Doctrine and Covenants 76
“Great Shall Be Their Rewards and Eternal Shall Be Their Glory”
July 7 - July 13
scripture
quotes
"Develop Our Character"
<p>Brothers and sisters, Christ paid such an enormous, enabling price for us! Will we not apply His Atonement in order to pay the much smaller price required for personal progress? Being valiant in our testimony of Jesus, therefore, includes being valiant in our efforts to live more as He lived (see D&C 76:79). We certainly cannot enter His kingdom without receiving the restored ordinances and keeping their associated covenants, but neither can we enter His kingdom without having significantly developed our charity and the other cardinal attributes (see Ether 12:34). Yes, we need the essential ordinances, but we also need the essential attributes. Yes, we need to keep our covenants, but we also need to develop our character. Do we not sing, “More holiness give me,” pleading that we can be “more, Savior, like thee”? (Hymns, no. 131).</p>
Neal A. Maxwell, "Apply the Atoning Blood of Christ," October 1997 General Conference.
Suffering for Sin
<p>An unredeemed individual’s suffering for sin is known as hell. It means being subject to the devil and is described in scriptural metaphors as being in chains or a lake of fire and brimstone. Lehi begged his sons to choose Christ’s Redemption “and not choose eternal death, according to the will of the flesh and the evil which is therein, which giveth the spirit of the devil power to captivate, to bring you down to hell, that he may reign over you in his own kingdom” (2 Nephi 2:29). Even so, because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, hell has an end, and those who are obliged to pass through it are “redeemed from the devil [in] the last resurrection” (D&C 76:85). The relatively few “sons of perdition” are “the only ones on whom the second death shall have any [lasting] power; yea, verily, the only ones who shall not be redeemed in the due time of the Lord, after the sufferings of his wrath” (D&C 76:32, 37–38).</p>
D. Todd Christofferson, "Redemption," April 2013 General Conference.
"The Ultimate Expression of Orthodoxy"
<p>Eighteen years ago from this same pulpit, I pled with those who stood indecisively on the “porch” of the Church to come fully inside. Today my plea is to those members already inside but whose discipleship is casual, individuals whom we love, whose gifts and talents are much needed in building the kingdom!</p> <p>Any call for greater consecration is, of course, really a call to all of us. But these remarks are not primarily for those who are steadily striving and who genuinely seek to keep God’s commandments and yet sometimes fall short. Nor is this primarily for those few in deliberate noncompliance, including some who cast off on intellectual and behavioral bungee cords in search of new sensations, only to be jerked about by the old heresies and the old sins.</p> <p>Instead, these comments are for the essentially “honorable” members who are skimming over the surface instead of deepening their discipleship and who are casually engaged rather than “anxiously engaged” (D&C 76:75). Though nominal in their participation, their reservations and hesitations inevitably show through. They may even pass through our holy temples, but, alas, they do not let the holy temples pass through them.</p> <p>Such members accept callings but not all of the accompanying responsibilities; hence, their Church chores must often be done by those already “anxiously engaged.” Some regard themselves as merely “resting” in between Church callings. But we are never in between as to this soaring call from Jesus: “What manner of men [and women] ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am” (3 Nephi 27:27). It is never safe to rest regarding that calling! In fact, being “valiant” in one’s testimony of Jesus includes striving to become more like Him in mind, heart, and attributes (D&C 76:79). Becoming this manner of men and women is the ultimate expression of orthodoxy!</p>
Neal A. Maxwell, "Settle This in Your Hearts," October 1992 General Conference.
"It is a Glorious Thing to Start There"
<p>Now we have a revelation that says, in effect, that in order to be saved in the kingdom of God, we must be valiant in testimony. It is not enough to have a testimony, a knowledge of the divinity of the work, but it is a glorious thing to start there. In order to gain an inheritance in the celestial world, we have to be valiant in testimony (D&C 76:79) and we have to manifest that valiance by keeping the commandments of God. God grant us the fortitude and courage and wisdom to seek him while he may be found, to learn for ourselves that he is the Lord and that this is his work, and then give us the determination to press forward in steadfastness and devotion, until in fact and in reality we do make our callings and elections sure (2 Peter 1:10).</p>
Bruce R. McConkie, "The Rock of Salvation," October 1969 General Conference.
