We are called to defend the church. (71-75)

71:1

In this verse, the Lord is giving Joseph Smith directions about WHAT to do and HOW to do it. “Behold, thus saith the Lord unto you my servants Joseph Smith, Jun., and Sidney Rigdon, that the time has verily come that it is necessary and expedient in me that you should open your mouths in proclaiming my gospel, the things of the kingdom, expounding the mysteries thereof out of the scriptures, according to that portion of Spirit and power which shall be given unto you, even as I will.”

The WHAT is:

• “Open your mouth in proclaiming my gospel, the things of the kingdom.” The big part of this is opening our mouths. I can’t estimate how many opportunities I’ve had to explain parts of the gospel or defend church leaders or clarify misunderstandings and I have NOT taken advantage of that chance. I have vowed to never let that happen again! I will look for and speak up when chances come. I will not be ashamed and open my mouth. There are “things of the kingdom” that are not generally known and I must do what I can to make sure they are known.

The HOW is:

• “Expounding the mysteries thereof out of the scriptures...” The mysteries of God are not contained in some hidden text in the vaults of the church. The mysteries of God are outlined clearly in the scriptures. They are for anyone to discover. With the Spirit, all necessary mysteries can be learned and understood. We should never think that the scriptures contain the basic, elementary principles of the gospel and the mysteries are contained somewhere else. We should be using the scriptures in our teaching at every opportunity.

• “…According to that portion of Spirit and power which shall be given unto you…” All expounding and proclaiming should be done under the guidance of the Spirit. If the Spirit is prompting us to say something at a certain time, we must follow that Spirit. We must leave room for the Spirit’s promptings whenever we are teaching or sharing. Allow an opportunity for the Spirit to give you instruction or direction. Allow silence in our proclaiming to allow time for the Spirit to teach the listener.

71:5-6

“Now, behold this is wisdom; whoso readeth, let him understand and receive also; For unto him that receiveth it shall be given more abundantly, even power.” To be wise, we must read, understand and RECEIVE. To receive is to accept and apply and live by.

It does little good for us to study and understand. I can learn all of the principles possible to know about charity. But, until I live charitably, my character will not grow one degree. If I can live by a principle, this means I have truly received it. If I truly receive a principle, I am ready to learn the next principle. Surely, I will be given more abundantly and receive power and blessings connected with that standard of living.

71:8-9

“Wherefore, let them bring forth their strong reasons against the Lord.” What are “strong reasons?” It refers to the arguments, criticisms, or objections that opponents of the Church (like Ezra Booth at the time) were making against the restored gospel and the Prophet Joseph Smith. The Lord invites these critics to present their best arguments—their “strong reasons” - against the church/gospel.

The Lord is not afraid of criticism or debate. By encouraging Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon to publicly meet with their detractors, He shows confidence that truth will prevail when tested. The Lord promises that if His servants are faithful, those who fight against them will be confounded, and their motivations or lies will be revealed.

This does not mean that we can out-debate any critics. In fact, I’ve seen plenty of members attempt to debate someone who criticizes the church full-time. It’s challenging. Part of the difficulty is that the detractors generally do not have faith in anything. They cannot see the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon because people haven’t found bones or something. If we attempt to disprove a negative, it becomes impossible.

Unfortunately, people defending the church often follow the critics onto their territory and wallow in the mud with them rather than speak confidently about faith and wisdom and truth. On it’s face, it’s irrational to think that Joseph Smith invented the Book of Mormon or copied/based it on another book. The truth is obvious that Joseph Smith could not have written the Book of Mormon in the early 1800’s. However, if we get caught in the weeds of discussing whether cement or steel was used on the American continent 2000 years ago or why Joseph Smith had multiple wives, we have trouble debating that.

I do know that, like Ezra Booth, the critics of the church will eventually become meaningless footnotes in the story of the growth of this church. “Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you—there is no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper;  And if any man lift his voice against you he shall be confounded in mine own due time.” Anyone who fights against the church will be confounded. In 100 years, the church will still be prospering and no one will remember the names of the critics.

72:3

We all have gifts and opportunities and assets and blessings that we are stewards over. We do not own our gifts, opportunities, assets or blessings. They are given to us for a time. They are blessings from our Heavenly Father. We are stewards. “And verily in this thing ye have done wisely, for it is required of the Lord, at the hand of every steward, to render an account of his stewardship, both in time and in eternity.”

We will owe an account of our many stewardships. What did we do with what we were blessed with? Did we use our gifts to build the kingdom or did we use them for our own selfish desires or did we do nothing with them and bury them under a bushel? What we do with our gifts is a strong indicator of our character.

What we do in our stewardship is a predictor of what what we will be given stewardship over in eternity. “For he who is faithful and wise in time is accounted worthy to inherit the mansions prepared for him of my Father.”

74:1

“For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; else were your children unclean, but now are they holy.” Husbands and wives can strengthen each other.

I like to consider this in the lens of two believing spouses. Two believers still have a myriad of weaknesses between them. In one area, a spouse could be strong and then weak in another area. The good thing about a marriage is that, often, those weaknesses and strengths are complimentary.

Where I am weak, Marci is strong. Her strengths fill in the gaps presented by my weaknesses. I’m not very aware of Marci’s weaknesses but perhaps my strengths compliment her “weaknesses.” Us combined is much stronger than each of us separately. There is a multiplying effect to being a strong union. When marriages work, they can be one of the most powerful things in the universe. Just look at our Heavenly Parents!

74:4

“And it came to pass that the children, being brought up in subjection to the law of Moses, gave heed to the traditions of their fathers and believed not the gospel of Christ, wherein they became unholy.” Traditions are amazing! I wish my family had more traditions. I always love hearing about other families’ traditions. It always seems to strengthen families.

