I Send You out to Reprove the World
Reflections on Doctrine and Covenants Section 84 (Part 6)
In previous posts, I outlined the historical background for Doctrine and Covenants 84, began to study the revelation itself, expounded upon what Moses plainly taught, explained the oath and covenant of the Priesthood, lamented the condemnation that we are under for our failure to fully appreciate and live by the truths contained in the Book of Mormon and other scriptures, and rejoiced in our Savior’s call to become His friends. In this post, let’s continue to examine and appreciate the revelation in D&C 84.
Behold, I send you out to reprove the world of all their unrighteous deeds, and to teach them of a judgment which is to come.
And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.
Whoso receiveth you receiveth me; and the same will feed you, and clothe you, and give you money.
And he who feeds you, or clothes you, or gives you money, shall in nowise lose his reward.
And he that doeth not these things is not my disciple; by this you may know my disciples.
He that receiveth you not, go away from him alone by yourselves, and cleanse your feet even with water, pure water, whether in heat or in cold, and bear testimony of it unto your Father which is in heaven, and return not again unto that man.
And in whatsoever village or city ye enter, do likewise.
Nevertheless, search diligently and spare not; and wo unto that house, or that village or city that rejecteth you, or your words, or your testimony concerning me.
Wo, I say again, unto that house, or that village or city that rejecteth you, or your words, or your testimony of me;
For I, the Almighty, have laid my hands upon the nations, to scourge them for their wickedness.
And plagues shall go forth, and they shall not be taken from the earth until I have completed my work, which shall be cut short in righteousness—
Until all shall know me, who remain, even from the least unto the greatest, and shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, and shall see eye to eye, and shall lift up their voice, and with the voice together sing this new song, saying: (D&C 84:87-98)
There is rampant permissiveness in the world, and in the Church, and too much of what one author has called “moralistic therapeutic Deism” in religion. Where is the good, old-fashioned reproof, prophetic rebuke, and the fire and brimstone preaching that we need? The Lord sent us out to reprove the world of all their unrighteous deeds, and to teach them of a judgment which is to come.
Of course our Lord set the perfect Example of how to do this. One can err too far in either direction, either toward extreme moral laxity or toward extreme moral severity. In my estimation, the modern world errs heavily in the former direction which causes some Christians to err heavily in the opposite direction. Even the Lord’s first disciples struggled in this way:
And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,
And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him.
And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem.
And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?
But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.
For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village. (Luke 9:51-56)
The purpose of reproving the world of all their unrighteous deeds, and the purpose of teaching them of a judgment which is to come, is not to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. With perfect love that casts out all fear, and with a desire to lead souls unto salvation, the Lord’s servants reprove and teach. The Lord promises to be with His servants and with whomever receives them. He promises to go before our face, or in other words, to prepare the way before us. He promises to be on our right hand and on our left, with His Spirit in our hearts, and His angels round about us, to bear us up.
The Lord also promises great blessings to those who receive His servants, feed them, clothe them, and give them money. A key for understanding whom the Lord’s disciples are is to observe how they receive the servants of God, or in other words, His missionaries. I have great admiration for friends who receive and care for the Lord’s missionaries, and I am grateful to all those who received and cared for me and my friends when I was a missionary, especially when I was a full-time missionary in southern Italy.
The Lord’s servants, or His missionaries, have also often blessed me in my own home as I have tried to receive and care for them.
Just as the Lord promises to bless those who receive and care for His servants or His missionaries, the Lord pronounces warnings, curses, and dire consequences upon those who reject His servants or His missionaries. The Lord pronounces woes upon those who reject His servants or His missionaries and their testimonies, and woes and scourges for their wickedness, including plagues. The Lord’s work shall continue, and His servants or missionaries shall continue to labor until the Lord has completed His work, and until all shall know Him, or until the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord. When this blessed condition is achieved, and when we shall see eye to eye, then we shall lift up our voices and sing a new song.
(e) What to Preach.
Reprove the world] “Reprove,” as stated (v. 76) is to “convict.” God’s messengers, as it were, are lawyers before the bar of God. It is their duty to “convict” the world of sin, and to warn all men of the “judgment which is to come.” They are not sent out to entertain the world with philosophical lectures, or ethical discourses, or flowery oratory, or amusing anecdotes. Their one duty is to secure conviction and, if possible, repentance and salvation. The sermon of Peter on the day of Pentecost is an illustration of a “convicting” discourse, for many of those who heard it “were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37). The message delivered had had the intended effect. The preaching of Jonah in Ninevah is another illustration.
Judgment which is to come] The servants of the Lord must know, through the spirit of prophecy and the prophetic word of God, something of the judgments that are to pass over the Earth, and the fate that necessarily will befall unrepentant sinners, and it is their duty to tell the world of these things. The Prophet Joseph and his associates warned the people everywhere of judgments in the form of wars, pestilence, famine, etc. (Sec. 1:17-18), unless, for some special reason, they were commanded to “talk not of judgment” (Sec. 105:24). The law of God regarding this subject is: “When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet, if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou has delivered thy soul” (Ezekiel 3:18, 19).
