Have you ever noticed that right after a you have a spiritual breakthrough, sometimes things don’t
get easier, they get a little bit harder? Often when we’ve done the right thing, persecution
intensifies and increases, and the same thing happened with Joseph Smith and the early saints.
Right after the Church was organized, the persecution on the early members of the Church
seems to spike and become worse than it ever was before. But before we get to the persecution,
let’s talk about some of the important people surrounding Joseph Smith.
Section 23 of the Doctrine and Covenants could be called “Five revelations for Five friends.”
Because that’s all it is, really simple, about two verse revelations that were given separately
to five people, Oliver Cowdry, Hiram Smith, Samuel Smith, Joseph Smith Senior, the prophet’s father,
and Joseph Knight Senior, one of the prophet’s closest friends.
Each one of these revelations which were only about two verses long,
were taken and combined together to create section 23 of the Doctrine and Covenants.
Even though these are very, very, short, each one contains an interesting hint
about the future life and state of the person the revelation was received for. For instance,
Oliver Cowdery was told to beware of pride, later on Oliver would leave the Church. In fact,
Wilford Woodruff, who was present when this incident happened, said that Oliver challenged
Joseph Smith as the second apostle in the Church and said, “‘If I leave this Church it will fall.’
Said, Joseph, ‘Oliver, you try it,” according to Wilford Woodruff, “Oliver tried it.
He fell.” Hiram Smith was told that his duty would be unto the Church forever.
You might remember that Hyrum fulfills that duty to the Church. He dies a martyr in Carthage Jail
alongside Joseph Smith and serves as one of the co-testators of this dispensation.
The next person addressed is Joseph’s little brother, Samuel Harrison Smith. Samuel is
generally recognized as the very first missionary in the history of the Church.
A few days after the Church is organized and this revelation is given, Samuel took a satchel full of
copies of the Book of Mormon and set out to teach the gospel. He wasn’t very successful during that
first round but he did manage to place a copy of the Book of Mormon with a guy named John Green,
a Methodist minister that lived in the area. In a follow-up visit, Samuel was meeting with
John Green’s wife Rhoda Green. As Samuel asked if he could read the Book of Mormon with her,
Rhoda burst into tears suddenly and started to spill out all of her problems to this young
missionary. The two of them prayed together and eventually Rhoda and John both were converted and
joined the church. Now this is a big deal because Rhoda’s maiden name is Rhoda Young. Her brother is
a guy named Phineas Young, who has a brother whose name you might recognize Brigham Young. In fact,
Phineas Young started to investigate the Church because his sister joined, and he remembered
meeting with Samuel Smith and pointing out to him that Samuel Smith’s name was in the book as one
of the eight witnesses. According to Phineas Young, Samuel Smith turned to him and said,
“Yes… I know the book to be a revelation from God, translated by the gift and power of the
Holy Ghost, and that my brother, Joseph Smith jun., is a Prophet, Seer, and Revelator.” All
the Youngs were converted and became important leaders in the Church. If you look at a copy of
The Book of Mormon that was owned by Samuel Smith, you can even see a place where he underlined
and starred his name as if he was witnessing again that The Book of Mormon was true.
Well part of the revelation addresses Joseph Smith Senior, who’s eventually going to become
the first patriarch within the Church. He’s also the first person that Joseph Smith tells about
the Angel Moroni, and was baptized the day the Church was organized. The last person addressed
in the revelation, Joseph Knight Senior, was putting off being baptized during this time
but convinced by the word of God to him. Father Knight agreed to Join the Church and stayed in
the Church to the end of his life, even past the Nauvoo period and during the trek west.
The rest of these sections center in and around Father Knight’s farm in Colesville, New York.
During this time, the Church was divided into three small branches, one in Palmyra, New York,
one in Fayette, New York, and the other one in Colesville, which is right on the border
by Harmony, Pennsylvania where Joseph Smith was living. Joseph Smith, in the Colesville area,
taught and shared the Gospel but also incurred some really serious persecutions. In fact, during
a ceremony where Emma Smith was baptized in the Church, they had planned the next day to hold the
confirmation meeting but a mob broke up the dam that they had used to secure water in the creek
to perform baptisms and Joseph Smith was arrested before he was able to perform these confirmations.