It’s the same with different cultures. There are amazing traditions in Polynesian or Asian or American or Mexican or any culture. There are also important religious traditions that strengthen a people. It can bind a large or small group of people. It’s generally a good thing.

However, traditions can also be a problem. Sometimes, traditions can trump gospel principles. There are untold tens of thousands of people who have resisted joining the church because of the traditions of their family. I can’t tell you how many people I met on my mission to California who explained that they were Catholic and couldn’t even consider listening to us because they would be disowned by their family.

In the most negative sense, “traditions” can create generations of hate and terror. In some parts of the world, children are brought up to hate another group with so much fervor that they become murderous. I’ve often thought considered the “wicked” people that I read about who have become suicide bombers or other terrorists - what if I had been raised exactly like them? Would I also be the same? It’s hard to imagine but I think it’s very possible. Some people grow up surrounded by hate and violence and those “traditions” certainly make the next generation “unholy.”

75:2

This verse seems to be a job description. “Hearken, O ye who have given your names to go forth to proclaim my gospel, and to prune my vineyard.” There are two things here that we are to do:

• Proclaim my gospel. We are to gather Israel. This means that we are to share the gospel at every opportunity. It also means that we are to build each other’s testimony. Every time you bring someone closer to Christ, you’re gathering Israel and proclaiming the gospel. Every time we teach a young person in our class, we are proclaiming the gospel. When you share a message with your ministering assignment, you’re proclaiming the gospel.

• Prune my vineyard. How does this apply to us? I think that, most of us, are not in the business of “pruning” the church membership. We are not burning unproductive branches. I think that the most useful interpretation of this is that we are meant to prune those un-Christlike aspects of our character. We are to stop and repent of any remaining sins that are stuck to us. We should cut off a hand or pluck an eye that is leading our souls in the wrong direction.

  

For me, this verse is teaching me how to interact with others and how to shape myself into a better disciple.

75:3; 75:29

“Behold, I say unto you that it is my will that you should go forth and not tarry, neither be idle but labor with your might.” The Lord doesn’t want us to be idle. Frankly, I think that it’s a major weakness of many church members - including myself. I love to sit on the couch when I could be doing something more beneficial to others.

We just organized a stake-wide presentation on JustServe. In every ward, for their fifth Sunday lesson, learned about JustServe. We had eight service projects available locally. In our stake, we had six people sign up for projects. I’m not wanting to be critical or judgmental. But I think we should have had a bigger response.

Having said that, I haven’t been super active at signing up for service projects myself. I’ve sat at home while many projects where happening. I have tarried. I have been idle. I must repent and labor with my might.

The Lord reinforces this in verse 29 of section 75. “Let every man be diligent in all things. And the idler shall not have place in the church, except he repent and mend his ways.”

75:11

“Praying always that they faint not; and inasmuch as they do this, I will be with them even unto the end.” Two things. First, praying is much more important than many of us realize. I am not an excellent pray-er. I don’t pray as often as I should and my prayers aren’t as sincere and authentic as they should be. I have a goal where I am trying to be better at giving more prayers throughout the day - every day.

What does it mean that we should pray “always that they faint not?” What does it mean to faint? I don’t think it is talking about literally fainting. There are direct parallels to what this verse is talking about.

To faint means to:

• Fall down - we can’t stand.

• Lose consciousness.

• Lose our strength.

• Close our eyes.

• Have our strength leave us.

All of these things happen physically but can happen spiritually too. In this struggle towards faithfulness, we can fall and slip and slide backwards. We can become unconscious to the spiritual truths around us. Our strength can wane. We cannot see reality clearly or through an eternal perspective. We cannot lose our strength to resist temptation.

So, yeah, I think that fainting is a good analogy.

75:16

“And he who is faithful shall overcome all things, and shall be lifted up at the last day.” How powerful is it to be faithful? Well, we will be able to overcome all things. What are we to have faith in? Jesus Christ. In John 16:33, we read, “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.”

This world has a lot of bad things. Addictions. Loss of income. Tragic accidents. Disease. Injury. Abuse. Disloyalty. Temptations of all kinds. But, with faith in Christ, we can overcome all of those things. That doesn’t mean that we will be immune from them - even Christ wasn’t! Because of Christ, we can, one way or another, overcome them all.

75:22

“And it shall be more tolerable for the heathen in the day of judgment, than for that house; therefore, gird up your loins and be faithful, and ye shall overcome all things, and be lifted up at the last day. Even so. Amen.” This is talking about those who won’t receive missionaries as they preached. Why would it be more tolerable for the heathen than they?

It has to do with rejecting the truth. Those who are so hard hearted that they won’t accept the gospel when they hear it are in worse shape than those who never had the opportunity. It is one thing to not be exposed to the true gospel and simply live according to the fallen world that they are surrounded by. It’s another thing to hear the gospel, feel the Spirit and reject it.

How seriously intolerable it will be is a matter of how much of the Spirit they were exposed to. The people who rejected me in a two-minute conversation on a doorstep on my mission aren’t very accountable. Someone who has served a mission, been married in the temple, held the priesthood is rebelling against a much greater light. For those, their rebellion is deep. They will struggle to repent I fear. They may have a harder time accepting that they are wrong.

For those of us who believe, we must “gird up our loins and be faithful” in the face of rejection. As we work to gather Israel, there will be those who don’t want to hear from us or even want to argue. We may be mocked or ridiculed. Persecution has never been a reason to stop preaching. Let’s keep at it!