Come, Follow Me D&C 93

 

Come, Follow Me

D&C 93 “Receive of His Fulness”

Aug 31, 2025 -  5^th Sunday

Resources

I many not have used all of this information in the lesson material.

Background

Prophet Joseph Smith:

“In the month of April, the first regular mob rushed together, in Independence, to consult upon a plan, for the removal, or immediate destruction, of the Church in Jackson county. The number of the mob was about three hundred. A few of the first Elders met in secret, and prayed to Him who said to the wind, ‘Be still,’ to frustrate them in their wicked designs. The mob, therefore, after spending the day in a fruitless endeavor to unite upon a general scheme for ‘moving the Mormons out of their diggings’ (as they asserted), became a little the worse for liquor and broke up in a regular Missouri ‘row,’ showing a determined resolution that every man would ‘carry his own head.’” (History of the Church, 1:342)

One author noted:

“This is a powerful revelation about our potential to become like our Heavenly Father. . . . It lets us see things as the Lord does, thus giving us knowledge and perspective that enable us to make better decisions and draw closer to the Lord in our daily living, especially when we are faced with opposition.” (David J Ridges, D&C Made Easy, vol. 2, p 290)

The Prophet Joseph Smith Taught:

“When you climb up a ladder you must begin at the bottom, and ascend step by step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the principles of the gospel—you must begin with the first, and go on until you learn all the principles of exaltation” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith [2007], 268).

1) 93:1–3  “Shall see my face and know that I am”

“The Lord introduced the revelation recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 93 with a glorious promise that emphasizes the purpose of His gospel and the great plan of salvation. Speaking to every faithful soul who repents of his or her sins, comes to Him, calls on Him, and obeys His commandments, the Lord declares that he or she “shall see my face and know that I am” (D&C 93:1).

“In these latter days the Lord has renewed His promise to His people that they may see His face, know Him, and “receive of his fulness” (D&C 93:20). Latter-day revelation teaches that seeing God is a blessing that is granted according to His own time and will (see D&C 88:68; 130:3) and is given only to those who have overcome the natural man, received the ordinances of the Melchizedek Priesthood, and come unto Jesus Christ (see Mosiah 3:19; D&C 67:10–13; 84:21–23; 93:1). For many, the promise of seeing the face of God may be fulfilled when Jesus Christ returns to earth at His Second Coming (see D&C 29:11; 35:21; 38:8; 45:44; 101:23).

“When the righteous are blessed to see the Lord, they come to know with certainty that He lives, that He is “the true light”, and that “the Father and [Jesus Christ] are one.” (2018 Institute, D&C Student Manual)

President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985) taught:

“I have learned that where there is a prayerful heart, a hungering after righteousness, a forsaking of sins, and obedience to the commandments of God, the Lord pours out more and more light until there is finally power to pierce the heavenly veil and to know more than man knows. A person of such righteousness has the priceless promise that one day he shall see the Lord’s face and know that he is (see D&C 93:1)” (“Give the Lord Your Loyalty,” Ensign, Mar. 1980, 4).

2) 93:3–5  “The Father and I are one”

“During the First Vision, Joseph Smith saw that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are two separate Personages (see Joseph Smith—History 1:17). Their separate natures are clarified in Doctrine and Covenants 130:22: “The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also” (see also Articles of Faith 1:1). However, these revelations also illustrate the oneness and unity that exist between God the Father; His Son, Jesus Christ; and the Holy Ghost (see D&C 20:28; 93:3).” (2018 Institute, D&C Student Manual)

Elder Bruce R. McConkie:

“The Father and the Son are one. They have the same character, perfections, and attributes. They think the same thoughts, speak the same words, perform the same acts, have the same desires, and do the same works. They possess the same power, have the same mind, know the same truths, live in the same light and glory. To know one is to know the other; to see one is to see the other; to hear the voice of one is to hear the voice of the other. Their unity is perfect” (The Promised Messiah: The First Coming of Christ [1978], 9).

3) 93:6–18  What is “the record of John?”

Elder Bruce R. McConkie explained:

“John the Baptist [was] destined to write … the gospel of that Lord whose witness he is, but his account, perhaps because it contains truths and concepts that the saints and the world are not yet prepared to receive, has so far not been given to men. On May 6, 1833, however, the Lord did reveal to Joseph Smith eleven verses of the Baptist’s writings, and promised that ‘the fulness of the record of John’ would be revealed when the faith of men entitled them to receive it.

