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Scriptural Text [& Editorial]
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Commentary & Explanation
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Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
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SECTION 88
Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet at Kirtland, Ohio,
December 27, 1832. HC 1:302—312. It was designated by the Prophet as
the "olive leaf which we have plucked
from the Tree of Paradise, the Lord's message of peace
to us." It appears from the historical records that portions of this
revelation were received on December 27 and 28, 1832, and January 3, 1833.
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Some of the brethern of the early Church were over zealous in identifying
by revelation beyond that of the prophet and attaining to the land of Zion,
the site of the New Jerusalem. They would tend to be lifted up in the pride
of their hearts that they were in 'Zion', the land of Independence Missouri
and began to view the brethren and saints in Kirtland with an air of distain.
HC 1:316-317
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1—5, Faithful saints receive that Comforter which is the promise of
eternal life;
6—13, All things are controlled and governed by the light of Christ;
14—16, The resurrection comes through the redemption;
17—31, Obedience to celestial, terrestial, or telestial law prepares
men for those respective kingdoms and glories;
32—35, Those who will to abide in sin remain filthy still;
36—41, All kindoms are governed by law;
42—45, God hath given a law unto all things;
46—50, Man shall comprehend even God;
51—61, The parable of the man sending his servants into the field and
visiting them in turn;
62—73, Draw near unto the Lord, and ye shall see his face;
74—80, Sanctify yourselves and teach one another the doctrines of the
kingdom;
81—85, Eevery man who hath been warned should warn his neighbor;
86—94, Signs upheavals of the elements, and angels prepare the way for
the coming of the Lord;
95—102, Angelic trumps call forth the dead in their order;
103—116, Angelic trumps proclaim the restoration of the gospel, the
fall of Babylon, and the battle of the great God;
117—126, Seek learning, establish a house of God [a temple], and clothe
yourselves with the bond of charity;
127—141, Order of the school of the prophets set forth, including the
ordinance of washing of feet.
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1 VERILY, thus saith the Lord unto you
who have assembled yourselves together to receive his will concerning you:
2 Behold, this is pleasing unto your Lord, and the angels
arejoice over you; the balms of your
prayers have come up into the ears of the Lord of cSabaoth,
and are recorded in the dbook of the names of the
sanctified, even them of the celestial world.
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3 Wherefore, I now send upon you another aComforter,
even upon you my friendsa,
that it may abide in your hearts, even the Holy
Spirit of bpromise; which other Comforter is the same that
I promised unto my disciples, as is recorded in the testimony of John.
4 This Comforter is the apromise which I give unto
you of beternal life, even the cglory of
the celestial kingdom;
5 Which glory is that of the church of the
aFirstborn, even of God, the holiest of all, through Jesus
Christ his Son—
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3a my friends In addition to
being 'fellow servants', the Lord now extends his relationship to the early
members of the Church to being that of 'friendship'.
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6 He that aascended up on high, as also he
bdescended below all things, in that he
ccomprehended all things, that he might be in all and
through all things, the dlight of truth;
7 Which truth shineth. This is the alight of Christ.
As also he is in the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by
which it was bmade.
8 As also he is in the moon, and is the light of the moon, and the power thereof by which it was made;
9 As also the light of the stars, and the power thereof by which they were made;
10 And the earth also, and the power thereof, even the earth upon
which you astand.
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11 And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him
who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your
aunderstandings;
12 Which alight proceedeth forth from the presence
of God to bfill the immensity of space—
13 The alight which is in all things, which giveth
blife to all things, which is the claw by
which all things are governed, even the dpower of God who
esitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity,
who is in the midst of all things.
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14 Now, verily I say unto you, that through the
aredemption which is made for you is brought to pass the
resurrection from the dead.
15 And the aspirit and the bbody
are the csoul of man.
16 And the aresurrection from the dead is the
redemption of the soul.
17 And the redemption of the soul is through him that
aquickeneth all things, in whose bosom it is decreed that
the bpoor and the cmeek of the
dearth shall inherit it.
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18 Therefore, it must needs be asanctified from all
bunrighteousness, that it may be prepared for the celestial
cglory;
19 For after it hath filled the measure of its creation, it shall be
crowned with aglory, even with the presence of God the
Father;
20 That bodies who are of the acelestial kingdom may
bpossess it forever and ever; for, for this
cintent was it made and created, and for this intent are
they dsanctified.
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21 And they who are not asanctified through the
blaw which I have given unto you, even the law of Christ,
must inherit canother kingdom, even that of a terrestrial
kingdom, or that of a telestial kingdom.
