...from this very hour

[Justice]

As I was studying today I was touched by these passages in the 84th section of the Doctrine and Covenants:

43 And I now give unto you a commandment to beware concerning yourselves, to give diligent heed to the words of eternal life.

44 For you shall live by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God.

45 For the word of the Lord is truth, and whatsoever is truth is light, and whatsoever is light is Spirit, even the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

46 And the Spirit giveth light to every man that cometh into the world; and the Spirit enlighteneth every man through the world, that hearkeneth to the voice of the Spirit.

47 And every one that hearkeneth to the voice of the Spirit cometh unto God, even the Father.

48 And the Father teacheth him of the covenant which he has renewed and confirmed upon you, which is confirmed upon you for your sakes, and not for your sakes only, but for the sake of the whole world.

49 And the whole world lieth in sin, and groaneth under darkness and under the bondage of sin.

50 And by this you may know they are under the bondage of sin, because they come not unto me.

51 For whoso cometh not unto me is under the bondage of sin.

52 And whoso receiveth not my voice is not acquainted with my voice, and is not of me.

53 And by this you may know the righteous from the wicked, and that the whole world groaneth under sin and darkness even now.

54 And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received—

55 Which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation.

56 And this condemnation resteth upon the children of Zion, even all.

57 And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon and the former commandments which I have given them, not only to say, but to do according to that which I have written—

58 That they may bring forth fruit meet for their Father’s kingdom; otherwise there remaineth a scourge and judgment to be poured out upon the children of Zion.

59 For shall the children of the kingdom pollute my holy land? Verily, I say unto you, Nay.

60 Verily, verily, I say unto you who now hear my words, which are my voice, blessed are ye inasmuch as you receive these things;

61 For I will forgive you of your sins with this commandment—that you remain steadfast in your minds in solemnity and the spirit of prayer, in bearing testimony to all the world of those things which are communicated unto you.

62 Therefore, go ye into all the world; and unto whatsoever place ye cannot go ye shall send, that the testimony may go from you into all the world unto every creature.

63 And as I said unto mine apostles, even so I say unto you, for you are mine apostles, even God’s high priests; ye are they whom my Father hath given me; ye are my friends;

64 Therefore, as I said unto mine apostles I say unto you again, that every soul who believeth on your words, and is baptized by water for the remission of sins, shall receive the Holy Ghost.

65 And these signs shall follow them that believe—

66 In my name they shall do many wonderful works;

67 In my name they shall cast out devils;

68 In my name they shall heal the sick;

69 In my name they shall open the eyes of the blind, and unstop the ears of the deaf;

70 And the tongue of the dumb shall speak;

71 And if any man shall administer poison unto them it shall not hurt them;

72 And the poison of a serpent shall not have power to harm them.

73 But a commandment I give unto them, that they shall not boast themselves of these things, neither speak them before the world; for these things are given unto you for your profit and for salvation.

74 Verily, verily, I say unto you, they who believe not on your words, and are not baptized in water in my name, for the remission of their sins, that they may receive the Holy Ghost, shall be damned, and shall not come into my Father’s kingdom where my Father and I am.

75 And this revelation unto you, and commandment, is in force from this very hour upon all the world, and the gospel is unto all who have not received it.

Way too much to talk about at once. But, I'm curious, what touched you about these scriptures?

[Guest Xzain]

43 And I now give unto you a commandment to beware concerning yourselves, to give diligent heed to the words of eternal life.

44 For you shall live by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God.

...

50 And by this you may know they are under the bondage of sin, because they come not unto me.

51 For whoso cometh not unto me is under the bondage of sin.

52 And whoso receiveth not my voice is not acquainted with my voice, and is not of me.

53 And by this you may know the righteous from the wicked, and that the whole world groaneth under sin and darkness even now.

54 And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received—

55 Which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation.

56 And this condemnation resteth upon the children of Zion, even all.

57 And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon and the former commandments which I have given them, not only to say, but to do according to that which I have written—

...

60 Verily, verily, I say unto you who now hear my words, which are my voice, blessed are ye inasmuch as you receive these things;

61 For I will forgive you of your sins with this commandment—that you remain steadfast in your minds in solemnity and the spirit of prayer, in bearing testimony to all the world of those things which are communicated unto you.