“… John the Apostle had before him the writings of John the Baptist when he wrote his Gospel” (The Mortal Messiah: From Bethlehem to Calvary [1979], 1:426–27).

4) 93:8. “In the beginning the Word was, … even the messenger of salvation”

President Russell M. Nelson explained what that title for Jesus Christ means:

“In the Greek language of the New Testament, that Word was Logos, or ‘expression.’ It was another name for the Master. That terminology may seem strange, but it is appropriate. We use words to convey our expression to others. So Jesus was the Word, or expression, of His Father to the world.” (“Jesus the Christ: Our Master and More,” Ensign, Apr. 2000, 4).

5) 93:13  “From Grace to Grace”

President Lorenzo Snow:

“When Jesus lay in the manger, a helpless infant. He knew not that He was the Son of God, and that formerly He created the earth. When the edict of Herod was issued, He knew nothing of it; He had not power to save Himself; and His father and mother had to take Him and fly into Egypt to preserve Him from the effects of that edict. Well, He grew up to man- hood, and during His progress it was revealed unto Him who He was, and for what purpose He was in the world. The glory and power He possessed before He came into the world was made known unto Him.” (Conference Report, April 1901)

Elder James E Talmage:

“Over His mind had fallen the veil of forgetfulness, common unto all who are born to earth, by which the remembrance of primeval existence is shut off. The Child grew, and from growth there came to Him expansion of mind, development of faculties, and progression in power and understanding. His advancement was from one grace to another, not from gracelessness to grace; from good to greater good, not from evil to good, from favor with God to greater favor, not from estrangement because of sin to reconciliation through repentance and propitiation.” (Jesus The Christ, 111)

[Generally, propitiation refers to the act of appeasing or satisfying the wrath of a deity, often through a sacrificial offering.

In our understanding and usage, this is closely tied to Christ’s role as Mediator and Redeemer, emphasizing mercy, justice, and the infinite nature of His sacrifice.]

6)  93:15  Sign of the Dove

Prophet Joseph Smith:

“The sign of the dove was instituted before the creation of the world, a witness for the Holy Ghost, and the devil cannot come in the sign of the dove. The Holy Ghost is a personage, and is in the form of a personage. It does not conform itself to the form of the dove, but in sign of the dove. The Holy Ghost cannot be transformed into a dove; But the sign of the dove was given to John to signify the truth of the deed, as the dove is an emblem or token of truth and innocence.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 275-76)

7)  93:19 Come Unto the Father in My Name

The Prophet Joseph Smith taught why we should seek to obtain truth and light:

“God has created man with a mind capable of instruction, and a faculty which may be enlarged in proportion to the heed and diligence given to the light communicated from heaven to the intellect; and that the nearer man approaches perfection, the clearer are his views, and the greater his enjoyments, till he has overcome the evils of his life and lost every desire for sin; and like the ancients, arrives at that point of faith where he is wrapped in the power and glory of his Maker, and is caught up to dwell with Him. But we consider that this is a station to which no man ever arrived in a moment” (Teachings: Joseph Smith, 210–11).

8)  93:20 Receive of His Fulness

The Prophet Joseph Smith taught:

“Here, then, is eternal life—to know the only wise and true God; and you have got to learn how to be gods yourselves, … by going from one small degree to another, and from a small capacity to a great one; from grace to grace, … until you attain to the resurrection of the dead, and are able to dwell in everlasting burnings, and to sit in glory, as do those who sit enthroned in everlasting power.

“… [The righteous who have died] shall rise again to dwell in everlasting burnings in immortal glory, not to sorrow, suffer, or die any more, but they shall be heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. What is it? To inherit the same power, the ascend the throne of eternal power, the same as those who have gone before” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith [2007], 221–22).

9)  93:22 Church of the First Born

Elder Joseph Fielding Smith:

“Those who gain exaltation in the celestial kingdom are those who are members of the Church of the Firstborn; in other words, those who keep all the commandments of the Lord. . . .

“The Lord has made it possible for us to become members of the Church of the Firstborn, by receiving the blessings of the house of the Lord and overcoming all things. Thus we become heirs, ‘priests, and kings, who have received of his fulness, and of his glory,’ who shall ‘dwell in the presence of God and his Christ forever and ever,’ with full exaltation.” (Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 2:41–42.)