22 For he who is not able to abide the alaw of a
celestial kingdom cannot babide a
ccelestial glory.
23 And he who cannot abide the law of a aterrestrial
kingdom cannot abide a terrestrial glory.
24 And he who cannot abide the law of a atelestial
bkingdom cannot abide a telestial cglory;
therefore he is not meet for a kingdom of glory. Therefore he must abide a
kingdom which is not a kingdom of glory.
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25 And again, verily I say unto you, the aearth
abideth the law of a celestial kingdom, for it filleth the
bmeasure of its creation, and transgresseth not the
law—
26 Wherefore, it shall be asanctified; yea,
notwithstanding it shall bdie, it shall be
cquickened again, and shall abide the power by which it is
quickened, and the drighteous shall
einherit it.
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27 For notwithstanding they die, they also shall
arise again, a bspiritual body.
28 They who are of a celestial aspirit shall receive
the same bbody which was a natural body; even ye shall
receive your bodies, and your cglory shall be that glory by
which your bodies are dquickened.
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Receive the same body even as we laid it down. |
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29 Ye who are aquickened by a portion of the
celestial bglory shall then receive of the same, even a
fulness.
30 And they who are quickened by a portion of the
aterrestrial glory shall then receive of the same, even a
fulness.
31 And also they who are quickened by a portion of the
atelestial glory shall then receive of the same, even a
fulness.
32 And they who remain shall also be aquickened;
nevertheless, they shall return again to their own place, to enjoy that which
they are bwilling to receive, because they were not willing
to enjoy that which they might have received.
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33 For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift? Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift.
34 And again, verily I say unto you, that which is
agoverned by law is also preserved by law and perfected and
bsanctified by the same.
35 That which abreaketh a law, and
babideth not by claw, but seeketh to
become a law unto itself, and willeth to abide in sin, cannot be sanctified
by law, neither by mercy, djustice, nor
ejudgment. Therefore, they must remain
ffilthy still.
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36 All kingdoms have a law given;
37 And there are many akingdoms; for there is
no bspace in the which there is no
ckingdom; and there is no kingdom in which there is no
space, either a greater or a lesser kingdom.
38 And unto every kingdom is given a alaw; and
unto every law there are certain bounds also and conditions.
39 All beings who abide not in those
aconditions are not bjustified.
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40 For aintelligence cleaveth unto
intelligence; bwisdom receiveth wisdom;
ctruth embraceth truth; dvirtue loveth
virtue; elight cleaveth unto light;
fmercy hath gcompassion on mercy and
claimeth her own; hjustice continueth its course and
claimeth its own; judgment goeth before the face of him who sitteth upon the
throne and governeth and executeth all things.
41 He acomprehendeth all things, and all
things are before him, and all things are round about him; and he is above
all things, and in all things, and is through all things, and is round about
all things; and all things are by him, and of him, even God, forever and
ever.
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42 And again, verily I say unto you, he hath given a
alaw unto all things, by which they move in their
btimes and seasons;
43 And their courses are fixed, even the courses of the heavens and the earth, which comprehend the earth and all the planets.
44 And they give alight to each other in their
times and in their seasons, in their minutes, in their hours, in their days,
in their weeks, in their months, in their years—all these are but
bone year with God, but not with man.
45 The earth arolls upon her wings, and the
bsun giveth his light by day, and the moon giveth her light
by night, and the stars also give their light, as they roll upon their wings
in their glory, in the midst of the cpower of God.
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46 Unto what shall I liken these kingdoms, that ye may understand?
47 Behold, all these are akingdoms, and any
man who hath bseen any or the least of these hath
cseen God dmoving in his majesty and
power.
48 I say unto you, he hath seen him; nevertheless, he who came
unto his aown was not comprehended.
49 The alight shineth in darkness, and the
darkness comprehendeth it not; nevertheless, the day shall come when you
shall bcomprehend even God, being quickened in him and by
him.
50 Then shall ye know that ye have aseen me,
that I am, and that I am the true blight that is in you,
and that you are in me; otherwise ye could not abound.
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51 Behold, I will liken these kingdoms unto a man having a field, and he sent forth his servants into the field to dig in the field.
52 And he said unto the first: Go ye and labor in the field, and in the first hour I will come unto you, and ye shall behold the joy of my countenance.
53 And he said unto the second: Go ye also into the field, and in the second hour I will visit you with the joy of my countenance.
54 And also unto the third, saying: I will visit you;
55 And unto the fourth, and so on unto the twelfth.
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56 And the lord of the field went unto the first in the first hour, and tarried with him all that hour, and he was made glad with the light of the countenance of his lord.
