Doctrine and Covenants Commentary - Section 50

by Don R. Hender

In this section is given information which aids in the determination of that which is and that which is not of God. Satan and his 'angels' will mimic God's revelations, thus he practices to deceive in order to over come man.

Scriptural Text [& Editorial] Commentary & Explanation Footnotes ~ References ~ JST

SECTION 50
Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Kirtland, Ohio, May 1831. HC 1:170—173. The Prophet states that some of the elders did not understand the manifestations of different spirits abroad in the earth, and that this revelation was given in response to his special inquiry on the matter. So-called spiritual phenomena were not uncommon among the memebers, some of whom claimed to be receiving visions and revelations.

1—5, Many false spirits are abroad in the earth;
6—9, Wo unto the hypocrites and those who are cut off from the Church;
10—14, Elder are to preach the gospel by the Spirit;
15—22, Both preachers and hearers need to be enlightened by the Spirit;
23—25, That which doth not edity is not of God;
26—28, The faithful are possessors of all things;
29—36, Prayers of the purified are answered;
37—46, Christ is the Good Shepherd and the Stone of Israel.

1 HEARKEN, O ye elders of my church, and give ear to the ^avoice of the living God^a; and attend to the words of wisdom which shall be given unto you, according as ye have asked and are agreed as touching the church, and the ^bspirits which have gone abroad in the earth.
2 Behold, verily I say unto you, that there are many spirits which are false^a ^aspirits, which have gone forth in the earth, deceiving the world.
3 And also ^aSatan hath sought to deceive you, that he might overthrow you.

1^a the living God Christ here take upon himself one of the names of the Father which does apply to both the Father of Spirit and the that God which the Father has annointed, sanctified and ordained to act in His stead in all things pertaining to this second estate.
2^a there are many spirits which are false

4 Behold, I, the Lord, have looked upon you, and have seen ^aabominations in the church that ^bprofess my name.
5 But blessed are they who are faithful and ^aendure, whether in life or in death, for they shall inherit eternal life.
6 But wo unto them that are ^adeceivers and hypocrites, for, thus saith the Lord, I will bring them to judgment.

7 Behold, verily I say unto you, there are ^ahypocrites among you, who have deceived some, which has given the ^badversary ^cpower; but behold ^dsuch shall be reclaimed;
8 But the ^ahypocrites shall be detected and shall be ^bcut off, either in life or in death, even as I will; and wo unto them who are cut off from my church, for the same are overcome of the world.
9 Wherefore, let every man beware lest he do that which is not in truth and righteousness before me.

10 And now come, saith the Lord, by the Spirit^a, unto the elders of his church, and let us ^areason together, that ye may understand;
11 Let us reason even as a man reasoneth one with another face to face.
12 Now, when a man reasoneth he is understood of man, because he reasoneth as a man; even so will I, the Lord, reason with you that you may ^aunderstand.

10^a by the Spirit Communication between man and God is to be 'by the Spirit'. For it is only by the Spirit that the truth of the matter can be born to the inner soul, heart and spirit of a man. And teaching and learning by the Spirit takes effort and compliance of both the deliverer and the reciever of the messages that is to be born by that Spirit from the one to the other.

13 Wherefore, I the Lord ask you this question—unto what were ye ^aordained?^a
14 To preach my gospel by the ^aSpirit, even the ^bComforter^a which was sent forth to teach the truth.
15 And then received ye ^aspirits which ye could not understand, and received them to be of God; and in this are ye justified?