President Brigham Young:

“The ordinances of the house of God are expressly for the Church of the Firstborn.” (Young, in Journal of Discourses, 8:154.)

10)  93:24 Truth

Elder Neal A Maxwell:

"Much of really living consists of acquiring perspective about everlasting things so that we can successfully manage the transitory factual things.

"It is vital to know that there really is a God, that there really is a Savior, Jesus Christ, that there really is impending immortality for all men, that there really will be a judgment with genuine personal accountability, and that there really is purpose in life and a divine plan of happiness for man." (Maxwell, Things as They Really Are, Chapter 1)

11) 93:29. “Intelligence … was not created or made”

The Prophet Joseph Smith taught the following concerning the eternal nature of intelligence:

“I have another subject to dwell upon, which is calculated to exalt man. … It is associated with the subject of the resurrection of the dead,—namely, the soul—the mind of man—the immortal spirit. Where did it come from? All learned men and doctors of divinity say that God created it in the beginning; but it is not so: the very idea lessens man in my estimation. I do not believe the doctrine; I know better. Hear it, all ye ends of the world; for God has told me so; and if you don’t believe me, it will not make the truth without effect. …

“I am dwelling on the immortality of the spirit of man. Is it logical to say that the intelligence of spirits is immortal, and yet that it has a beginning? The intelligence of spirits had no beginning, neither will it have an end. …

“Intelligence is eternal and exists upon a self-existent principle. It is a spirit from age to age and there is no creation about it. … “The first principles of man are self-existent with God. God himself, finding he was in the midst of spirits and glory, because he was more intelligent, saw proper to institute laws whereby the rest could have a privilege to advance like himself. The relationship we have with God places us in a situation to advance in knowledge. He has power to institute laws to instruct the weaker intelligences, that they may be exalted with himself, so that they might have one glory upon another, and all that knowledge, power, glory, and intelligence, which is requisite in order to save them in the world of spirits” (Teachings: Joseph Smith, 209–10). 93:30–32.)

President Joseph Fielding Smith taught:

“Some of our writers have endeavored to explain what an intelligence is, but to do so is futile, for we have never been given an insight into this matter beyond what the Lord has fragmentarily revealed. We know, however, that there is something called intelligence which always existed. It is the real eternal part of man, which was not created or made. This intelligence combined with the spirit constitutes a spiritual identity or individual. “The spirit of man, then, is a combination of the intelligence and the spirit which is an entity begotten of God” (The Progress of Man [1936], 11).

12)  93:30–32. The agency to act

Elder Neal A. Maxwell:

“So many have erred, thinking that freedom, included both freedom to obey or not to obey eternal laws and, wrongly, that it included freedom to change those laws. Not so. Ultimately, freedom involves choice between eternal alternatives, but not the altering of the alternatives. We can choose wickedness or happiness, but not wickedness with happiness” (“Insights from My Life” [Brigham Young University devotional, Oct. 26, 1976], 7, speeches.byu.edu).

13) 93:36 “The glory of God is intelligence”

“His glory, as defined under inspiration, is something associated with his very nature, not just something he bestows upon others. Moses not only saw but also shared in the glory of God. The account in Moses 1:2 states, ‘And he saw God face to face, and he talked with him, and the glory of God was upon Moses; therefore Moses could endure his presence.’ There is no doubt that Moses was in the favor of God, but this revelation shows that God's glory was a capacitating agent that made it possible for Moses to bear God's actual presence. But that was not all. Through that power Moses was endowed with sufficient intellect to understand to a degree the nature of God's work. The Lord stated that he would show Moses the workmanship of his hands, ‘but not all, for my works are without end, and also my words, for they never cease.’ He then explained why he would not show Moses all his works: ‘No man can behold all my works,’ he said, ‘except he behold all my glory; . . . and afterwards remain in the flesh on the earth.’ (Moses 1:4-5.) This scripture suggests that it is God's glory that gives him the capacity to be all seeing. “Further, the ability to behold all that glory would require a change in the basic constitution of man that would make him more than mortal. (Richard D Draper, 1989 Sperry Symposium)