Joseph Smith was accosted by a constable. The constable arrested him and told him that a mob was
intending to attack him and that he had been asked to take him into custody, and as if on cue after
the constable said this a mob came out and started chasing the wagon that Joseph and the constable
were in. The wheel fell off the wagon and Joseph and the constable had to jump out, fix the wagon,
hop in, and keep going before the mob could reach them. When they made it to an inn that night,
Joseph Smith was subject to all kinds of ridicule and cruelty and the constable was so worried
that Joseph was going to be hurt or injured that according to Joseph Smith he slept with his feet
on the door with the constable holding a loaded gun just in case anybody tried to accost them.
Joseph Smith was taken to trial and eventually acquitted, but on his way out of the trial
he was arrested by another constable. This one was less kind, took Joseph Smith
to another inn where he was accosted again, and that night the constable literally slept
holding Joseph with his arms so that he wouldn’t get away because he didn’t trust him.
Now fortunately, in both of these trials, a number of friends of Joseph Smith came forward.
And, as section 24 explains, Joseph was able to witness of some of the miracles
that the Lord had said he would perform. Among these miracles was one classified as
the very first miracle performed in the Church and that was that Newell Knight,
who’s the son of Joseph Knight Senior, was possessed by a devil.
Joseph Smith later wrote, “I went and found him suffering very much
in his mind, and his body acted upon in a very strange manner.
His visage and limbs distorted and twisted in every shape and appearance possible to imagine;
and finally he was caught up off the floor of the apartment and tossed about most fearfully.”
After a few moments of this, Newell asked Joseph to “cast the Devil out
of him ...”. And Joseph replied, “If you know that I can, it shall be done,” and then he said,
“almost unconsciously I rebuked the devil, and commanded him in the name of Jesus Christ to
depart from him; when immediately Newell spoke out and said that he saw the devil leave him and
vanish from his sight.” Joseph later noted, “This was the first miracle which was done
in this Church, or by any member of it, and it was done, not by man nor by the power of man,
but it was done by God, and by the power of Godliness: Therefore let the honor and the praise,
the dominion and the glory be ascribed to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for ever and
ever Amen.” During these trials, Newell Knight was actually called to the stand and asked if Joseph
Smith had cast the devil out of him. According to Newell Knight’s own history he replied, “No Sir;
it was done by the power of God, and Joseph Smith was the instrument in the
hands of God on this occasion. He commanded him out of me in the name of Jesus Christ.”
Now, you would imagine getting baptized then not getting confirmed, then having your husband being
arrested twice, would be really stressful, and it does appear that these events were really,
really difficult for Emma Smith. So the next revelation in the Doctrine and Covenants is
special. It’s given to Emma Smith because she’s so discouraged, and so troubled, by the things that
were happening. Part of what was troubling her was that Harmony was her hometown, and some of
the people involved in the persecutions against Joseph Smith were Emma’s own family members.
Emma’s father, Isaac Hale, was deeply opposed to the work that Joseph Smith was doing, and one of
Emma’s uncles was a Methodist minister that also led the opposition. Emma was reaching a point
where she was going to have to choose between her faith in her husband and her family on the
other hand. And in a few months she would leave Harmony and never return, or see her family again.
It was at this time, when she needed strength, that the Lord spoke to her in a revelation
that has not only become a banner for Emma Smith to hold to, but a witness to all women
of the Church that the Lord knows and recognizes his daughters and understands them. In fact,
that’s the title that the Lord uses for Emma Smith in the opening of section 25,
that she is his daughter because she has accepted the gospel. He also gives her another title,
which is “an elect lady”. This prophecy that she would be “an elect lady” was
literally fulfilled 12 years later when the Relief Society was organized. During this time,
Joseph Smith noted that Emma had been elected to the Presidency of the Society, and had previously
been ordained to expound the scriptures in section 25 of the Doctrine and Covenants.