By the Spirit
Even the Comforter
~ The Holy Ghost ~ 13^a unto what were ye ordained? These brethren were ordained to offices and callings of the priesthood of God. Which priesthood is the power of the living God delegated to man after the order of His Son Jesus Christ to minister in the gospel according to and under the direction of the Holy Spirit, even the Spirit of the Holy Ghost.
14^a preach my gospel by the Spirit, even the Comforter The Comforter is the Holy Ghost, the Spirit by which meetings are conducted and by which the gospel is to be preached and by which the priesthood is to minister in all things, in by the Spirit, even the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is not the same thing as the priesthood, but the priesthood it to be administered as directed and guided by the Holy Ghost. They are coupled together. While they are not the same thing, they are directly associated one with the other, for man is not to exercise his priesthood in anything that is not according to the direction and guidance of the Holy Spirit, even the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost.

16 Behold ye shall answer this question yourselves; nevertheless, I will be ^amerciful unto you; he that is weak among you hereafter shall be made ^bstrong.
17 Verily I say unto you, he that is ordained of me and sent forth to ^apreach the word of truth by the Comforter, in the Spirit of truth^a, doth he ^bpreach it by the Spirit of truth or some other way?
18 And if it be by some other way it is not of God.

17^a preach the word of truth by the Comforter, in the Spirit of truth He that is to exercise his calling and priesthood in preaching or in administering the priesthood of God, is to do wo by the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, according to the mind and will of God which is revealed and conveyed to him by the Holy Ghost.

19 And again, he that receiveth the word of truth, doth he receive it by the Spirit of truth or some other way?
20 If it be some other way it is not of God.
21 Therefore, why is it that ye cannot understand and know, that he that receiveth the word by the ^aSpirit of truth receiveth it as it is preached by the Spirit of truth^a?

21^a he that receiveth the word by the Spirit of truth receiveth it as it is preached by the Spirit of truth The responsibility of the conveying the messages of God is reliant upon both he that preaches, to preach by the Spirit and upon he that hears to hear and listen and receive by the Spirit. Yet here is lays an important qualification. As in the case of Nephi, his words were great as carried forth by the Spirit to the hearts of men and he could effect the lives of those who were weak in Spirit as long as they had not yet closed themselves to the receiving of the word of God by their extreme hardheartedness. Thus Laman and Lemuel could be reached by the preaching of Lehi and Nephi upon occassion until they completely closed themselves off from the receiving of the Spirit of God by their extreme hardness of heart. (See 2 Nephi 33:1-2).

22 Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are ^aedified and ^brejoice together.
23 And that which doth not ^aedify is not of God, and is ^bdarkness.
24 That which is of God is ^alight; and he that ^breceiveth ^clight, and ^dcontinueth in God, receiveth more ^clight; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day.

Line Upon Line
Precept Upon Precept Here is the Power of the endowment and bestowal of the of the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. In all that we do in righteousness, in our callings, in our priesthood administrations, in our homes as patriarchs and Matriarchs, in our own personal lives of living according to the mind and will of God, we are to have and be influenced by the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, that Spirit of God which will keep us on the straight and narrow path to God enabling us to endure to the end in all things and bring us to the intended end of immortalitity and eternal life, becoming one with God, becoming even AS GOD IS.

25 And again, verily I say unto you, and I say it that you may know the ^atruth, that you may chase darkness from among you;
26 He that is ^aordained of God and sent forth, the same is appointed to be the ^bgreatest, notwithstanding he is the ^cleast and the ^dservant of all.

As Servants of God When ye are in the serve of your fellow man, ye are in the serve of your God. This is the righteous exercise of the use of God's power on earth. This is the righteous end to which the priesthood is to be used. When one is placed in a position within the priesthood of God, he is being placed as a servant, the least and the servant of all. He who views and exercises his priesthood to some other ends and self aggrandisement does exercise unrighteous dominion in his calling and position.

27 Wherefore, he is possessor of all things; for all things are ^asubject unto him, both in heaven and on the earth, the life and the light, the Spirit and the ^bpower, sent forth by the will of the Father through Jesus Christ, his Son.
28 But no man is possessor of ^aall things except he be ^bpurified and ^ccleansed from all sin.
29 And if ye are ^apurified and cleansed from all ^bsin, ye shall ^cask whatsoever you will in the name of Jesus and it shall be done^a.

