Come, Follow Me
Hidden Treasures
Dig into the scriptures and you’ll find all kinds of things.
Modern revelation clarifies the scriptures.
Doctrine and Covenants 19 explains two things about the Savior.
Luke says the Lord’s sweat in the Garden of Gethsemane “was as it were great drops of blood” (Luke 22:44). “As it were” suggests that’s just a figure of speech.
Jesus clears it up. He says His suffering made Him “bleed at every pore” (Doctrine and Covenants 19:18). No metaphors. His anguish was so great he really did sweat blood.
Elsewhere, the scriptures use phrases like “endless torment” and “eternal punishment.” Alma the Younger says he “was racked with eternal torment” (Alma 36:12). But his torment only lasted three days (see Alma 36:16). How is that “eternal”?
Again, Jesus clarifies. Since Heavenly Father and Jesus are eternal and endless, any punishment They give is, by definition, “eternal” or “endless” punishment, regardless of duration (see Doctrine and Covenants 19:6–12). Only the suffering of the sons of perdition will actually last forever (see Doctrine and Covenants 76:30–38).
One baptism is enough—but it requires authority.
Potential converts often ask the missionaries: What if I’ve already been baptized in another church? Do I need to be baptized again?
The Doctrine and Covenants explains that without the priesthood—the authority to act in God’s name—“although a man should be baptized an hundred times it availeth him nothing” (Doctrine and Covenants 22:2).
So the answer is essentially: “Your prior baptism was a righteous act based on what you knew at the time. Now you know more, and the Lord wants you to act on that knowledge.”
Nobody is good at everything. And that’s OK.
The Prophet Joseph Smith wasn’t good at business or economics. In worldly terms, he was not a success.
The Lord told him it would be that way: “In temporal labors thou shalt not have strength, for this is not thy calling” (Doctrine and Covenants 24:9).
You will have friends and classmates who go to better universities than you, get more prestigious jobs than you, and have more worldly success than you.
So what?
Life isn’t a contest. You should try your best, of course. But don’t panic if you see others passing you on the road of life. They might not be heading for the same destination as you! Keep doing what the Lord wants you to do—your “calling”—and don’t worry about His plans for anyone else.
God’s house is a house of order.
The Savior often reminded the Prophet Joseph Smith that everything must be done “in order” (see Doctrine and Covenants 20:68; 28:13; 58:55; 107:84). You need rules or there’s chaos.
But that doesn’t mean there’s never any leeway. For example, the Lord told Joseph Smith that “it mattereth not what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink when ye partake of the sacrament”—as long as you do it in remembrance of His suffering and Atonement (Doctrine and Covenants 27:2).
When it comes to leading the Church, however, there is no leeway. Only one person at a time can receive revelation for the Church: first Joseph Smith (see Doctrine and Covenants 28:2); then whomever the Lord appointed “in his stead” (Doctrine and Covenants 28:7)—Brigham Young, John Taylor, and so forth down to the prophet today.
Other inspired Church leaders can teach, advise, and give counsel (see Doctrine and Covenants 28:4–5). But only the President of the Church can speak for God on matters that affect the whole Church.