Emma leads the Relief Society, establishing this organization for women as a group of people that
will serve and help and assist others. In fact, on the day the Relief Society is organized she said,
“We are going to do something extraordinary… We expect extraordinary occasions and pressing
calls.” Emma was also told to stay true to her witness of the Book of Mormon,
which she did for the rest of her life. Emma didn’t travel west, but she never denied her
testimony of the Book of Mormon. In fact, near the end of her life, in an interview with her son,
she said, “My belief is that the Book of Mormon is of divine authenticity - I have not the slightest
doubt of it. I am satisfied that no man could have dictated the writing of the manuscripts unless
he was inspired; for, when acting as his scribe, your father would dictate to me hour after hour;
and when returning after meals, or after interruptions, he could at once begin
where he left off, without either seeing the manuscript or having any portion of it read
to him. This was a usual thing for him to do. It would have been improbable that a learned
man could do this; and, for one so ignorant and unlearned as he was, it was simply impossible.”
The Lord also recognized some specific talents and gifts that Emma held individually. For instance,
just five years later, Emma Smith published the very first hymn book in the history of the Church,
only about this big. It contained a selection of hymns that Emma had chosen herself, and that were
composed by several early members of the Church; among them, W.W. Phelps. As you look through this
book, you’re going to notice a couple things. For instance, there is no music, because often, the
saints would select different tunes and sing the lyrics along with different music accompanying it.
Some of the most classic hymns in latter-day saint hymnody are found here; for instance, “Redeemer of
Israel”. And, on the very last page is found, “The Spirit of God Like A Fire is Burning.”
This is the start of Latter-Day Saint involvement in music and worship that goes all the way down
from the most humble congregation singing the hymn as best as they can, to the tabernacle
choir at temple square being accompanied by a full orchestra and selling album after album of
sacred music. Emma Smith starts this, and it’s a recognition that the Lord not only knows her,
that he knows specifically what her talents are, and what gifts she can use to build the kingdom.
Now, the last section of the Doctrine and Covenants that
we’re going to discuss today is section 26, which is a really short section,
but contains a law that we use almost every single Sunday in the Church. Maybe you’ve
been sitting in sacrament meeting, and you’ve seen the high councilman, or member of the bishopric,
walk up to the stand and ask all those in favor to raise the right hand and any opposed
signified by the same sign. This has become such a humdrum thing that we often don’t think about it.
In fact, a few years ago, Jay Golden Kimball was presiding over a stake conference in Nephi,
and he noticed that everybody was just raising their hands and not even listening to what he was
saying. So he got up and said, it is proposed that we move Mount Nebo to where Utah Lake is
and Utah lake to where Mount Nebo is, all in favor, and the crowd actually sustained him.
Now, when you’re in your congregation and you’re asked to sustain,
think about what you’re doing. The Prophet George Albert Smith taught,
“The obligation that we make when we raise our hands… is a most sacred one. It does not mean that
we will go quietly on our way and be willing that the prophet of the Lord shall direct this work,
but it means… that we will stand behind him; we will pray for him; we will defend his good name,
and we will strive to carry out his instructions as the Lord shall direct.”
More recently President Nelson, and this was before he was President of the Church,
said, “Our sustaining of prophets is a personal commitment that we will do our utmost to uphold
their prophetic priorities. Our sustaining is an oath-like indication that we recognize their
calling as a prophet to be legitimate and binding upon us.” So don’t just raise your
hand reflexively; think about what you’re doing. Think about that person, and think about what you
can do to support that man, or that woman, that’s being placed in that calling. Every
single one of us has blessings in the Church, but every single one of us needs other people
to support and sustain us for us to be successful in what we’ve been asked to do. In good times and
in bad, it’s nice to know that we have friends, and family, and loved ones within the Church,
that will sustain and support us, and that we not only have our families that God has given to us,
but this larger family of faith, to help and support us through our persecutions,
through our trials, and through our difficulties, just like Joseph Smith did.