Seek Learning, Even by Study and Also by Faith - Scriptures and Quotes

Gospel Doctrine - Lesson 23

On January 14, 1833, the Prophet wrote to W.W. Phelps, who was struggling to stop the apostasy in Missouri, enclosing a copy of section 88.  Part of the letter read as follows,

"I send you the 'olive leaf' which we have plucked from the Tree of Paradise, the Lord's message of peace to us; for though our brethren in Zion indulge in feelings towards us, which are not according to the requirements of the new covenant, yet, we have the satisfaction of knowing that the Lord approves of us, and has accepted us, and established His name in Kirtland for the salvation of the nations; for the Lord will have a place whence His word will go forth, in these last days, in purity....

“The brethren in Kirtland pray for you unceasingly, for, knowing the terrors of the Lord, they greatly fear for you. You will see that the Lord commanded us, in Kirtland, to build a house of God, and establish a school for the Prophets, this is the word of the Lord to us, and we must, yea, the Lord helping us, we will obey: as on conditions of our obedience.

“He has promised us great things; yea, even a visit from the heavens to honor us with His own presence"

Reading 1 – Doctrine and Covenants 88:77-80

Reading 2 – Doctrine and Covenants 88:118

Reading 3 - President Marion G. Romney of the First Presidency said: “I believe in study. I believe that men learn much through study. … I also believe, however, and know, that learning by study is greatly accelerated by faith” (Learning for the Eternities, comp. George J. Romney [1977], 72).

Reading 3A - Elder Dallin H. Oaks wrote:  "The things of God cannot be learned solely by study and reason. Despite their essential and beneficial uses, the methods of study and reason are insufficient as ways of approaching God and understanding the doctrines of his gospel." (Lord's Way, p56)

Reading 3B - Brother Joseph Fielding McConkie wrote:  "The eyes of faith enable us to see much that otherwise goes unobserved, whereas those who refuse to see and feel the things of the Spirit eventually become blind to such things and beyond feeling." (Answers: Straightforward Answers To Tough Gospel Questions, p174)

Reading 4 – Doctrine and Covenants 88:127-131

Reading 5 – Doctrine and Covenants 88:122-125

Orson Pratt said the brethren gathered in the School of the Prophets to learn about "the operations of the Spirit upon the mind of man" (The Heaven's Resound:  A History of the Latter-day Saints in Ohio, 1830-1838, p266).

Reading 6 – John Taylor said that Joseph Smith counseled the elders not to hesitate in expressing their thoughts, for, the Prophet said, "it was very common for the Holy Spirit to reveal some things to obscure individuals that were not known to others. Consequently, an exchange of ideas and reflections was considered profitable to all." (Ibid., p266)

Reading 7 -  John Murdock recorded the following experience at the school in the spring of 1833:  "The Prophet told us if we could humble ourselves before God, and exercise strong faith, we should see the face of the Lord. And about midday the visions of my mind were opened, and the eyes of my understanding were enlightened, and I saw the form of a man, most lovely, the visage of his face was sound and fair as the sun. His hair a bright silver gray, curled in most majestic form. His eyes a keen penetrating blue, and the skin of his neck a most beautiful white and he was covered from the neck to the feet with a loose garment, pure white, whiter than any garment I have ever before seen. His countenance was most penetrating, and yet most lovely. And while I was endeavoring to comprehend the whole personage from head to feet it slipped from me, and the vision was closed....  But it left on my mind the impression of love, for months, that I never felt before to that degree." (The Heaven's Resound:  A History of the Latter-day Saints in Ohio, 1830-1838, p267)

Reading 8 – Doctrine and Covenants 88:119

Reading 9 - Elder John A. Widtsoe said:  "The temple is a place of instruction. Here the principles of the gospel are reviewed and profound truths of the kingdom of God are unfolded. If we enter the temple in the right spirit and are attentive, we go out enriched in gospel knowledge and wisdom." (John A. Widtsoe, “Looking toward the Temple,” Ensign, Jan 1972, 56)

Elder Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve wrote:

“The temple is a great school. It is a house of learning. In the temples the atmosphere is maintained so that it is ideal for instruction in matters that are deeply spiritual. …

“The temple ceremony will not be fully understood at first experience. It will only be partly understood. Return again and again and again. Return to learn. Things that have troubled you or things that have been puzzling or things that have been mysterious will become known to you. Many of them will be the quiet, personal things that you really cannot explain to anyone else. But to you they are things known. …

“So look toward the temple. Point your children toward the temple. From the days of their infancy, direct their attention to it, and begin their preparation for the day when they may enter the holy temple.

“In the meantime, be teachable yourself, be reverent. Drink deeply from the teachings—the symbolic, deeply spiritual teachings—available only in the temple” (The Holy Temple [pamphlet, 1982], 6–8).

