Come Follow Me 48: Doctrine and Covenants 135-136

 Come, Follow Me Lesson 48: Doctrine and Covenants 135-13

https://abn.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/come-follow-me-for-individuals-and-families-doctrine-and-covenants-2021/48?lang=eng

Come, Follow Me Lesson 48: Doctrine and Covenants 135-136

Introduction:

Killing the prophet cannot kill the work of God?

What can we learn about hope from the past martyrs for the gospel of Jesus Christ?

Clearly, Satan wants to stop the work, and he encourages enemies of the Lord to believe that all will be halted if they get rid of key players.

What has the result been in these past efforts? What will the result be as we face persecution, prosecution and possible death in the future?

Saints selection.

If it weren’t for dissenters and traitors, Joseph’s and Hyrum’s lives may not have been taken. People like William Law and Francis Higbee sought his death.

“The devil always sets up his kingdom at the very same time in opposition to God,” Joseph told the Saints

Saints selection:

Mary knelt beside Hyrum, gathered his head in her arms, and sobbed. “Have they shot you, my dear Hyrum?” she said, smoothing his hair with her hand.

Emma knelt beside Joseph and placed her hand on his cheek. “Oh, Joseph, Joseph!” she said. “Have they taken you from me at last!”

Young Joseph knelt and kissed his father.

Lucy was so overwhelmed by the sadness around her that she could not speak. “My God,” she prayed silently. “Why hast thou forsaken this family?”

“I have taken them to myself,” she heard a voice say, “that they might have rest.”

William Phelps preached the prophet’s funeral sermon to a crowd of thousands of Saints. “What shall I say of Joseph the seer?” he asked. “He came not in the whirlwind of public opinion, but in the simple name of Jesus Christ.”

“He came to give the commandments and law of the Lord, to build temples, and teach men to improve in love and grace,” William testified. “He came to establish our church upon earth, upon the pure and eternal principles of revelation, prophets, and apostles.”

Phebe Woodruff wrote her parents and described the attack at Carthage. “These things will not stop the work any more than Christ’s death did, but will roll it on with a greater rapidity,” Phebe testified. “I believe Joseph and Hyrum are where they can do the church much more good now than when with us.”

“I am stronger in the faith than ever,” she affirmed. “I would not give up the faith of true Mormonism if it cost me my life within one hour from the time I am writing this, for I know of a surety that it is the work of God.”

“Be of good cheer,” Brigham told the Saints in the area. “When God sends a man to do a work, all the devils in hell cannot kill him until he gets through.” He testified that Joseph had given the Twelve all the keys of the priesthood before his death, leaving the Saints everything they needed to carry on.

Samuel Smith, the prophet’s oldest living brother, had taken sick after the mob chased him away from Carthage, and he died suddenly at the end of July.

Knowing the church was much more than a corporation with financial holdings and legal obligations, Newel believed the new trustee-in-trust ought to be someone who fully supported what the Lord had revealed to Joseph.

As Joseph’s running mate in the presidential campaign, Sidney had moved to another state to meet legal requirements for the position. But when he learned of the prophet’s death, Sidney rushed back to Illinois, certain his position in the First Presidency entitled him to lead the church.

Joseph had depended less on Sidney in recent years and had not bestowed all the keys of the priesthood on him.

Sidney insisted he’d had a vision that he should lead the church. Sidney’s words did not impress Wilford. “It was a kind of second-class vision,” he noted in his journal.

Brigham arose and testified that Joseph had conferred all the keys and powers of the apostleship on the Twelve. “I do not care who leads the church,” he said, “but one thing I must know, and that is what God says about it.”

Rather than holding a prayer meeting, Sidney was again offering himself as guardian of the church.

When Sidney finished speaking, Brigham called out to the crowd to stay a few moments longer. He said that he had wanted time to mourn Joseph’s death before settling any church business, but he sensed an urgency among the Saints to choose a new leader. He worried that some among them were grasping for power against the will of God.

“There has been much said about President Rigdon being president of the church,” he said, “but I say unto you that the Quorum of the Twelve have the keys of the kingdom of God in all the world.”

Joseph’s cousin Emily listened to Brigham Young and heard and saw Joseph.

“There has been much said about President Rigdon being president of the church,” he said, “but I say unto you that the Quorum of the Twelve have the keys of the kingdom of God in all the world.”

Feeling that the Spirit and the power that had rested on Joseph now rested on Brigham, Emily watched the apostle call on the Saints to sustain the Twelve as the leaders of the church. “Every man, every woman, every quorum is now put in order,” he said. “All that are in favor of this in all the congregation of the Saints, manifest it by holding up the right hand.”

Emily and the whole congregation raised their hands.

“There is much to be done,” Brigham said. “The foundation is laid by our prophet, and we will build thereon. No other foundation can be laid but that which is laid, and we will have our endowment if the Lord will.”

“If anyone doubts the right of Brigham to manage the affairs for the Saints,” Emily wrote, “all I have to say to them is this: Get the Spirit of God and know for yourselves. The Lord will provide for His own.”

James Strang, was a new member of the church who claimed to have a letter from Joseph appointing him to be his true successor. James had a home in Wisconsin Territory and wanted the Saints to gather there.

Brigham cautioned the Saints not to follow dissenters. “Don’t scatter,” he urged them. “Stay here in Nauvoo, and build up the temple and get your endowment.”

Remembering the Martyrdom: Revelations in Context: listened to recording.