57 And then he withdrew from the first that he might visit the second also, and the third, and the fourth, and so on unto the twelfth.
58 And thus they all received the light of the countenance of their lord, every man in his hour, and in his time, and in his season--
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59 Beginning at the first, and so on unto the
alast, and from the last unto the first, and from the first
unto the last;
60 Every man in his own aorder, until his hour
was finished, even according as his lord had commanded him, that his lord
might be glorified in him, and he in his lord, that they all might be
glorified.
61 Therefore, unto this parable I will liken all these
akingdoms, and the binhabitants
thereof—every kingdom in its hour, and in its time, and in its season,
even according to the decree which God hath made.
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62 And again, verily I say unto you, my
afriends, I leave these bsayings with you
to cponder in your hearts, with this commandment which I
give unto you, that ye shall dcall upon me while I am
near—
63 aDraw bnear unto me and I
will draw near unto you; cseek me diligently and ye shall
dfind me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be
opened unto you.
64 Whatsoever ye aask the Father in my name it
shall be given unto you, that is bexpedient for you;
65 And if ye ask anything that is not
aexpedient for you, it shall turn unto your
bcondemnation.
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66 Behold, that which you hear as the avoice
of one crying in the wilderness—in the wilderness, because you cannot
see him—my voice, because my voice is bSpirit; my
Spirit is truth; ctruth abideth and hath no end; and if it
be in you it shall abound.
67 And if your eye be asingle to my
bglory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and
there shall be no darkness in you; and that body which is filled with light
ccomprehendeth all things.
68 Therefore, asanctify yourselves that your
bminds become csingle to God, and the
days will come that you shall dsee him; for he will unveil
his face unto you, and it shall be in his own time, and in his own way, and
according to his own will.
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69 Remember the great and last promise which I have made unto
you; cast away your aidle thoughts and your
bexcess of claughter far from you.
70 Tarry ye, tarry ye in this place, and call a
asolemn assembly, even of those who are the first
blaborers in this last kingdom.
71 And let those whom they have warned in their traveling call
on the Lord, and aponder the bwarning in
their hearts which they have received, for a little season.
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72 Behold, and lo, I will take care of your
aflocks, and will raise up elders and send unto them.
73 Behold, I will ahasten my work in its time.
74 And I give unto you, who are the first
alaborers in this last kingdom, a commandment that you
assemble yourselves together, and organize yourselves, and prepare
yourselves, and bsanctify yourselves; yea, purify your
hearts, and ccleanse your hands and your feet before me,
that I may make you dclean;
75 That I may testify unto your aFather, and
your God, and my bGod, that you are clean from the
cblood of this wicked generation; that I may fulfill this
promise, this great and last dpromise, which I have made
unto you, when I will.
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76 Also, I give unto you a commandment that ye shall continue in
aprayer and fasting from this time forth.
77 And I give unto you a commandment that you shall
ateach one another the bdoctrine of the
kingdom.
78 Teach ye diligently and my agrace shall
attend you, that you may be binstructed more perfectly in
theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things
that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to
understand;
79 Of things both in aheaven and in the earth,
and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which
must bshortly come to pass; things which are at home,
things which are abroad; the wars and the perplexities of the
cnations, and the judgments which are on the land; and a
dknowledge also of countries and of kingdoms—
80 That ye may be prepared in all things when I shall send you
again to amagnify the calling whereunto I have called you,
and the bmission with which I have commissioned you.
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81 Behold, I sent you out to atestify and warn
the people, and it becometh every man who hath been warned to
bwarn his neighbor.
82 Therefore, they are left awithout excuse,
and their sins are upon their bown heads.
83 He that aseeketh me
bearly shall find me, and shall not be forsaken.
84 Therefore, tarry ye, and labor diligently, that you may be
perfected in your ministry to go forth among the aGentiles
for the last time, as many as the mouth of the Lord shall name, to
bbind up the law and cseal up the
testimony, and to prepare the saints for the hour of judgment which is to
come;
85 That their souls may escape the wrath of God, the
adesolation of abomination which awaits the wicked, both in
this world and in the world to come. Verily, I say unto you, let those who
are not the bfirst elders continue in the vineyard until
the mouth of the Lord shall ccall them, for their time is
not yet come; their garments are not dclean from the blood
of this generation.
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86 Abide ye in the aliberty wherewith ye are
made bfree; centangle not yourselves in
dsin, but let your hands be eclean, until
the Lord comes.
