All things in God’s earthly kingdom are done in an orderly fashion. Nothing on earth comes close to His kingdom’s organization and structure.
What Joseph was up against
For the previous 1,500 plus years God’s kingdom did not exist in the countries of Europe and the Middle East. What Christ’s gospel had devolved into was what was brought over from Europe and inherited by those in the Americas. The Catholic church had reigned supreme for many centuries, until the Protestant reformation kicked in and people began to rebel against the doctrines and leadership of the universal faith (the word Catholic means universal).
Where there was just one church there were now many churches, and it was not uncommon for someone with a doctrinal axe to grind to go out and start his own church to emphasize his particular points of doctrine. Any common person’s opinion was now as good as the opinions of any leading counsel of an organized church. This is what brought the chaos to upstate New York that caused Joseph Smith to go into that sacred grove to pray for guidance.
Every Christian church in existence had a paid ministry from top to bottom. Even the organists were paid for their service. This is the only kind of church the Smith family had ever seen, and the only kind of organization most Christians have ever seen today. As we read these sections of the Doctrine and Covenants it may become tempting to dismiss God’s instructions for behavior and practices to the prophet as trite, for we already know these things. But we are looking at this from the perspective of having been raised in the church or been baptized into an organization that is already organized and working like a well-oiled clock. Joseph Smith and the early Saints didn’t have that advantage. To them everything Joseph told them about how the church was to be run, and what they were to expect from their members and leaders was a new idea never before considered. Everything was an adjustment, because nothing they were doing was like anything that was done in the Christian world around them.
Personal revelation
The problem with the new concept of personal revelation is that no one had ever been taught in their old church that such a thing was possible, let alone expected of them. Along comes Joseph Smith, Jr. with his grand revelations, telling others that they too can have communion with the Holy Spirit and be personally instructed as to how to live their lives, and bouts of chaos erupt. There are those who use the same methods Joseph Smith used to translate the Book of Mormon to receive their own revelations, but what they are telling the church to do goes against what the Lord’s prophet has already instructed them to do. Who is right? This was the kind of problem Joseph’s revelations now had to address.
One of the problems faced by those early members of the church was where their limits were. No one had ever experienced the degree of organization found in God’s kingdom before, and certainly none of the Christian churches of the day had any experience with it. Joseph had to meet each question with a new revelation in order to learn for himself how it was that God operated. Joseph may have had many revelations, but he had zero experience with how to run God’s kingdom on earth. That all came one revelation and piece of information at a time. He had to be corrected by the Lord as often as the members themselves. To his credit Joseph was very good at meekly accepting the Lord’s instructions and tweaking his course as he learned to steer the earthly kingdom.
The culture of the church didn’t exist during Joseph’s lifetime. The culture we know and are comfortable with today took generations to develop and come into existence. All of the converts were either agnostics, Protestants, or Catholics. All them came into the new church with their upbringing and the expectations learned from their prior experiences. It was natural for them to be confused or have questions about how things were supposed to be done, especially since the Restoration didn’t reveal everything all at once, but a little piece at a time.
On all matters, such as our first example here of personal revelation, the members had to learn for themselves to follow the prophet and adjust their lives and expectations according to his latest teachings, for things were changing constantly. Most all of the converts came into the church with the understanding that this was Christ’s original church restored. They understood that this new church would be different from their previous experiences with religion. They just didn’t know how different.
Only one source for revelation
As I mentioned at the beginning, the Christian world was, and had been for some time, in a state of unrest and was very unsettled. All sorts of people were setting up their own churches based on their personal views of the teachings in the New Testament. One of the major differences these revelations introduced to the Saints was that God only gives directions for the church to His prophet. No one else has the right or the keys to receive revelation for the whole church. We can each receive revelation for our personal life, or for that of our family, if we are the head of that family, but not for the ward, the stake, or the church as a whole. Priesthood keys govern and control where the appropriate revelations are given. That was a new thought.
Today, if someone insists on claiming their revelations are for the whole church membership, if they are not willing to repent and retract their teachings then their names are removed from the records of the church. Such a false practice of insisting that my revelations supersede the prophet’s teachings goes against the will of God, Himself.
The sacrament
Here is an example that is almost the opposite of the one we just talked about. The sacrament is the most sacred common ordinance outside of the temple. We all participate in it once a week. The Lord is very careful that we say the sacramental prayers word for word. No variation in the text is allowed or the prayer must be corrected or repeated until it is correct.
Yet, when it comes to what we use to represent Christ’s body and blood for the sacrament service, the Lord is very flexible. In Doctrine and Covenants 27 when Joseph went out to buy wine for the sacrament an angel told him to be careful about buying any kind of drink from those who were their enemies. Here is Doctrine and Covenants 27:2.
2 For, behold, I say unto you, that it mattereth not what ye shall or what ye shall drink when ye partake of the sacrament, if it so be that ye do it with an eye single to my — unto the Father my which was laid down for you, and my which was shed for the of your sins.
As long as the intent is correct, and Christ’s body and blood are remembered then it doesn’t matter what we eat or drink. The actual substance isn’t the focus of the ordinance, but the Savior’s sacrifice for us that counts. We need to keep that in the upper most thoughts of our minds and hearts. For convenience we use safe tap water and any form of bread, usually bought from a store. In this case it is the spirit with which we approach the ordinance that is most important, though we still need to say the prayer correctly.
The Lord is not always strict in how we do things, as long as our intention is pure and focused in the right places. We have to learn which parts of the administration of His kingdom allow for personal leeway and which parts are strictly spelled out.
The armor of God
I love the manual’s quote of President M. Russell Ballard found in the July Ensign magazine from 2004.
There is not one great and grand thing we can do to arm ourselves spiritually. True spiritual power lies in numerous smaller acts woven together in a fabric of spiritual fortification that protects and shields from all evil.”
It occurred to me that if there was one single practice, one doctrine to master, or one principle to learn that meant the difference between spiritual life and death then the scriptures would only be the size of a good pamphlet. Instead we have four volumes and counting. When we read about the various parts of the armor of God we are having a picture painted of practices that cover us with safety from sin from head to toe. These are not things mastered in a moment, but over the course of a lifetime. The greater our understanding of the doctrines of salvation the more secure is our safety from the wiles of Satan and those who follow him.
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