How are we blessed when we seek to apply the Lord's revelations to ourselves?
"Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Hiram, Ohio, March 15, 1832. Frederick G. Williams is called to be a high priest and a counselor in the Presidency of the High Priesthood. The historical records show that when this revelation was received in March 1832, it called Jesse Gause to the office of counselor to Joseph Smith in the Presidency. However, when he failed to continue in a manner consistent with this appointment, the call was subsequently transferred to Frederick G. Williams. The revelation (dated March 1832) should be regarded as a step toward the formal organization of the First Presidency, specifically calling for the office of counselor in that body and explaining the dignity of the appointment. Brother Gause served for a time but was excommunicated from the Church in December 1832. Brother Williams was ordained to the specified office on March 18, 1833.
1–2, The keys of the kingdom are always held by the First Presidency; 3–7, If Frederick G. Williams is faithful in his ministry, he will have eternal life.
1 Verily, verily, I say unto you my servant Frederick G. Williams: Listen to the voice of him who speaketh, to the word of the Lord your God, and hearken to the calling wherewith you are called, even to be a high priest in my church, and a counselor unto my servant Joseph Smith, Jun.;
2 Unto whom I have given the keys of the kingdom, which belong always unto the Presidency of the High Priesthood:
3 Therefore, verily I acknowledge him and will bless him, and also thee, inasmuch as thou art faithful in counsel, in the office which I have appointed unto you, in prayer always, vocally and in thy heart, in public and in private, also in thy ministry in proclaiming the gospel in the land of the living, and among thy brethren.
4 And in doing these things thou wilt do the greatest good unto thy fellow beings, and wilt promote the glory of him who is your Lord.
5 Wherefore, be faithful; stand in the office which I have appointed unto you; succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees.
6 And if thou art faithful unto the end thou shalt have a crown of immortality, and eternal life in the mansions which I have prepared in the house of my Father.
7 Behold, and lo, these are the words of Alpha and Omega, even Jesus Christ. Amen." (Doctrine and Covenants 81)
"23 And I did read many things unto them which were written in the books of Moses; but that I might more fully persuade them to believe in the Lord their Redeemer I did read unto them that which was written by the prophet Isaiah; for I did liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning." (1 Nephi 19: 23)
"10 I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise.
15 Therefore, I give unto you this commandment, that ye bind yourselves by this covenant, and it shall be done according to the laws of the Lord." (Doctrine and Covenants 82: 10, 15)
"5 Therefore, what I say unto one I say unto all: Watch, for the adversary spreadeth his dominions, and darkness reigneth;" (Doctrine and Covenants 82: 5)
"In April 1834, Newel K. Whitney, the bishop of the Church in Kirtland, Ohio, and a prominent businessman, forgave over $3,600 in debts owed to him by several individuals, including Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and Oliver Cowdery. The debts had accumulated over two years as these men worked together, in an administrative body called the United Firm, to direct and finance the temporal operations of the Church. Now, after two tumultuous years, the United Firm was to be dissolved. “Joseph said it was the will of the Lord” that the accounts be balanced “in full without any value rec[eived],” Whitney declared. Whitney then said that he would do what Joseph asked.
From the beginning of the Church’s Restoration, the Lord gave Joseph Smith tasks that required temporal means to accomplish. For example, with Martin Harris’s financial help, the young prophet published the Book of Mormon. As the Church grew in numbers, the scope of its revealed mission grew as well. Building Zion communities required land and resources. Proclaiming the revealed gospel to the world required access to a printing press. The United Firm was established to coordinate and fund these ambitious efforts.
Just as he was present at the United Firm’s dissolution, Newel K. Whitney was present at its formation. As a bishop, Whitney attended a meeting of high priests in Kirtland in March 1832. At that meeting, the Prophet Joseph Smith received a revelation (now Doctrine and Covenants 78) that instructed Joseph, Sidney Rigdon, and Bishop Whitney to travel to Missouri to oversee the formation of “an organization of the Literary and Merchantile establishments of my church.” At the time, Sidney Gilbert, an agent of Bishop Edward Partridge in Independence, Missouri, operated a store on behalf of the Church, and Whitney’s store in Kirtland was also designated as a Church storehouse.