29^a whatsoever you will in the name of Jesus and it shall be done Look out world, here 'I' come. The Power of God might give one the feeling that he should be able to all things whatever he so 'wills' to be done. But that is not the manner of opperation of the priesthood. That 'will' must be tempered and be according to not the desires of man but according to the direction and will of God. But If Not Having faith according to the mind and the will of he Lord. We are to gain the experiences of this life. They are not all wonderful experiences. One might think that by the Power of God, all that is not wonderful might be removed from one's life and experience. This is not the way of God. The exercise of God's Power is to be exercised according to the mind and will of God as directed and communicated by the Spirit of God. It is not to remove the trials and experiences of this life from us unless it is the mind and the will of God to so intervene in our behalf.

30 But know this, it shall be given you what you shall ^aask; and as ye are appointed to the ^bhead, the spirits shall be subject unto you.
31 Wherefore, it shall come to pass, that if you behold a ^aspirit manifested that you cannot understand, and you receive not that spirit, ye shall ask of the Father in the name of Jesus; and if he give not unto you that spirit, then you may know that it is not of God.
32 And it shall be given unto you, ^apower over that spirit; and you shall proclaim against that spirit with a loud voice that it is ^bnot of God—
33 Not with ^arailing accusation, that ye be not overcome, neither with ^bboasting nor rejoicing, lest you be seized therewith.
34 He that receiveth of God, let him ^aaccount it of God; and let him rejoice that he is accounted of God worthy to receive.
35 And by giving heed and doing these things which ye have received, and which ye shall hereafter receive—and the ^akingdom is given ^byou of the Father, and ^cpower to ^dovercome all things which are not ordained of him—
36 And behold, verily I say unto you, blessed are you who are now hearing these words of mine from the mouth of my servant, for your sins are ^aforgiven you.

37 Let my servant Joseph Wakefield, in whom I am well pleased, and my servant ^aParley P. Pratt go forth among the churches and strengthen them by the word of ^bexhortation;
38 And also my servant John Corrill, or as many of my servants as are ordained unto this office, and let them labor in the ^avineyard; and let no man hinder them doing that which I have appointed unto them—
39 Wherefore, in this thing my servant ^aEdward Partridge is not justified; nevertheless let him repent and he shall be forgiven.
40 Behold, ye are little children and ye cannot ^abear all things now; ye must ^bgrow in ^cgrace and in the knowledge of the truth.
41 ^aFear not, little ^bchildren, for you are mine, and I have ^covercome the world, and you are of them that my Father hath ^dgiven me;
42 And none of them that my Father hath given me shall be ^alost.
43 And the Father and I are ^aone. I am ^bin the Father and the Father in me; and inasmuch as ye have received me, ye are in me and I in you.

44 Wherefore, I am in your midst, and I am the ^agood ^bshepherd, and the ^cstone of Israel^a. He that buildeth upon this ^drock shall never ^efall.
45 And the ^aday cometh that you shall hear my voice and ^bsee me, and ^cknow that I am.
46 ^aWatch, therefore, that ye may be ^bready. Even so. Amen.

44^a I am the good shepherd, and the stone of Israel To a worthy student of the scriptures, this claim of the Lord Jesus Christ of being the 'good shepherd' and the 'stone of Israel' ought to first had bring to mind the first occurance of this identification in the scriptures of the Lord by these titles. And that is in the patriarchal blessing upon Joseph under the hand of Jacob in Genesis 49 in which Jacob pronounces upon the head of Joseph that 'from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel' (see verse 24). Yet because of the 'preferred Jewish perspective of the Jewish prepared Bible and so also adopted by Traditional Chirstianity, the direct significance to those who are of the seed of Joseph, by whom the promises of the fathers did remain, that is the promises of the Covenant of Abraham through Joseph, NOT Judah, it has been lost in its direct significance that Jesus has descendent by legal right according to the Law of God as the promised seed of the covenant through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Ephraim (See Messiah ben David ~ Messiah ben Joseph).

