Doctrine & Covenants Lesson 35 (D&C 93)
August 21–27
The Promise of Exaltation
● D&C 93 Our potential as the sons and daughters of God—literally the offspring of Deity—is that we have the potential to become like God.
● D&C 93:19 The Lord explains why he gave the revelation.
● D&C 93:1–3 What the Lord promises to every soul who will meet the requirements.
— v. 1 Every person who:
Repents (“forsaketh his sins”)
Baptized (“cometh unto [the Lord]”)
Prays (“calleth on the [Lord’s] name”)
Obeys (“obeyeth the [Lord’s] voice”)
Keeps (“keepeth the [Lord’s] commandments”)
— vv. 1–2 Shall see God and know that:
God exists.
God is the true light.
The Father and Son are one.
President Spencer. W. Kimball said, “Where there is a prayerful heart, a hungering after righteousness, a forsaking of sins, and obedience to the commandments of God, the Lord pours out more and more light until there is finally power to pierce the heavenly veil and to know more than man knows. A person of such righteousness has the priceless promise that one day he shall see the Lord’s face and know that he is.”1
How Christ Received a “Fullness” (Exaltation)
● D&C 93:5–18 Christ received a fullness over time.
— vv. 7, 21 He was with God in the beginning and was the Firstborn
— vv. 8–10 By becoming Creator and Savior he served his Father’s other children.
— v. 5 He obeyed the Father
— vv. 4, 11 He experienced mortality
— vv. 12–13 He “received grace for grace” and “continued from grace to grace”
— vv. 16–17 Eventually He received “a fulness of the glory of the Father”
— vv. 9–10 This world and others were made by the Savior under the Father’s direction.
— vv. 6–18 The “Record of John” mentioned in these verses refers to a record kept by John the Baptist.
Elder Orson Pratt said, “Not only the records of the ancient inhabitants of this land are to come forth, but the records of those who slept on the eastern hemisphere. The records of John, him who baptized the Lamb of God, are yet to be revealed. We are informed in the book of Doctrine and Covenants [D&C 93:18] . . . that the fullness of the record of John, is to be revealed to the Latter-day Saints.”2
— D&C 98:12 When one demonstrates faithfulness to the measure of truth and light given to him, a greater measure is given “until a fulness
D&C 50:24 is received.”
Alma 12:10
How We Can Receive a “Fullness” (Exaltation)
● D&C 93:19–53 We can also receive a fulness in time.
— vv. 23, 29 We were also with God in the beginning, as was Christ.
— vv. 19–20, 27–28 We, too, must plainly manifest the works of the Father (as Christ did) by forsaking our sins, praying, keeping his commandments, coming unto the Father in the name of the Savior.
— vv. 30–32 We are experiencing mortality, as Christ did, with agency to choose light or darkness.
— v. 20 We, too, are promised “grace for grace” as we prove our faithfulness to the measure of truth and light we are given, just as Christ did.
— vv. 19–20 We may also “receive a fulness,” as Christ did. To do so, we must prove our faithfulness to the light and truth we are given.
Elder George Q. Cannon said, “The latter-day Saints are promised, if they are faithful, that they shall receive the fullness, as Jesus received it; and Jesus received it as the Father received it. In the words of Paul, they become heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. [See Romans 8:16–17.] There is nothing that the Savior has attained unto that God’s faithful children are not promised. They are promised the same blessings, the same power, the same authority, the same gifts, the same graces. I know that we are apt to think that heaven is a sort of spiritual place. It is spiritual; but God our Eternal Father is a being of power. He controls the earth and the inhabitants thereof; He controls the elements of the earth; and we are promised that we shall be sharers with Him. He will give us an equal interest in all this power and authority. . . . The promise is that all things that He hath shall be given unto us [see D&C 84:38]. . We will be His heirs; we will be (if I may use the term without irreverence) co-partners with Him in all this power and authority. I do not know whether all the Latter-day Saints grasp this idea. It is important that we should.”3
Explanations of Truth and Intelligence
● D&C 93:24–25, 30 What is truth?
— Truth is to know things “as they are, as they were, and as they are to come.”
— D&C 93:33–35 Men fall away from light and truth through “disobedience” and “the tradition of their fathers” as they heed the devil who “taketh
D&C 50:24–25 away light and truth . . . from the children of men.”
Moroni 10:5
● D&C 93:28–37 What is intelligence?
— vv. 28–29 It is the primal material from which God organized man.
• “Intelligence . . . was not created or made” but has existed from the beginning.
• The scripture refers to this spirit material as “light of truth.”
• Man is capable of receiving more “light and truth.”
• This divine substance is the essence of man, who, by keeping the commandments, can receive light and truth and be glorified and “knoweth all things.”
The Prophet Joseph Smith said, “The spirit of man is not a created being; it existed from eternity, and will exist to eternity. Anything created cannot be eternal; and earth, water, etc., had their existence in an elementary state, from eternity.”4
President Joseph Fielding Smith said, “Some of our writers have endeavored to explain what an intelligence is, but to do so is futile, for we have never been given any insight into this matter beyond what the Lord has fragmentarily revealed. We know, however, that there is something called intelligence which always existed. It is the real eternal part of man, which was not created or made. This intelligence combined with the spirit constitutes a spiritual identity or individual.”5
— vv. 36–37 It is also “the glory of God . . . or, in other words, light and truth.” This means more than mere knowledge; it is knowledge used for the good of mankind.