87 For not many days hence and the aearth
shall btremble and reel to and fro as a drunken man; and
the csun shall dhide his face, and shall
refuse to give light; and the moon shall be bathed in
eblood; and the stars shall become exceedingly angry, and
shall fcast themselves down as a fig that falleth from off
a fig-tree.
88 And after your atestimony cometh wrath and
indignation upon the people.
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89 For after your testimony cometh the testimony of
aearthquakes, that shall cause groanings in the midst of
her, and men shall fall upon the ground and shall not be able to stand.
90 And also cometh the testimony of the avoice
of thunderings, and the voice of lightnings, and the voice of tempests, and
the voice of the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds.
91 And all things shall be in acommotion; and
surely, men's bhearts shall fail them; for fear shall come
upon all people.
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92 And aangels shall fly through the midst of
heaven, crying with a loud voice, sounding the trump of God, saying: Prepare
ye, prepare ye, O inhabitants of the earth; for the
bjudgment of our God is come. Behold, and lo, the
cBridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
93 And immediately there shall appear a agreat
sign in heaven, and all people shall see it together.
94 And another angel shall sound his trump, saying: That
agreat bchurch, the
cmother of abominations, that made all nations drink of the
wine of the wrath of her dfornication, that
epersecuteth the saints of God, that shed their
blood—she who sitteth upon many waters, and upon the islands of the
sea—behold, she is the ftares of the earth; she is
bound in bundles; her bands are made strong, no man can loose them;
therefore, she is ready to be burned. And he shall sound his trump both long
and loud, and all nations shall hear it.
95 And there shall be asilence in
bheaven for the space of half an hour; and immediately
after shall the curtain of heaven be unfolded, as a cscroll
is unfolded after it is rolled up, and the dface of the
Lord shall be unveiled;
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96 And the saints that are upon the earth, who are alive, shall
be quickened and be acaught up to meet him.
97 And they who have slept in their graves shall
acome forth, for their graves shall be opened; and they
also shall be caught up to meet him in the midst of the
bpillar of heaven—
98 They are Christ's, the afirst fruits, they
who shall descend with him first, and they who are on the earth and in their
graves, who are first caught up to meet him; and all this by the voice of the
sounding of the trump of the angel of God.
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99 And after this another angel shall sound, which is the second
trump; and then cometh the redemption of those who are Christ's at his
acoming; who have received their part in that
bprison which is prepared for them, that they might receive
the gospel, and be cjudged according to men in the flesh.
100 And again, another trump shall sound, which is the third
trump; and then come athe spirits of men who are to be
judged, and are found under bcondemnation;
101 And these are the rest of the adead; and
they live not again until the bthousand years are ended,
neither again, until the end of the earth.
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102 And another trump shall sound, which is the fourth trump,
saying: There are found among those who are to remain until that great and
last day, even the end, who shall aremain
bfilthy still.
103 And another trump shall sound, which is the fifth trump,
which is the fifth angel who committeth the aeverlasting
gospel—flying through the midst of heaven, unto all nations, kindreds,
tongues, and people;
104 And this shall be the sound of his trump, saying to all
people, both in heaven and in earth, and that are under the earth—for
aevery ear shall hear it, and every knee shall
bbow, and every tongue shall confess, while they hear the
sound of the trump, saying: cFear God, and give glory to
him who sitteth upon the throne, dforever and ever; for the
hour of his judgment is come.
105 And again, another angel shall sound his trump, which is the
sixth angel, saying: She is afallen who made all nations
drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication; she is fallen, is fallen!
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106 And again, another angel shall sound his trump, which is the
seventh angel, saying: It is finished; it is finished! The
aLamb of God hath bovercome and
ctrodden the wine-press alone, even the wine-press of the
fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God.
107 And then shall the angels be crowned with the glory of his
might, and the asaints shall be filled with his
bglory, and receive their cinheritance
and be made dequal with him.
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108 And then shall the first angel again sound his trump in the
ears of all living, and areveal the secret acts of men, and
the mighty works of God in the bfirst thousand years.
109 And then shall the second angel sound his trump, and reveal
the secret acts of men, and thoughts and intents of their hearts, and the
mighty aworks of God in the second thousand years—
110 And so on, until the seventh angel shall sound his trump;
and he shall astand forth upon the land and upon the sea,
and bswear in the name of him who sitteth upon the throne,
that there shall be ctime no longer; and
dSatan shall be bound, that old serpent, who is called the
devil, and shall not be loosed for the space of a
ethousand years.