In addition, William W. Phelps, the Church’s printer, had established a printing shop in Independence, where he was printing a newspaper and preparing to publish a compilation of Joseph Smith’s revelations in a book called the Book of Commandments. To oversee the publication of the Book of Commandments, a November 1831 revelation—now Doctrine and Covenants 70—had appointed Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Oliver Cowdery, John Whitmer, Martin Harris, and William W. Phelps “stewards over the revelations,” declaring that they would be compensated for their work out of the profits of the book’s sales. Now, in March 1832, the Lord told Joseph Smith and others that the operations of the printing establishment and the storehouses needed to be coordinated.
During the first week of April 1832—just days after a mob attacked Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon, leading to the death of Joseph’s adopted son, Joseph Murdock—Joseph Smith, Newel K. Whitney, Sidney Rigdon, and several others departed for Independence to fulfill this commandment. On April 26, shortly after arriving in Missouri, the Prophet convened a council of high priests. At this meeting, Sidney Rigdon read the March 1832 revelation to the council, stating that it gave “the reason why we were commanded to come to this land & sit in council with the Highpriests here.” A revelation was then given to Joseph, further outlining what they were to do.
This revelation, in its original form, stated that it was “expedient” for Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Newel K. Whitney, Edward Partridge, Sidney Gilbert, John Whitmer, Oliver Cowdery, William W. Phelps, and Martin Harris to “be bound together by a bond & Covennant that cannot be broken in your several Stewartships to manage the literary & Mercantile concerns & the Bishopricks both in the Land of Zion & in the Land of Kirtland.” The revelation—now Doctrine and Covenants 82—also stated that these nine individuals were “to have equal claims on the properties for the benefits of managing the concerns of your stewartship.” It declared that the Lord had appointed this “firm” to be “an everlasting firm unto you & unto your Successor.”
In addition, the revelation told the men to “bind” themselves together by a covenant “according to the Laws of the Land.” Essentially, this revelation stated that those members of the firm would receive sustenance for themselves and their families out of the mercantile and publishing establishments that they were commanded to manage and that they were to enter into a legal bond that would join them together in terms of their obligations for the firm’s debts.
The council met again the next day and directed that the two main branches of the firm be Gilbert, Whitney & Co. (the mercantile partnership of Newel K. Whitney and Sidney Gilbert in Independence) and N. K. Whitney & Co. (Whitney’s Kirtland firm). They also appointed Phelps and Gilbert to draft the bond that the members of the firm needed to enter as instructed by the revelation. Just a few days later, around May 1, 1832, the United Firm held its first regular meeting, with all of its members in attendance except Martin Harris. At this meeting, Whitney and Gilbert were “appointed agents to act in the name of this Firm” and the firm was directed to secure a loan of $15,000 through N. K. Whitney & Co.
For the next two years, the United Firm played a key role in administering the Church. In addition to supervising the storehouses and printing office, its members served as a de facto board of directors for Joseph Smith. For example, when Joseph, who remained in Ohio, wanted information about what was occurring in Missouri, where the city of Zion was being established, he addressed letters to members of the firm. Likewise, the firm’s assets became essential for financing Church projects and for providing members of the firm and their families with the necessities of life.
In 1833, two additional members were added to the firm, both by revelation. A March 1833 revelation—now Doctrine and Covenants 92—directed that Frederick G. Williams be received “into the firm” and that he be “a lively member.” Then, in June 1833, another revelation—now Doctrine and Covenants 96—commanded that John Johnson “become a member of the firm that he may assist in bringing forth my word unto the children of men.” Williams, a member of the Church’s governing presidency, had large landholdings in Ohio, as did Johnson. The United Firm drew on these men’s holdings to manage its stewardships.
Newel K. Whitney, meanwhile, continued his involvement in the firm. In addition to operating his store in Kirtland as a Church storehouse, Whitney became responsible for debts owed on a large parcel of land purchased in Kirtland where Church leaders planned to construct the house of the Lord. Through the means of his store, Whitney also provided financing and goods for the sustenance of Joseph Smith and others, generating the debts that Whitney would forgive in April 1834.
However, the United Firm was on shaky financial ground by 1834. When the Saints were driven from Jackson County, Missouri, in the fall of 1833, the Church lost two vital components of the firm: Phelps’s printing office and Gilbert’s storehouse. In addition, the United Firm had debts due to the purchase of goods for the storehouses, a new printing press in Kirtland, and land for Kirtland’s development.
