospel: faith and repentance.

• Standing up for the right when there are those who are declaring wickedness or permissiveness. Often, we are afraid that simply standing up for truth and righteousness is going to be offensive. If that thought passes our mind, we should just press forward with declaring repentance by teaching truth.

• Taking advantages of opportunities to teach about Jesus Christ. For example, if someone is in a situation that appears hopeless, we could testify of the hope that comes from the atonement of Jesus Christ. We can assure EVERY SINGLE PERSON that our future will be bright…eventually…regardless of whatever chronic or insurmountable problem we’re experiencing in this fallen world. As we read in John 16:33 “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

Marci and I have found that, if we are looking for them, there are opportunities to share the gospel of Jesus Christ in one form or another.

17:7-9

This is a revelation given to Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and Martin Harris. These verses are meaningful to me because I think they are directed to me as well. “Wherefore, you have received the same power, and the same faith, and the same gift like unto him;” The Lord could be saying something very similar to me:

• Eric, you have the same priesthood power that Joseph Smith had.

• Eric, there is no limit to the amount of faith you can develop. You can have the same level of faith that Joseph Smith has.

• Eric, you may not have the same gifts that Joseph had but you have your own set of gifts that are needed to build the kingdom.

“And if you do these last commandments of mine, which I have given you, the gates of hell shall not prevail against you; for my grace is sufficient for you, and you shall be lifted up at the last day.” Through obedience, I will be protected against the influence of the devil the same as with Joseph Smith. The Lord’s grace is sufficient for me to progress forever. Perhaps I need more grace than Joseph Smith required but His grace is still sufficient.

“And I, Jesus Christ, your Lord and your God, have spoken it unto you, that I might bring about my righteous purposes unto the children of men. Amen.” I can be a tool in the Lord’s hands. It is Christ’s purposes that will be brought about. I am a part of that but no gift, faith, strength originates from me. It is all made possible in me through the redemptive power of Jesus Christ. I know that, regardless of my strengths and weaknesses, the purposes of God will be accomplished. It is comforting to me that God is perfectly able to be successful in his work of bringing to pass my immortality and eternal life.

It’s hard to comprehend and understand how much love he has for all of us. The plan of salvation has got to be the most challenging path that God could have taken. The only thing that could motivate someone to do all of this is pure love. Thank God.

JSH 1:74

I love this verse. “Our minds being now enlightened, we began to have the scriptures laid open to our understandings, and the true meaning and intention of their more mysterious passages revealed unto us in a manner which we never could attain to previously, nor ever before had thought of. In the meantime we were forced to keep secret the circumstances of having received the Priesthood and our having been baptized, owing to a spirit of persecution which had already manifested itself in the neighborhood.” I have felt this same enlightenment at times when reading the scriptures. As I compare my notes from today versus four years ago, the Spirit is revealing different principles to me. I feel like my understanding is progressively being more opened. As I compare my knowledge and testimony from four years ago, I can say that I have a clearer understanding of the mysteries of God that were unknown to me a few short years ago. I hope and expect that my mind will continue to be enlightened by the Spirit and I am grateful.