Doctrine and Covenants 85-87

1. Doctrine and Covenants 85-87

2. Doctrine and Covenants 85:7 “One Mighty and Strong” Those who believed they were the “One Mighty and Strong:” James Brighouse: 1887-1892 He published five tracts that described himself. He taught reincarnation and later that he was Christ.

3. Samuel Eastman: He said he was called as the “One Mighty and Strong” in 1904. He thought his court trial motivated the statement from the First Presidency on this subject in 1905. John Tanner Clark: He said his Patriarchal Blessing told him he was the one. He died in 1932. Benjamin F. LaBaron: He began his claim in 1934.

4. Francis M. Darter: Taught that the “One Mighty and Strong” would be an Indian prophet. Ross Wesley LeBaron: Helped organize the “Church of the First-born” and believed he was the one. Maurice Larrie Glendinning: Founder of the Order of Aaron, believed he was the one.

5. Joel F. LeBaron: Organized the Church of the Firstborn and believed he was the one. The First Presidency, in 1905 said they believed it was Edward Partridge or if not the revelation was negated because Bishop Partridge stayed true to his calling as Bishop. And if not this, then a Prophet of the Church that the Lord would so designate.

6. Doctrine and Covenants 85:8 “Steady the Ark of God” In a letter to Oliver Cowdery, we find the following item: Brother Joseph said, “that the man who is called and puts forth his hand to steady the ark of God, does not mean that no one had the right at the time, but that it was given for a caution to those in high standing to beware, lest they should fall by the shaft of death!

7. Edward Partridge like Uzzah (2 Samuel 6:6-7) were to follow God exactly, no matter how good their intentions were. The Lord made it clear that he does not need Uzzah or Edward Partridge to sustain His affairs or to steady the ark.

8. D&C 86 “Parable of the Wheat and the Tares” This is a more complete account than the Matthew 13:24-30 account. It changed the order of the gathering at the Second Coming.

9. D&C 86:3 “Fallen asleep” Death of the Apostles “Tares” = Poisonous weeds that look like wheat. “Drive the Church into the wilderness” = Apostasy!

10. D&C 86:5 The angels are crying unto the Lord day and night, who are ready and waiting to be sent forth to reap down the fields. Sixty-one years later, President Woodruff declared the Lord had released those destroying angels and they were on the earth separating the tares from the wheat in preparation for the burning that would come.

11. D&C 86:7 “The order was changed” 1. First, gather out the wheat from among the tares. 2. The tares will then be gathered into bundles and prepared to burn.

12. Doctrine and Covenants 87 “War in the Last Days” Section 87 identified the beginning of the Civil War as the time when peace would be taken from the earth. Also foreshadowed was the evil and bitterness that would greet the gospel as it goes forth. This prophecy was given 28 years, 3 months and 17 days before the Civil War began.

13. When Joseph Smith ran for President of the United States in 1844, one of the things suggested he would have liked to implement was to free all of the slaves. He proposed that all slave holders should receive compensation for their slaves to be paid by the government through money and property. A majority of the people thought it was a foolish idea because it would cost the United States an absurd amount of money. The Civil War ended up costing our country over 15 billion dollars and was the bloodiest battle ever fought .

14. Over 600,000 men and women were killed. • World War II, 318,000 • World War I, 115,000 • American Revolution, 4,044 • War of 1812, 2,200 • Mexican War, 13,270 • Korean War, 33,000 • Vietnam War, 46,616 (U.S. casualties only)

15. D&C 87:4 “Slaves shall rise up against their masters” Presiding Bishop Joseph L. Wirthlin suggested in conference in 1958 that this applied to people in countries where the citizens were both slaves to the government and without freedom of religion (C.R., Oct. 1958, 32).

16. Elder Orson Pratt publicized this prophecy throughout his many missionary travels. He said: “Well, it seems as if the Lord our God is giving the nation a pretty thorough warning. He told his nation by revelation, twenty-eight years before it commenced, of the great American war. He told all about how the Southern states should be divided against the Northern states and that in the course of the war many souls should be cut off. This has been fulfilled.

17. I went forth before my beard was gray, before my hair began to turn white, when I was a young of nineteen, now I am fifty-eight, and from that time on I published these tidings among the inhabitants of the earth. I carried forth the written revelation, foretelling this great contest, some twenty-eight years before the war commenced. This prophecy has been printed and circulated extensively in this and other nations and languages. It pointed out the place where it should commence in South Carolina. That which I declared over the New England states, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and many more other parts of the East, when but a boy, came to pass twenty-eight years after the revelation was given.

18. When they talked about war commencing down here in Kansas, I told them that was not the place; I also told them that the revelation had designated South Carolina, and said I, you have not need to think that the Kansas War is going to be the war that is to be so terrible destructive in its character and nature. No; it must commence at the place the Lord has designated by revelation.

19. What did they say to me? They thought it was a Mormon humbug, and laughed me to scorn, and they looked upon that revelation as they do upon all others that God has given in these latter days – as without divine authority. But behold and low in process of time it came to pass, again establishing the divinity of this work, and giving another proof that God is in this work and is performing that which He spoke by the mouths of the ancient prophets, and recorded in the Book of Mormon (CHMR Vol. 2, 127).

20. Doctrine and Covenants 87:8 Stand in Holy Places! What does that mean?

21. You will live in the midst of economic, political, and spiritual instability. When you see these signs unmistakable evidence that His coming is nigh be not troubled, but “stand… in holy places, and be not moved, until the day of the Lord comes.” Holy men and women stand in holy places, and these holy places include our temples, our chapels, our homes, and the stakes of Zion, which are, as the Lord declares, “for a defense, and for a refuge from the storm, and from wrath when it shall be poured our without mixture upon the whole earth” (D&C 115:6).

22. This preparation must consist of more than just casual membership in the Church. You must learn to be guided by personal revelation and the counsel of the living prophet so you will not be deceived. Our Lord has indicated who, among Church members, will stand when he appears (BYU Speeches of the Year, April 14, 1981, 68).