“Blessed Are You Because You Are Called of Me to Preach My Gospel”
Doctrine and Covenants 34:1–6
1 My son Orson, hearken and hear and behold what I, the Lord God, shall say unto you, even Jesus Christ your Redeemer;
2 The light and the life of the world, a light which shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not;
3 Who so loved the world that he gave his own life, that as many as would believe might become the sons of God. Wherefore you are my son;
4 And blessed are you because you have believed;
5 And more blessed are you because you are called of me to preach my gospel—
6 To lift up your voice as with the sound of a trump, both long and loud, and cry repentance unto a crooked and perverse generation, preparing the way of the Lord for his second coming.
President Joseph Fielding Smith wrote:
“This revelation (Sec. 34) was given to the young man Orson Pratt at his own request. In it the Lord introduces Himself as He had done to others who came requesting information in regard to what the Lord would have them do. The expression ‘the light and the life of the world,’ is explained by John when writing his Gospel. Jesus Christ is the light which shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not. In other words, because of the wickedness of the world, men fail to discern between light and darkness, their deeds being evil. Having eyes they see not, and having ears they hear not, but the Lord through an ancient prophet pronounced a woe on all such [see 2 Nephi 9:28–38].
“. . . Orson Pratt was taught the great truth that all who will believe on Jesus Christ and obey His will shall become the sons of God. To Adam the Lord said: ‘Thou art baptized with fire, and with the Holy Ghost. This is the record of the Father, and the Son, from henceforth and forever; and thou art after the order of him who was without beginning of days or end of years, from all eternity to all eternity. Behold, thou art one in me, a son of God; and thus may all become my sons. Amen’ [Moses 6:66–68]. Paul, likewise, in addressing the Roman Saints: ‘For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God’ [Romans 8:14]. What a glorious thing it is to know that we may have this great honor through the ordinances of the gospel and our faithfulness in observing all that the Lord has commanded us.”
(Church History and Modern Revelation, 2 vols. [1953], 1:155.)