“According to the dictionary available to Joseph Smith, glory is first and foremost ‘brightness, luster, and splendor.’ Only in a secondary sense is it fame or praise. That dictionary notes that in a scriptural sense glory is a manifestation of the presence of God. This meaning accords much better with Joseph Smith's use of the term. For example, while recounting his first vision he wrote, ‘I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. . . . I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description.’ (Joseph Smith-History 1:16-17.) Writing of this experience on another occasion he stated, ‘I was enwrapped in heavenly vision, and saw two glorious personages, who exactly resembled each other in features and likeness, surrounded with a brilliant light which eclipsed the sun at noon day.’ In these passages glory is directly associated with ‘radiance.’ This association fits nicely with the idea expressed in Doctrine and Covenants 93 that light is a constituent part of glory. (Richard D Draper, 1989 Sperry Symposium)

14)  93:37, 39 “Light and truth forsake that evil one”

The Light of Christ is given to “every [person] that cometh into the world . . . However, when God’s children are disobedient, the “wicked one cometh and taketh away light and truth.

Elder Robert D. Hales:

“Light dispels darkness. When light is present, darkness is vanquished and must depart. More importantly, darkness cannot conquer light unless the light is diminished or departs. When the spiritual light of the Holy Ghost is present, the darkness of Satan departs.

“ . . . we are engaged in a battle between the forces of light and darkness. If it were not for the Light of Jesus Christ and His gospel, we would be doomed to the destruction of darkness. But the Savior said, ‘I am come a light into the world . . . ‘He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life’

“… In this world, the darkness is never far away. In fact, it is always just around the corner, waiting for an opportunity to come in. ‘If thou doest not well,’ the Lord said, ‘sin lieth at the door.’

“It is as predictable as any physical law: if we let the light of the Spirit flicker or fade by failing to keep the commandments or by not partaking of the sacrament or praying or studying the scriptures, the darkness of the adversary will surely come in. ‘That wicked one cometh and taketh away light and truth, through disobedience’ ” (“Out of Darkness into His Marvelous Light,” Ensign, May 2002, 70–71).

15)  93:38 Sin in the Premortal World

38 “Every spirit of man was innocent in the beginning; and God having redeemed man from the fall, men became again, in their infant state, innocent before God.”

Paraphrasing: We all started out innocent as spirits in the premortal world, and we all became innocent again when we were born into mortality.

This suggests that we were capable of sin in the premortal life. For how else could there have been rebellion and a war in heaven?

It follows then that the Atonement of Jesus Christ must have extended backwards to encompass our sins in the premortal world so that in our infant state (mortality) we were again innocent.

President Joseph Fielding Smith:

“Some accounts that we have of the premortal life teach that we ‘were on the same standing’ (Alma 13:5) and that we were ‘innocent’ in the beginning. We were given laws and agency, and commandments to have faith and repent from the wrongs that we could do there. . . . Man could and did in many instances sin before he was born.” (The Way to Perfection, 44)

And

“. . . . we know that they [the spirits of men] were all innocent in the beginning; . . . the right of free agency, which was given them enabled some to outstrip others, and thus, through the eons of immortal existence, to become more intelligent, more faithful, for they were free to act for themselves, to think for themselves, to receive the truth or rebel against it.” (Doctrines of Salvation, 1:58)

16)  93:43, 50 “Set in order your own house”

Elder David A. Bednar:

“We can begin to become more diligent and concerned at home by telling the people we love that we love them. Such expressions do not need to be flowery or lengthy. We simply should sincerely and frequently express love. …

“We also can become more diligent and concerned at home by bearing testimony to those whom we love about the things we know to be true by the witness of the Holy Ghost. The bearing of testimony need not be lengthy or eloquent. … Within the walls of our own homes, we can and should bear pure testimony of the divinity and reality of the Father and the Son, of the great plan of happiness, and of the Restoration. …

“Each family prayer, each episode of family scripture study, and each family home evening is a brushstroke on the canvas of our souls. … Our consistency in doing seemingly small things can lead to significant spiritual results. ‘Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great’ (D&C 64:33). Consistency is a key principle as we lay the foundation of a great work in our individual lives and as we become more diligent and concerned in our own homes. …

“As we seek the Lord’s help and in His strength, we can gradually reduce the disparity between what we say and what we do, between expressing love and consistently showing it, and between bearing testimony and steadfastly living it.

We can become more diligent and concerned at home as we are more faithful in learning, living, and loving the restored gospel of Jesus Christ” (“More Diligent and Concerned at Home,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2009, 17–20).