Doctrine and Covenants 38:16

President George Albert Smith:

“When I was a child I recognized, or thought I did, that the commandments of the Lord were His laws and regulations for my guidance. I thought I recognized in the disobedience to those laws that punishment would follow. … But as I grew older I have learned the lesson from another viewpoint, and now to me the laws of the Lord … are but the sweet music of the voice of our Father in heaven in His mercy to us. They are but the advice and counsel of a loving parent, who is more concerned in our welfare than earthly parents can be, and consequently that which at one time seemed to bear the harsh name of law to me is now the loving and tender advice of an all-wise Heavenly Father. And so I say it is not hard for me to believe that it is best for me to keep the commandments of God” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: George Albert Smith [2011], 193–94).

Doctrine and Covenants 38:23–25

President Boyd K. Packer:

“There is a unique equality among members [of the Church]. No one of us is to consider himself of more value than the other (see D&C 38:24–25)” (“The Weak and the Simple of the Church,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2007, 7.)

Doctrine and Covenants 38:24–25

President Boyd K. Packer:

“When I was a young man, I was a home teacher to a very old sister. She taught me from her life experience.

“When she was a little girl, President Brigham Young came to Brigham City, a great event in the town named after him. To honor him, the Primary children, all dressed in white, were lined up along the road coming into town, each with a basket of flowers to spread before the carriage of the President of the Church.

“Something displeased her. Instead of throwing her blossoms, she kicked a rock in front of the carriage, saying, ‘He ain’t one bit better than my Grandpa Lovelund.’ That was overheard, and she was severely scolded.

“I am very sure that President Brigham Young would be the first to agree with little Janie Steed. He would not consider himself to be worth more than Grandpa Lovelund or any other worthy member of the Church” (“The Weak and the Simple of the Church,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2007, 7).

Doctrine and Covenants 38:27, 34–36

In this revelation, the Lord commanded the Saints to be unified and to take care of the poor. These are two of the fundamental commandments of the law of consecration. These two commandments are also emphasized in Moses 7:18 and 4 Nephi 1:2–3. When the Saints attempted to live the law of consecration in Missouri, they were unsuccessful because they “[did] not impart of their substance … to the poor” and they were “not united” (D&C 105:3–5).

Doctrine and Covenants 38:27

President Henry B. Eyring:

“We know from experience that joy comes when we are blessed with unity. … [Our Heavenly Father’s] desire is to grant us that sacred wish for unity out of His love for us.

“He cannot grant it to us as individuals. The joy of unity He wants so much to give us is not solitary. We must seek it and qualify for it with others. It is not surprising then that God urges us to gather so that He can bless us. He wants us to gather into families. He has established classes, wards, and branches and commanded us to meet together often. In those gatherings, which God has designed for us, lies our great opportunity. We can pray and work for the unity that will bring us joy and multiply our power to serve” (“Our Hearts Knit as One,” Ensign or Liahona,Nov. 2008, 69).

Doctrine and Covenants 39

The earliest copy of Doctrine and Covenants 39 indicated only that it was a revelation given for someone named James. The published copy of the revelation expanded the name of the recipient to “James (C.,).” In the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, his name was identified as “James Covill.” In the 1981 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, he was identified as a Baptist minister. However, recent research indicates that this revelation was given to James Covel, who was a Methodist minister.

Doctrine and Covenants 39:4

President Joseph Fielding Smith:

“The Savior becomes our Father, in the sense in which this term is used in the scriptures, because he offers us life, eternal life, through the atonement which he made for us” (Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols. [1954–56], 1:29).

Doctrine and Covenants 40

In 1831, some members of the United Methodist Church did not believe in rebaptism; nor did they believe that any man had the power to bestow the Holy Ghost. James Covel, who was a Methodist minister, may have been troubled by the command to be rebaptized (see D&C 39:10). Additionally, James Covel had spent seven years as a circuit rider (a traveling minister) under primitive and harsh conditions. He had retired from riding a preaching circuit in 1797. When the Lord called him to embark on a mission, Covel may have felt that the assignment to travel the frontier to preach was too much of a sacrifice. This may be part of the “cares of the world” (D&C 40:2) that caused him to reject the covenant he had made.

Doctrine and Covenants 40:1–3

President Harold B. Lee:

“I sat in a class in Sunday School in my own ward one day, and the teacher was the son of a patriarch. He said he used to take down the blessings of his father, and he noticed that his father gave what he called ‘iffy’ blessings. He would give a blessing, but it was predicated on ‘if you will not do this’ or ‘if you will cease doing that.’ And he said, ‘I watched these men to whom my father gave the “iffy” blessings, and I saw that many of them did not heed the warning that my father as a patriarch had given, and the blessings were never received because they did not comply.’

“You know, this started me thinking. I went back into the Doctrine and Covenants and began to read the ‘iffy’ revelations that have been given to the various brethren in the Church. If you want to have an exercise in something that will startle you, read some of the warnings that were given through the Prophet Joseph Smith to Thomas B. Marsh, Martin Harris, some of the Whitmer brothers, William E. McLellin—warnings which, had they heeded, some would not have fallen by the wayside. But because they did not heed, and they didn’t clear up their lives, they fell by the wayside” (“Admonitions for the Priesthood of God,” Ensign,Jan. 1973, 107–8).