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111 And then he shall be aloosed for a little
season, that he may gather together his armies.
112 And aMichael, the seventh angel, even the
archangel, shall gather together his armies, even the hosts of heaven.
113 And the devil shall gather together his
aarmies; even the hosts of hell, and shall come up to
battle against Michael and his armies.
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114 And then cometh the abattle of the great
God; and the devil and his armies shall be bcast away into
their own place, that they shall not have power over the saints any more at
all.
115 For Michael shall fight their battles, and shall overcome
him who aseeketh the throne of him who sitteth upon the
throne, even the Lamb.
116 This is the glory of God, and the
asanctified; and they shall not any more see
bdeath.
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117 Therefore, verily I say unto you, my
afriends, call your solemn assembly, as I have
bcommanded you.
118 And as all have not afaith, seek ye
diligently and bteach one another words of
cwisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best
dbooks words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and
also by faith.
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119 aOrganize yourselves; prepare every
needful thing; and establish a bhouse, even a house of
prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of
glory, a house of order, a house of God;
120 That your aincomings may be in the name of
the Lord; that your outgoings may be in the name of the Lord; that all your
salutations may be in the name of the Lord, with buplifted
hands unto the Most High.
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121 Therefore, acease from all your light
speeches, from all blaughter, from all your
clustful desires, from all your dpride
and light-mindedness, and from all your wicked doings.
122 Appoint among yourselves a teacher, and let
anot all be spokesmen at once; but let one speak at a time
and let all listen unto his sayings, that when all have spoken that all may
be bedified of all, and that every man may have an equal
privilege.
123 See that ye alove one another; cease to be
bcovetous; learn to impart one to another as the gospel
requires.
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124 Cease to be aidle; cease to be
bunclean; cease to cfind fault one with
another; cease to dsleep longer than is needful; retire to
thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and
your minds may be einvigorated.
125 And above all things, clothe yourselves with the bond of
acharity, as with a mantle, which is the bond of
perfectness and bpeace.
126 aPray always, that ye may not faint, until
I bcome. Behold, and lo, I will come quickly, and receive
you unto myself. Amen.
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Order of the School of the Prophets
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127 And again, the order of the house prepared for the
apresidency of the bschool of the
cprophets, established for their instruction in all things
that are expedient for them, even for all the dofficers of
the church, or in other words, those who are called to the ministry in the
church, beginning at the high priests, even down to the deacons—
128 And this shall be the order of the house of the presidency of the school: He that is appointed to be president, or teacher, shall be found standing in his place, in the house which shall be prepared for him.
129 Therefore, he shall be first in the house of God, in a place that the congregation in the house may hear his words carefully and distinctly, not with loud speech.
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130 And when he cometh into the house of God, for he should be
first in the house—behold, this is abeautiful, that
he may be an bexample—
131 Let him offer himself in prayer upon his knees before God,
in atoken or remembrance of the everlasting covenant.
132 And when any shall come in after him, let the teacher arise,
and with auplifted hands to heaven, yea, even directly,
salute his brother or brethren with these words:
133 Art thou a brother or brethren? I salute you in the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ, in token or remembrance of the everlasting covenant,
in which covenant I receive you to afellowship, in a
determination that is fixed, immovable, and unchangeable, to be your
bfriend and cbrother through the grace of
God in the bonds of love, to walk in all the commandments of God blameless,
in thanksgiving, forever and ever. Amen.
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134 And he that is found aunworthy of this
salutation shall not have place among you; for ye shall not suffer that mine
house shall be bpolluted by him.
135 And he that cometh in and is faithful before me, and is a brother, or if they be brethren, they shall salute the president or teacher with uplifted hands to heaven, with this same prayer and covenant, or by saying Amen, in token of the same.
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136 Behold, verily, I say unto you, this is an ensample unto you for a salutation to one another in the house of God, in the school of the prophets.
137 And ye are called to do this by prayer and thanksgiving, as
the Spirit shall give utterance in all your doings in the house of the Lord,
in the school of the prophets, that it may become a sanctuary, a tabernacle
of the Holy Spirit to your aedification.
138 And ye shall not receive any among you into this school save
he is clean from the ablood of this generation;
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139 And he shall be received by the ordinance of the
awashing of feet, for unto this end was the ordinance of
the washing of feet instituted.
140 And again, the ordinance of washing feet is to be administered by the president, or presiding elder of the church.
141 It is to be commenced with prayer; and after partaking of
abread and wine, he is to gird himself according to the
bpattern given in the thirteenth chapter of John's
testimony concerning me. Amen.
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