On January 11, 1834, six members of the firm, including Whitney, prayed that the Lord “would provide, in the order of his Providence, the bishop of this Church with means sufficient to discharge every debt that the Firm owes, in due season.” But by April 1834, Whitney noted that he was $8,000 in debt because of his role in the firm. He needed at least $4,000 that month to help pay the debts, the balance of which needed to be repaid by September 1834. Facing this bleak financial picture, the Prophet Joseph held a meeting of the United Firm on April 10, 1834, during which it was decided that “the firm should be desolvd and each one have their stewardship set off to them.”
Less than two weeks later, on April 23, 1834, the Lord gave Joseph Smith a revelation—now Doctrine and Covenants 104—that assigned these stewardships to the different members of the firm. The stewardships were specific pieces of property that individual members of the firm became responsible for. For example, Newel K. Whitney was given his houses and store, the lots on which they were located, and the lot on which his ashery was located. Others were given land and buildings resting on properties owned by Frederick G. Williams and John Johnson. Although the revelation itself intimated that the United Firm would continue after this distribution of stewardships and a reorganization of the firm, the firm essentially ceased to function thereafter. Instead, the Kirtland high council, formed in February 1834, took on the role of governing the Church’s mercantile and publishing efforts.
In later editions of the Doctrine and Covenants, the United Firm was called the “United Order,” and code names were inserted in place of the participants’ names. In addition, language about the firm’s purpose was changed so that it referred more vaguely to meeting the needs of the poor. This was done to protect the identity of those involved in the firm and to keep its purposes confidential. The names of the individuals were restored to the revelations in the 1980s, but the firm is still referred to as the United Order in the 2013 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants.
Newel K. Whitney’s participation in the United Firm left him with increased indebtedness, but he never showed any bitterness towards Joseph Smith or the Lord because of this. Whitney did not record his feelings about forgiving the large sum of $3,600, but his forgiveness of the debts showed his willingness to follow the Prophet even in temporal matters. His role in the firm gave him an opportunity to work closely with Joseph Smith and other Church leaders in providing the Church with means to carry out its mission. The United Firm played a vital role in the administration of the Church from 1832 to 1834—just as Whitney played a vital role in the firm itself." (Newel K. Whitney and the United Firm D&C 70, 78, 82, 92, 96, 104 Matthew C. Godfrey)
"The early Church underwent significant changes to its organization in a relatively short period of time. Many of these changes can be tracked by reading the early revelations given to individuals in the Doctrine and Covenants. For modern readers, some of the earliest revelations reference lesser-known organizations or individuals. One such revelation, given on March 15, 1832 (now Doctrine and Covenants 81), was given to a relatively unknown figure from Church history: Jesse Gause. Born in 1784, Jesse Gause was raised in Pennsylvania and lived for a time in Delaware. He joined the Society of Friends (the Quakers) in 1806, married Martha Johnson in 1815, and had moved to Ohio by the following year. Five years later, he returned to Delaware. After the death of his first wife in 1828, he moved closer to his extended family—who were members of the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing (the Shakers)—for help in supporting his children. By 1829, he had joined the Shaker faith. He remarried in 1830 to Minerva Eliza Byram and settled in a Shaker community in North Union, Ohio, just 15 miles from Kirtland, Ohio.
Exactly how Jesse came to be baptized is unknown, but he quickly gained Joseph Smith’s trust and rose to prominence in the Church. On March 8, 1832, at Hiram, Ohio, Gause and Sidney Rigdon were appointed counselors to Joseph Smith in the newly formed presidency of the high priesthood. Joseph’s own appointment as president of the high priesthood had taken place in January. This presidency was the forerunner to the First Presidency of the Church.
Gause not only acted as a counselor to Joseph Smith, but he also served a mission, traveled to Missouri on Church business, and served as a scribe on the Bible revision project, later known as the Joseph Smith Translation. Like many other members of the early Church, he showed his dedication to his new faith through his labors in helping the cause of Zion.