commentaries
Commentary on D&C 76:71–80
<p>The next vision opened is of the terrestrial glory. In the terrestrial world are the honorable men and women of the earth who never accepted the fulness of the gospel. Those who “died without law” (D&C 76:72) seem to be non-Christians who never had a chance to hear the gospel, or law, in this life. However, this statement needs some clarification: only non-Christians who never heard the gospel in this life and then reject it in the next life are bound for the terrestrial kingdom. A later revelation given to Joseph Smith clarifies that “all who have died without a knowledge of this gospel, who would have received it if they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the celestial kingdom of God” (D&C 137:7).</p> <p>In a similar fashion, the revelation makes a distinction between receiving the full knowledge of the gospel and receiving a more general testimony of Jesus Christ (see D&C 76:82). The spirits in the terrestrial kingdom are those who received the testimony of Jesus after death but chose to reject the ordinances and covenants that would allow entrance into the celestial kingdom. This decision indicates that even if they knew about Jesus Christ during their mortal lives, the inhabitants of the terrestrial kingdom never fully received a testimony or were not valiant in their testimony of the Savior. The poetic version of the vision explains this idea further:</p> <blockquote> <p>They receiv’d not the truth of the Savior at first;</p> <p>But did, when they heard it in prison, again.</p> <p>Not valiant for truth, they obtain’d not the crown,</p> <p>But are of that glory that’s typ’d by the moon;</p> <p>They are they, that come into the presence of Christ,</p> <p>But not to the fulness of God, on his throne.<a href="#_ftn1" id="_ftnref1" title="" class="see-footnote">[1]</a></p> </blockquote> <p>Though the root word of <em>terrestrial</em> is the Latin <em>terra</em>, meaning “earth,” the terrestrial kingdom is considered to be more like the earth in its Edenic or paradisiacal state, similar to the way Paul described Adam as “earthy” in his created state (1 Corinthians 15:45, 47). During the millennium after the Savior’s return, the earth will be elevated to a terrestrial, or paradisiacal state (Article of Faith 10). Taking this information into account, it is more correct to call the terrestrial kingdom a heaven than it is to call it a purgatory or a hell. After all, the inhabitants of the terrestrial kingdom enjoy the presence of the Son, a considerable blessing on any plane of existence (D&C 76:77).</p> <div class="footnotes"> <p class="footnote"><a href="#_ftnref1" id="_ftn1" title="" class="footnote-label">[1]</a> Poem to William W. Phelps, between circa 1 and circa 15 February 1843, p. 83, stanzas 56–57, JSP.</p> </div>
Doctrine and Covenants Minute by Casey Paul Griffiths
Commentary on D&C 76:81–88
<p>The next vision consists of the telestial glory. The word <em>telestial</em> appears in scripture only in the Doctrine and Covenants, though Joseph Smith placed it into his translation of the Bible (see Joseph Smith Translation, 1 Corinthians 15:40). The word itself was new to the English language when the vision was given, and even today it is defined in one dictionary as “the lowest of three Mormon degrees or kingdoms of glory attainable in heaven.”<a id="_ftnref1" class="see-footnote" title="" href="#_ftn1">[1]</a> It is possible that the word is derived from the Greek prefix <em>tele</em>, which means “at a distance.” This prefix is often used in words like <em>telephone</em>,which means “a faraway voice,” or <em>television, </em>which means “distant viewing.” We do not know if this is the correct etymology of the word, though the connotation is that the telestial glory is distant from God.<a id="_ftnref2" class="see-footnote" title="" href="#_ftn2">[2]</a></p> <p>The telestial glory consists of those “who received not the gospel of Christ, neither the testimony of Jesus” (D&C 76:82). Those in the telestial kingdom refuse to even accept a basic testimony of Jesus. The poetic version of the vision further explains:</p> <blockquote> <p>These are they that receiv’d not the gospel of Christ,</p> <p>Or evidence, either, that he ever was;</p> <p>As the stars are all diff’rent in glory and light,</p> <p>So differs the glory of these by the laws.<a id="_ftnref3" class="see-footnote" title="" href="#_ftn3">[3]</a></p> </blockquote> <p>While it is true that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ (Philippians 2:9–11; D&C 76:11), this is not the same thing as every person gaining a testimony of Jesus. Telestial beings accept Christ only out of a practical recognition of power, not a confession of the power of Christ to save them.</p> <p>While telestial beings are “thrust down to hell,” it is comforting to know that hell is not a permanent state (see commentary for D&C 19:4–12). Eventually, death and hell will give up those whom they hold captive (2 Nephi 9:12; Revelation 20:13). The inhabitants of the telestial kingdom will not be redeemed until the Second Resurrection (D&C 76:85), but they will be redeemed. A loving God has no interest in the eternal torment of His children. Punishment is meted out only to the degree that it will be required for their reformation and cleansing to “inherit” a degree of “salvation” and glory.</p> <div class="footnotes"> <p class="footnote"><a id="_ftn1" class="footnote-label" title="" href="#_ftnref1">[1]</a> “Telestial,” <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/telestial%20glory">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/telestial%20glory</a>, accessed February 26, 2021.</p> <p class="footnote"><a id="_ftn2" class="footnote-label" title="" href="#_ftnref2">[2]</a> Stephen E. Robinson and H. Dean Garrett, <em>A Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants, </em>4 vols., 2001, 2:318.</p> <p class="footnote"><a id="_ftn3" class="footnote-label" title="" href="#_ftnref3">[3]</a> Poem to William W. Phelps, between circa 1 and circa 15 February 1843, p. 83, stanza 59, JSP.</p> </div>
Doctrine and Covenants Minute by Casey Paul Griffiths