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
SECTION 50 Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Kirtland, Ohio, May 1831. HC 1:170—173. The Prophet states that some of the elders did not understand the manifestations of different spirits abroad in the earth, and that this revelation was given in response to his special inquiry on the matter. So-called spiritual phenomena were not uncommon among the memebers, some of whom claimed to be receiving visions and revelations.
1—5, Many false spirits are abroad in the earth; 6—9, Wo unto the hypocrites and those who are cut off from the Church; 10—14, Elder are to preach the gospel by the Spirit; 15—22, Both preachers and hearers need to be enlightened by the Spirit; 23—25, That which doth not edity is not of God; 26—28, The faithful are possessors of all things; 29—36, Prayers of the purified are answered; 37—46, Christ is the Good Shepherd and the Stone of Israel.
1 HEARKEN, O ye elders of my church, and give ear to the ^avoice of the living God^a; and attend to the words of wisdom which shall be given unto you, according as ye have asked and are agreed as touching the church, and the ^bspirits which have gone abroad in the earth. 2 Behold, verily I say unto you, that there are many spirits which are false^a ^aspirits, which have gone forth in the earth, deceiving the world. 3 And also ^aSatan hath sought to deceive you, that he might overthrow you.	1^a the living God Christ here take upon himself one of the names of the Father which does apply to both the Father of Spirit and the that God which the Father has annointed, sanctified and ordained to act in His stead in all things pertaining to this second estate. 2^a there are many spirits which are false
4 Behold, I, the Lord, have looked upon you, and have seen ^aabominations in the church that ^bprofess my name. 5 But blessed are they who are faithful and ^aendure, whether in life or in death, for they shall inherit eternal life. 6 But wo unto them that are ^adeceivers and hypocrites, for, thus saith the Lord, I will bring them to judgment.
7 Behold, verily I say unto you, there are ^ahypocrites among you, who have deceived some, which has given the ^badversary ^cpower; but behold ^dsuch shall be reclaimed; 8 But the ^ahypocrites shall be detected and shall be ^bcut off, either in life or in death, even as I will; and wo unto them who are cut off from my church, for the same are overcome of the world. 9 Wherefore, let every man beware lest he do that which is not in truth and righteousness before me.
10 And now come, saith the Lord, by the Spirit^a, unto the elders of his church, and let us ^areason together, that ye may understand; 11 Let us reason even as a man reasoneth one with another face to face. 12 Now, when a man reasoneth he is understood of man, because he reasoneth as a man; even so will I, the Lord, reason with you that you may ^aunderstand.	10^a by the Spirit Communication between man and God is to be 'by the Spirit'. For it is only by the Spirit that the truth of the matter can be born to the inner soul, heart and spirit of a man. And teaching and learning by the Spirit takes effort and compliance of both the deliverer and the reciever of the messages that is to be born by that Spirit from the one to the other.
13 Wherefore, I the Lord ask you this question—unto what were ye ^aordained?^a 14 To preach my gospel by the ^aSpirit, even the ^bComforter^a which was sent forth to teach the truth. 15 And then received ye ^aspirits which ye could not understand, and received them to be of God; and in this are ye justified? By the Spirit Even the Comforter ~ The Holy Ghost ~	13^a unto what were ye ordained? These brethren were ordained to offices and callings of the priesthood of God. Which priesthood is the power of the living God delegated to man after the order of His Son Jesus Christ to minister in the gospel according to and under the direction of the Holy Spirit, even the Spirit of the Holy Ghost. 14^a preach my gospel by the Spirit, even the Comforter The Comforter is the Holy Ghost, the Spirit by which meetings are conducted and by which the gospel is to be preached and by which the priesthood is to minister in all things, in by the Spirit, even the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is not the same thing as the priesthood, but the priesthood it to be administered as directed and guided by the Holy Ghost. They are coupled together. While they are not the same thing, they are directly associated one with the other, for man is not to exercise his priesthood in anything that is not according to the direction and guidance of the Holy Spirit, even the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost.