Sidney Rigdon, who had been baptized in Ohio in late 1830 and had served as a scribe for Joseph Smith, had already been the subject and recipient of several revelations. The revelation that is now Doctrine and Covenants 81, however, was the first one to address Jesse Gause directly. While it is unclear whether Gause specifically requested a revelation from Joseph Smith, the text gives important clarification of Gause’s duties, not just as a member of the Church but as a counselor to Joseph Smith.
The revelation informed Gause (and future readers) that the “keys of the kingdom” belong to the office of the presidency of the high priesthood—in this case, to Joseph Smith himself. It also said that Gause would be blessed if he was “faithful in counsel, in the office” to which he was appointed.
Gause was to “do the greatest good unto [his] fellow beings,” including praying publicly and preaching the gospel to members and nonmembers alike. This, he was told, would “promote the glory of him who is your Lord.” And if he remained “faithful unto the end,” he would receive a “crown of Immortality.”
Perhaps surprisingly, Gause was excommunicated from the Church less than a year after the revelation admonished him to endure to the end. His virtual disappearance from the historical records following his missionary labors with Zebedee Coltrin in August 1832 make it difficult to understand why he left. Given his background in both the Quaker and Shaker faiths, it is possible that he came to have theological disagreements with Joseph Smith or other Church members—particularly as Joseph continued to update the doctrine of the Church through revelations.
Modern-day readers of Doctrine and Covenants 81 will find Jesse Gause’s name only in the section heading. By the time the revelation was published in the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, Gause’s name had been replaced with that of the man called to take his place: Frederick G. Williams. Subsequent editions of the Doctrine and Covenants retained Williams as the recipient of this revelation. Williams, who replaced Gause as a counselor in January 1833, had been an early convert and supporter of Joseph Smith. Like Gause and Rigdon, Williams also acted as a scribe and clerk to Joseph Smith.
The written records of Joseph Smith’s early revelations underwent changes when early leaders of the Church prepared those revelatory texts for publication in the Doctrine and Covenants in 1835. The changes were logical because some of the revelations no longer reflected the current state of Church organization or doctrinal understanding. As the editors prepared the revelations for print, they likely viewed the revelation in Doctrine and Covenants 81 not merely as counsel to an individual, but rather as a more general revelation to a counselor who was to support Joseph Smith. And because Jesse Gause had left the Church, it is understandable that the editors would have substituted the name of Williams instead.
In some ways, the early revelations were snapshots in time, providing modern readers with a window to the way continuing revelation shaped the early Church. In other ways, the revelations have broader applications. Doctrine and Covenants 81 can be read today not only as an intimate revelation to an early member of the Church, but also as counsel to anyone who is willing to support the prophet." (Jesse Gause: Counselor to the Prophet D&C 81 Robin Scott Jensen)
And here's the introductory commentary for this week's reading assignment: "July 21–27: Where “Much Is Given Much Is Required” Doctrine and Covenants 81–83 :
"In March 1832, the Lord called Jesse Gause to be a counselor to Joseph Smith in the Presidency of the High Priesthood (now called the First Presidency). Doctrine and Covenants 81 is a revelation to Brother Gause about his new calling. But Jesse Gause did not serve faithfully, so Frederick G. Williams was called to replace him. Brother Williams’s name replaced Brother Gause’s name in the revelation.
That may seem like a minor detail, but it implies a significant truth: most revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants are addressed to specific people, but we can always seek ways to apply them to ourselves (see 1 Nephi 19:23). When we read the Lord’s counsel to Frederick G. Williams to “strengthen the feeble knees,” we can think of people we might strengthen (Doctrine and Covenants 81:5). When we read the Lord’s invitation to members of the United Firm to “bind yourselves by this covenant,” we can think of our own covenants. And we can read His promise, “I … am bound when ye do what I say,” as if He’s speaking to us (Doctrine and Covenants 82:10, 15). We can do this because, as the Lord declared, “What I say unto one I say unto all” (verse 5).
See “Newel K. Whitney and the United Firm,” “Jesse Gause: Counselor to the Prophet,” in Revelations in Context, 142–47, 155–57."
The Lord said, "What I say unto one, I say unto all." So the revelations addressed to specific people can always apply to everybody although not everybody is in the same circumstance. As we seek for ways to apply those revelations ourselves we can find ways to apply them to ourselves. Doing so brings us the blessings associated with those revelations or commandments. Seeking to apply them shows how dedicated we are in our discipleship.
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