62 Therefore, go ye into all the world; and unto whatsoever place ye cannot go ye shall send, that the testimony may go from you into all the world unto every creature.

63 And as I said unto mine apostles, even so I say unto you, for you are mine apostles, even God’s high priests; ye are they whom my Father hath given me; ye are my friends;

64 Therefore, as I said unto mine apostles I say unto you again, that every soul who believeth on your words, and is baptized by water for the remission of sins, shall receive the Holy Ghost.

...

75 And this revelation unto you, and commandment, is in force from this very hour upon all the world, and the gospel is unto all who have not received it.

Way too much to talk about at once. But, I'm curious, what touched you about these scriptures?

I was reminded of the importance of listening to the walking, talking prophets of God and being willing to accept new truth from them and from the Holy Ghost.

I was also reminded that those who hear the testimony of the saints of God, and who have the Holy Ghost testify of the truth of the Church in their hearts, and heed not the voice of the Spirit, they are in the bondage of serious sin at that time.

Thanks for posting this- it's good to ponder.

[Guest tomk]

There is a great book on LIGHT.

There is more to LIGHT than we think.

Here is the book:

Amazon.com: A Scriptural Discussion of Light: Allen J. Fletcher: Books

Look at verses 50 and 51.

[Tough Grits]

84th section of the Doctrine and Covenants:

43 And I now give unto you a commandment to beware concerning yourselves, to give diligent heed to the words of eternal life.

44 For you shall live by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God.

45 For the word of the Lord is truth, and whatsoever is truth is light, and whatsoever is light is Spirit, even the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

46 And the Spirit giveth light to every man that cometh into the world; and the Spirit enlighteneth every man through the world, that hearkeneth to the voice of the Spirit.

47 And every one that hearkeneth to the voice of the Spirit cometh unto God, even the Father.

This speaks to me. Even before I came to be a member of this Church, I can look back and see where the influence of the Holy Ghost lead me to this gospel. It was the Holy Ghost that witnessed unto me that what I read in the Gospel Principles manual was true. This confirmation and witness of the Holy Ghost is what lead to my baptism.

48 And the Father teacheth him of the covenant which he has renewed and confirmed upon you, which is confirmed upon you for your sakes, and not for your sakes only, but for the sake of the whole world.

This made me think of the example we set for others. It also made me think of mourning with those that mourn, comforting those in need of comfort, and doing unto the least of "these". Basically, it reminded me that the blessings that I have received, the talents and skills that I have been given, and the gospel that I now enjoy...is not solely for me. It is also for me to share and impart to others as the Spirits directs.

49 And the whole world lieth in sin, and groaneth under darkness and under the bondage of sin.

50 And by this you may know they are under the bondage of sin, because they come not unto me.

51 For whoso cometh not unto me is under the bondage of sin.

52 And whoso receiveth not my voice is not acquainted with my voice, and is not of me.

53 And by this you may know the righteous from the wicked, and that the whole world groaneth under sin and darkness even now.

54 And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received—

55 Which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation.

56 And this condemnation resteth upon the children of Zion, even all.

57 And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon and the former commandments which I have given them, not only to say, but to do according to that which I have written—

To me, this means that even members of our Church are not exempt from the condemnation spoken of above. Because there are too many within our fold who take their covenants with the Lord lightly, do not study and read often from the Book of Mormon, do not hearken unto all the counsel of the Lord that has been given through the prophets, and who do not practice what they preach.

58 That they may bring forth fruit meet for their Father’s kingdom; otherwise there remaineth a scourge and judgment to be poured out upon the children of Zion.

59 For shall the children of the kingdom pollute my holy land? Verily, I say unto you, Nay.

60 Verily, verily, I say unto you who now hear my words, which are my voice, blessed are ye inasmuch as you receive these things;

61 For I will forgive you of your sins with this commandment—that you remain steadfast in your minds in solemnity and the spirit of prayer, in bearing testimony to all the world of those things which are communicated unto you.

62 Therefore, go ye into all the world; and unto whatsoever place ye cannot go ye shall send, that the testimony may go from you into all the world unto every creature.

I think of missionary work. But I also think of our personal responsibility to share our testimony in all the corners of the earth. Our testimony can be shared by our mere example (by living the gospel, rather than merely preaching it), and it can also be shared by bearing our testimony. It makes me think of these forums. Do we not have the technology and the opportunity to share our testimony throughout all the corners of the earth via the internet? Have we not been recently counseled to do that very thing?