16 Behold ye shall answer this question yourselves; nevertheless, I will be ^amerciful unto you; he that is weak among you hereafter shall be made ^bstrong. 17 Verily I say unto you, he that is ordained of me and sent forth to ^apreach the word of truth by the Comforter, in the Spirit of truth^a, doth he ^bpreach it by the Spirit of truth or some other way? 18 And if it be by some other way it is not of God.	17^a preach the word of truth by the Comforter, in the Spirit of truth He that is to exercise his calling and priesthood in preaching or in administering the priesthood of God, is to do wo by the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, according to the mind and will of God which is revealed and conveyed to him by the Holy Ghost.
19 And again, he that receiveth the word of truth, doth he receive it by the Spirit of truth or some other way? 20 If it be some other way it is not of God. 21 Therefore, why is it that ye cannot understand and know, that he that receiveth the word by the ^aSpirit of truth receiveth it as it is preached by the Spirit of truth^a?	21^a he that receiveth the word by the Spirit of truth receiveth it as it is preached by the Spirit of truth The responsibility of the conveying the messages of God is reliant upon both he that preaches, to preach by the Spirit and upon he that hears to hear and listen and receive by the Spirit. Yet here is lays an important qualification. As in the case of Nephi, his words were great as carried forth by the Spirit to the hearts of men and he could effect the lives of those who were weak in Spirit as long as they had not yet closed themselves to the receiving of the word of God by their extreme hardheartedness. Thus Laman and Lemuel could be reached by the preaching of Lehi and Nephi upon occassion until they completely closed themselves off from the receiving of the Spirit of God by their extreme hardness of heart. (See 2 Nephi 33:1-2).
22 Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are ^aedified and ^brejoice together. 23 And that which doth not ^aedify is not of God, and is ^bdarkness. 24 That which is of God is ^alight; and he that ^breceiveth ^clight, and ^dcontinueth in God, receiveth more ^clight; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day. Line Upon Line Precept Upon Precept Here is the Power of the endowment and bestowal of the of the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. In all that we do in righteousness, in our callings, in our priesthood administrations, in our homes as patriarchs and Matriarchs, in our own personal lives of living according to the mind and will of God, we are to have and be influenced by the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, that Spirit of God which will keep us on the straight and narrow path to God enabling us to endure to the end in all things and bring us to the intended end of immortalitity and eternal life, becoming one with God, becoming even AS GOD IS.
25 And again, verily I say unto you, and I say it that you may know the ^atruth, that you may chase darkness from among you; 26 He that is ^aordained of God and sent forth, the same is appointed to be the ^bgreatest, notwithstanding he is the ^cleast and the ^dservant of all. As Servants of God When ye are in the serve of your fellow man, ye are in the serve of your God. This is the righteous exercise of the use of God's power on earth. This is the righteous end to which the priesthood is to be used. When one is placed in a position within the priesthood of God, he is being placed as a servant, the least and the servant of all. He who views and exercises his priesthood to some other ends and self aggrandisement does exercise unrighteous dominion in his calling and position.