Looking Forth for the Great Day of the Lord to Come - Lesson 21 Scriptures and Quotes

Doctrine and Covenants 59:15-16

Doctrine and Covenants 61:36-39

Reading 1 - [S]ometime not long after 9-11, I had a missionary ask me in all honesty and full of faith, “Elder Holland, are these the last days?” I saw the earnestness in his face and some of the fear in his eyes, and I wanted to be reassuring. I thought perhaps an arm around him and some humor could relieve his anxiety a little. Giving him a hug, I said, “Elder, I may not be the brightest person alive, but even I know the name of the Church.” We then talked about being Latter-day Saints. I said, “Yes, Elder, we are in the last days, but there is really nothing new about that. The promised Second Coming of the Savior began with the First Vision of the Prophet Joseph Smith in 1820. So we already have about 184 years of experience seeing the Second Coming and the last days unfold. We can be certain that we are in the last days—years and years of them,” I said . . . . (Terror, Triumph, and a Wedding Feast, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, fireside address at Brigham Young University on 12 September 2004)

Reading 2 – Doctrine and Covenants 45:44

Reading 3 – Doctrine and Covenants 29:9-11

Reading 4 – Doctrine and Covenants 88:89-95

Reading 5 – Doctrine and Covenants 49:6-7

Joseph Smith said:  "Jesus Christ never did reveal to any man the precise time that he would come. Go and read the scriptures, and you cannot find anything that specified the exact hour he would come; and all that say so are false teachers." (HC, 6:254)

Reading 6 – Doctrine and Covenants 88:95-97

Doctrine and Covenants 29:13

Reading 7 - Doctrine and Covenants 101:23-34

Reading 8 – Doctrine and Covenants 45:58-59

Reading 9 – Doctrine and Covenants 101:22-23

Doctrine and Covenants 133:4-5

Reading 10 – President Gordon B. Hinckley taught: “How do you prepare for the Second Coming? Well, you just do not worry about it. You just live the kind of life that if the Second Coming were to be tomorrow you would be ready. Nobody knows when it is going to happen. … Our responsibility is to prepare ourselves, to live worthy of the association of the Savior, to deport ourselves in such a way that we would not be embarrassed if He were to come among us. That is a challenge in this day and age” (Church News, 2 Jan. 1999, 2).

President John Taylor said:  "The judgments will begin at the house of God. We have to pass through some of these things, but it will only be a very little compared with the terrible destruction, the misery and suffering that will overtake the world who are doomed to suffer the wrath of God. It behooves us, as the Saints of God, to stand firm and faithful in the observance of his laws, that we may be worthy of his preserving care and blessing." (JD, 21:100.)

Signs of the Second Coming – Reference Only

a)      Positive Signs

i)        D&C 45:9; 133:57–58. (The fullness of the gospel will be restored.)

ii)      D&C 45:66–71. (The New Jerusalem will be built. Zion will be built.  It will be a place of peace and safety for the righteous in the last days.)

iii)    D&C 65:2–6. (God’s kingdom will be established on the earth.)

iv)    D&C 110:11–16. (Priesthood keys will be restored.)

v)      D&C 133:8–9, 36–39. (The gospel will be preached throughout the world.)

vi)    D&C 45:24-25; see also D&C 45:43; D&C 45:51-53 (The Jews will be gathered to Jerusalem and will recognize Christ as their Messiah) - "But they shall be gathered again" (D&C 45:25; see also D&C 45:43). Joseph Smith: "Judah must return, Jerusalem must be rebuilt, and the temple . . . It will take some time to rebuild the walls of the city and the temple, etc.; and all this must be done before the Son of Man will make his appearance." (TPJS, p286)

vii)  D&C 133:26-27, 30-32 (The Ten Tribes will Return)- President Wilford Woodruff:  "All that God has said with regard to the ten tribes of Israel, strange as it may appear, will come to pass. They will, as has been said concerning them, smite the rock, and the mountains of ice will flow before them, and a great highway will be cast up, and their enemies will become a prey to them; and their records, and their choice treasures they will bring with them to Zion. These things are as true as God lives." (JD, 21:301)

b)      Negative Signs

i)        D&C 29:15; 88:91. (There will be great weeping, despair, and fear. Men’s hearts will fail them.)

ii)      D&C 29:16; 45:31; 112:24. (There will be famines, scourges, sickness, and desolation.)

iii)    D&C 34:9; 45:40–42; 88:87. (There will be signs and wonders in the heavens and in the earth.)

iv)    D&C 45:26; 63:33. (There will be wars and rumors of wars, and the whole earth will be in commotion.)

v)      D&C 45:27. (The love of men will become cold, and iniquity will abound.)

vi)    D&C 45:33; 88:89–90. (There will be earthquakes, tempests, and great waves of the sea. Men will harden their hearts against God and fight each other.)