63 And as I said unto mine apostles, even so I say unto you, for you are mine apostles, even God’s high priests; ye are they whom my Father hath given me; ye are my friends;

64 Therefore, as I said unto mine apostles I say unto you again, that every soul who believeth on your words, and is baptized by water for the remission of sins, shall receive the Holy Ghost.

65 And these signs shall follow them that believe—

66 In my name they shall do many wonderful works;

67 In my name they shall cast out devils;

68 In my name they shall heal the sick;

69 In my name they shall open the eyes of the blind, and unstop the ears of the deaf;

70 And the tongue of the dumb shall speak;

71 And if any man shall administer poison unto them it shall not hurt them;

72 And the poison of a serpent shall not have power to harm them.

73 But a commandment I give unto them, that they shall not boast themselves of these things, neither speak them before the world; for these things are given unto you for your profit and for salvation.

I think of the Priesthood. Through the authority and power of Heavenly Father, and by the direction of the Holy Ghost, the Priesthood holders of the Church can administer unto those in need.

But it is very clear here, and in other places in the scriptures, that we are not to be a proud or stiff-necked people. It is not for us to place ourselves on a pedestal above our other brothers and sisters, regardless of their choice of religion. We are to be humble, for the power of the Priesthood is a privilege, and it is to be used in service to others, not for prideful boastings of the respective Priesthood holder. For, it is not his own power that heals, but God's power.

74 Verily, verily, I say unto you, they who believe not on your words, and are not baptized in water in my name, for the remission of their sins, that they may receive the Holy Ghost, shall be damned, and shall not come into my Father’s kingdom where my Father and I am.

75 And this revelation unto you, and commandment, is in force from this very hour upon all the world, and the gospel is unto all who have not received it.

This last part merely lays out what we were taught in the very pre-mortal world itself. There is a plan. There is a way. We know that there is only one way to come unto our Father's kingdom. We must all come unto Christ. We must walk the straight and narrow. We must pass through the narrow gate. We must repent. We must have faith in the atonement of Christ. We must obey the commandments and uphold all the covenants that we make before God. We must love God, and love our neighbors like unto ourselves. We must take what we know to be true, and share it with all we come in contact with.

In short, we must all strive to follow in the footsteps of our Savior and adhere to the plan that we were all taught in the pre-mortal world.

Well, these are my own thoughts and opinions. I am no great biblical or scriptural scholar by any stretch of the imagination. I did not pull out any of my Church manuals or my books by the General Authorities to research the above verses of scripture.

I just answered by what the Spirit whispered to me as I read each verse. Just as no two humans are alike, neither will our interpretations be alike. But that is what makes life and this gospel so great, we can all add our interpretations and testimonies on principles and doctrines, so that when woven together they make a beautiful tapestry of truthfulness and faith in our Father in Heaven.

IMHO

[Traveler]

As I was studying today I was touched by these passages in the 84th section of the Doctrine and Covenants:

43 And I now give unto you a commandment to beware concerning yourselves, to give diligent heed to the words of eternal life.

44 For you shall live by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God.

Way too much to talk about at once. But, I'm curious, what touched you about these scriptures?

I

I am touched by the understanding of "word". Most often we think of words as that which is spoken. The Gospel of John tells us more concerning "The Word". The scriptures often use symbols when talking about things like the "mouth of G-d". I think we do ourselves a disservice by narrowing our understanding of what the scriptures intend when we think in terms of what is spoken and written. I believe that those sent by G-d they are inspired beyond words – they are inspired by deeds and behaviors to be examples of G-d as well. If their behavior is not inspired – they words are empty.

I do not believe it is enough to speak of the things of G-d – if one is not a proxy and example of G-d they are a false prophet and false teacher and should not claim that G-d has called or sent them. By the same token we should not seek guidance from those whose deeds are not a consistent example of what they teach – which leaves me without any political mentors or leaders to follow from any current campaigns.

The Traveler

[Justice]

Traveler, your post is refreshing.

For the life of me, I can't figure out how most people can read the Bible and think they don't have to "do" anything. So many scriptures teach that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a "doing" gospel. Not that our works can save us, but that if you don't do His works then you really don't believe.