Elder John A. Widstoe said, “Among the many great truths revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith, none is more beloved by the Church than ‘The Glory of God is intelligence.’ The word intelligence, as used in common speech, means readiness in learning, quickness of mind. Its higher Gospel meaning is more profound, The intelligent man is he who seeks knowledge and uses it in accordance with the plan of the Lord for human good . . . The full sentence reads, ‘The Glory of God is intelligence, or in other words, light and truth.’ When men follow the light their knowledge will always be well used. Intelligence, then, becomes but another name for wisdom [and] obedience to law is a mark of intelligence.”6
Other Important Doctrines
● D&C 93:33–35 The importance of physical bodies.
The Prophet Joseph Smith said, “‘We came to this earth that we might have a body and present it pure before God in the celestial kingdom. The great principle of happiness consists in having a body. The devil has no body, and herein is his punishment. He is pleased when he can obtain the tabernacle of man, and when cast out by the Savior he asked to go into the herd of swine, showing that he would prefer a swine’s body to having none!'”7
— v. 35 The physical body and the life within it are sacred gifts from God, compared in this verse to a temple. The devil, jealous that he cannot have a physical body, seeks to induce man to abuse it. The Lord, on the other hand, has given us counsel about how to care for the temple he has given us.
● D&C 93:38–40 We were innocent at spiritual birth and innocent again at physical birth.
Elder Bruce R. McConkie said, “There is no such thing as original sin as such is defined in the creeds of Christendom. Such a concept denies the efficacy of the atonement. Our revelation says . . . all children start out their mortal probation in purity and innocence . . . “8
● D&C 93:40–50 We are expected to “set in order [our] own house.”
Frederick G. Williams, Sidney Rigdon, and the Prophet Joseph Smith had not been taking their parental responsibilities. The Lord spoke to each in turn, very personally, about the seriousness of his neglect. Even the bishop in Kirtland, Newel K. Whitney, needed to see that his family was to be “more diligent and concerned at home.”
President Spencer W. Kimball said, “In modern times the Lord said, ‘Now, I, the Lord, am not well pleased with the inhabitants of Zion, for there are idlers among them; and their children are also growing up in wickedness.’ (D&C 68:31). We do not rear children just to please our vanity. We bring children into the world to become kings and queens, priests and priestesses for our Lord . . .
“How sad if the Lord should charge any of us parents with having failed to teach our children. Truly a tremendous responsibility falls upon a couple when they bring children into the world. Not only food, clothes, and shelter are required of them, but loving, kindly disciplining, teaching, and training.
“Of course, there are a few disobedient souls regardless of training and teaching, but the great majority of children respond to such parental guidance. The scripture says, ‘Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.’ (Prov. 22:6). And if he departs, he will probably return if he has been brought up in the right way.”9
President Harold B. Lee said, “We have had shocking examples of Church leaders in some stakes and wards who have seemingly used their business and Church assignments as excuses for neglecting their families. In one case, I heard a wife say, ‘Because he was so much away in his business and his Church responsibilities, I was just little more than a hired woman in his house.’ I have frequently counseled, and I repeat it to you again, to all of you here: The most important of the Lord’s work you will ever do will be within the walls of your own homes.’ We must never forget that.”10
Elder David A. Bednar taught, “In my office is a beautiful painting of a wheat field. The painting is a vast collection of individual brushstrokes—none of which in isolation is very interesting or impressive. In fact, if you stand close to the canvas, all you can see is a mass of seemingly unrelated and unattractive streaks of yellow and gold and brown paint. However, as you gradually move away from the canvas, all of the individual brushstrokes combine together and produce a magnificent landscape of a wheat field. Many ordinary, individual brushstrokes work together to create a captivating and beautiful painting.
“Each family prayer, each episode of family scripture study, and each family home evening is a brushstroke on the canvas of our souls. No one event may appear to be very impressive or memorable. But just as the yellow and gold and brown strokes of paint complement each other and produce an impressive masterpiece, so our consistency in doing seemingly small things can lead to significant spiritual results. ‘Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great’ (D&C 64:33). Consistency is a key principle as we lay the foundation of a great work in our individual lives and as we become more diligent and concerned in our own homes.”11
● D&C 93:51–53 We are also to bless others through missionary work and to perform whatever other assignments come to us “for the salvation of Zion.”
Notes:
1. Ensign, Mar. 1980, 4.
2. In Journal of Discourses, 16:58.
3. In Conference Report, Apr. 1899, 65.
4. History of the Church, 3:387.
5. Progress of Man, 11.
6. In Conference Report, Apr. 1938, 50.
7. Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 181.
8. “The Salvation of Little Children,” Ensign, Apr. 1977, 4.
9. “Train Up a Child,” Ensign, Apr. 1978, 4–5.
10. “Be Loyal to the Royal Within You,” Brigham Young University Speeches of the Year, 1973, 91.
11. “More Diligent and Concerned at Home,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2009, 19–20.