A Calling to Exhort and Strengthen

Section 23 of the Doctrine and Covenants records five small revelations received by the Prophet Joseph Smith shortly after the organization of the Church. Oliver Cowdery, Hyrum Smith, Samuel Smith, Joseph Smith Sr., and Joseph Knight Sr. all requested to know their respective duties. There are similarities in language across the five revelations. One of those is the fact that for four of them, the Lord said “thou art under no condemnation,” which must have surely been comforting words to these brethren. This language was not used in Joseph Knight’s revelation, and one commentary notes, “The final recipient, Joseph Knight Sr., had not yet been baptized and was instead counseled that it was his ‘duty to unite with the true Church.’” Perhaps then one of the takeaways of these revelation then is that through obedience and the cleansing power of baptism we too can receive the Lord’s approval such that we likewise are not under condemnation. Joseph Knight was indeed soon thereafter baptized on June 28, 1830 and was a faithful member of the Church until his death in 1847 in Iowa. In fact, what is encouraging to me about this revelation is that all five of these individuals died in the faith. Oliver Cowdery of course left it for a time, but all of them died, I believe, still “under no condemnation.”

               There are two other phrases that appear in the language of four of these revelations. The Lord told Hyrum, “Thy calling is to exhortation, and to strengthen the church continually.” Samuel similarly was instructed, “Thy calling is to exhortation, and to strengthen the church.” The Lord also said to Joseph Smith Sr., “Thy calling also is to exhortation, and to strengthen the church.” And Joseph Knight Sr. received this instruction: “It is your duty to unite with the true church, and give your language to exhortation continually.” All four were instructed to use exhortation and either strengthen or unite with the church. Surely the fact that they all received this counsel is a good indication that the Lord would say the same thing to us who are seeking to follow Him; we should too consider it our calling to give “exhortation.” I think that is a very appropriate word for us who are not necessarily called to preside or use priesthood keys to direct the Church. Only the prophet can command the Church in the name of the Lord, but the rest of us can exhort our fellow Saints to righteousness and obedience. To exhort implies an earnest invitation, a sincere encouragement, a heartfelt pleading to follow the Savior. But it does not imply constraint or command or compulsion—our role in the Church is to simply invite and urge and exhort to righteousness. And surely that is one of the ways that we “strengthen the church.” As another invitation from the Lord to each of us puts it: “Strengthen your brethren in all your conversation, in all your prayers, in all your exhortations, and in all your doings” (Doctrine and Covenants 108:7). We strengthen the church by strengthening our brothers and sister in how we converse, pray, and exhort them to follow the Lord. In the Church most of us have official callings to one activity or another that we eventually get released from, but I believe we all also have this “calling” (from which there is no release) to exhortation and strengthening the church in all our doings.