(f) God’s Messengers Well Protected.
-94. In these paragraphs the Lord promises His servants that He will be their companion; that His Spirit will be in their hearts; and His angels round about them (v. 88). What a glorious promise!
Whoso receiveth you receiveth me] Those who receive the servants of the Lord as teachers and guests, receive the Lord, whose embassadors and representatives they are, and their reward is sure (v. 90). They will receive such reward as the Lord’s messengers have (See Matt. 10:40-42), and our Lord Himself will reward them hereafter. (See v. 36)
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By this you may know my disciples] Hospitality toward the messengers of the Lord is a true mark of discipleship. Genuine faith is always active in good works.
Cleanse your feet] See Sec. 60:15.
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(g) Coming Judgments.
-7. Our Lord, in loving kindness, warns all men against rejecting His messengers and their testimony, as He warned the cities in which His mighty works were performed during His earthly ministry. Though He was meek and lowly, and though His boundless love impelled Him to sacrifice Himself on the cross, yet He pronounced a woe upon Chorazin and Bethsaida and warned Capernaum that it would be brought down from its exalted position and fall lower than the cities in which His mighty works had not been done (Matt. 11:20-24).
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Plagues shall go forth] The Prophet Joseph noted (in May, 1833), that the signs of the times continued to attract the attention of the world. The cholera was then raging in Cuba and Portugal. Influenza carried off many victims in Russia.
Shall not be taken from the earth] It is a fact that, although medical science has performed wonders, by way of stamping out some diseases and mitigating the horrors of others, yet plagues are more common than ever and defy all attempts at staying their onward course. Witness the reports of tuberculosis congresses, or statistics on the growth of cancer. This is only to be expected; for the Lord declared that plagues would continue until His work is completed.
My work *** cut short] Several circumstances helped to shorten the duration of the siege of Jerusalem by Titus, as promised by the Lord (Matt. 24:22). The supply of provisions was cut off; important fortifications were abandoned, and internal dissension prevented the defenders from utilizing their resources to the best advantage. Similarly, during the time of trouble that is to precede the Millennium, circumstances will occur to shorten that period for the sake of the elect. The time of trouble will not be prolonged beyond the time necessary for the redemption of the human race from the power of evil, through repentance.
When the Lord cuts short his work in righteousness it has a far more significant meaning than bringing his purposes to pass by calamity and punishment. He will cut short the time of preaching the gospel, and “will hasten my (his) work in its time.” (Sec. 88:73.) We can see how this will be accomplished. The missionaries who are sent forth are not going forth in sufficient numbers to contact all the peoples of the earth, but the Lord will use other agencies in order to get his message before the people - the press, radio, television, and other wonderful ways to get the message before the world where the elders will not be able to go. All of this will help to hasten His work to its end. (pp. 518-520)
Smith and Sjodahl wrote these things before the internet boom. The Lord can certainly use the internet, and other means, to disseminate His message. Smith and Sjodahl also wrote long before the so-called COVID pandemic. The Lord is hastening His work, and His Second Coming draws nigh.
This is Monte S. Nyman’s commentary on these verses:
Those sent out by the Lord do not go alone; He, His Spirit, and His angels are with them (vv. 87-88). An earlier revelation had defined a disciple as “He that receiveth my law [of the Church] and doeth it” (D&C 41:3). That definition is enlarged here (vv. 89-91). The cleansing of the feet (vv. 92-94) was discussed in chapter 1 of this work (see D&C 75:20-21). Those who reject the Lord’s servants were to be warned of the plagues that will go forth until the Lord has “completed my work, which will be cut short in righteousness (D&C 84:97; compare Matthew 24:22). The Lord’s work of destroying the wickedness of the earth will be cut short by the gospel being preached and those under the bondage of sin coming to Christ (D&C 84:49-51). The righteous will come to know the Lord and sing a new son (D&C 84:98). (Monte S. Nyman, Doctrine and Covenants Commentary, Vol. 2, It Came from God, pp. 120-121)
I like Smith’s and Sjodahl’s commentary and Nyman’s commentary because they write of the Lord as He really is, as evidenced by His word. It is popular for many in the world and in the Church to embrace a kind of Teddy-Bear Jesus whose only concern is inclusiveness, or as C. S. Lewis put it:
What would really satisfy us would be a God who said of anything we happened to like doing, ‘What does it matter so long as they are contented?’ We want, in fact, not so much a Father in Heaven as a grandfather in heaven — a senile benevolence who, as they say, ‘liked to see young people enjoying themselves,’ and whose plan for the universe was simply that it might be truly said at the end of each day, ‘a good time was had by all.’