27 Wherefore, he is possessor of all things; for all things are ^asubject unto him, both in heaven and on the earth, the life and the light, the Spirit and the ^bpower, sent forth by the will of the Father through Jesus Christ, his Son. 28 But no man is possessor of ^aall things except he be ^bpurified and ^ccleansed from all sin. 29 And if ye are ^apurified and cleansed from all ^bsin, ye shall ^cask whatsoever you will in the name of Jesus and it shall be done^a.	29^a whatsoever you will in the name of Jesus and it shall be done Look out world, here 'I' come. The Power of God might give one the feeling that he should be able to all things whatever he so 'wills' to be done. But that is not the manner of opperation of the priesthood. That 'will' must be tempered and be according to not the desires of man but according to the direction and will of God.	But If Not Having faith according to the mind and the will of he Lord. We are to gain the experiences of this life. They are not all wonderful experiences. One might think that by the Power of God, all that is not wonderful might be removed from one's life and experience. This is not the way of God. The exercise of God's Power is to be exercised according to the mind and will of God as directed and communicated by the Spirit of God. It is not to remove the trials and experiences of this life from us unless it is the mind and the will of God to so intervene in our behalf.
30 But know this, it shall be given you what you shall ^aask; and as ye are appointed to the ^bhead, the spirits shall be subject unto you. 31 Wherefore, it shall come to pass, that if you behold a ^aspirit manifested that you cannot understand, and you receive not that spirit, ye shall ask of the Father in the name of Jesus; and if he give not unto you that spirit, then you may know that it is not of God. 32 And it shall be given unto you, ^apower over that spirit; and you shall proclaim against that spirit with a loud voice that it is ^bnot of God— 33 Not with ^arailing accusation, that ye be not overcome, neither with ^bboasting nor rejoicing, lest you be seized therewith. 34 He that receiveth of God, let him ^aaccount it of God; and let him rejoice that he is accounted of God worthy to receive. 35 And by giving heed and doing these things which ye have received, and which ye shall hereafter receive—and the ^akingdom is given ^byou of the Father, and ^cpower to ^dovercome all things which are not ordained of him— 36 And behold, verily I say unto you, blessed are you who are now hearing these words of mine from the mouth of my servant, for your sins are ^aforgiven you.
37 Let my servant Joseph Wakefield, in whom I am well pleased, and my servant ^aParley P. Pratt go forth among the churches and strengthen them by the word of ^bexhortation; 38 And also my servant John Corrill, or as many of my servants as are ordained unto this office, and let them labor in the ^avineyard; and let no man hinder them doing that which I have appointed unto them— 39 Wherefore, in this thing my servant ^aEdward Partridge is not justified; nevertheless let him repent and he shall be forgiven. 40 Behold, ye are little children and ye cannot ^abear all things now; ye must ^bgrow in ^cgrace and in the knowledge of the truth. 41 ^aFear not, little ^bchildren, for you are mine, and I have ^covercome the world, and you are of them that my Father hath ^dgiven me; 42 And none of them that my Father hath given me shall be ^alost. 43 And the Father and I are ^aone. I am ^bin the Father and the Father in me; and inasmuch as ye have received me, ye are in me and I in you.
44 Wherefore, I am in your midst, and I am the ^agood ^bshepherd, and the ^cstone of Israel^a. He that buildeth upon this ^drock shall never ^efall. 45 And the ^aday cometh that you shall hear my voice and ^bsee me, and ^cknow that I am. 46 ^aWatch, therefore, that ye may be ^bready. Even so. Amen.	44^a I am the good shepherd, and the stone of Israel To a worthy student of the scriptures, this claim of the Lord Jesus Christ of being the 'good shepherd' and the 'stone of Israel' ought to first had bring to mind the first occurance of this identification in the scriptures of the Lord by these titles. And that is in the patriarchal blessing upon Joseph under the hand of Jacob in Genesis 49 in which Jacob pronounces upon the head of Joseph that 'from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel' (see verse 24). Yet because of the 'preferred Jewish perspective of the Jewish prepared Bible and so also adopted by Traditional Chirstianity, the direct significance to those who are of the seed of Joseph, by whom the promises of the fathers did remain, that is the promises of the Covenant of Abraham through Joseph, NOT Judah, it has been lost in its direct significance that Jesus has descendent by legal right according to the Law of God as the promised seed of the covenant through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Ephraim (See Messiah ben David ~ Messiah ben Joseph).