D&C 125-128 - A "Bold Doctrine" that Can Save Everyone

Unshaken Saints

Jared Halverson

Religion & Spirituality, Education

5 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 30 October 2025

⏱️ 102 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

While in hiding from enemies, a prophet writes two of the most doctrinally explosive letters in scripture. How can we make sense of the work of salvation for the dead, and what does it have to do with the "fullness of times"? D&C 127 and 128 reveal the magnificent scope of God's work, which binds heaven and earth together. Summary: This episode explores D&C 125–128, focusing on lessons in discipleship, divine priorities, and the eternal cause of redemption. D&C 125: Saints in Deed. The Lord gives direction to the Saints in Iowa Territory, asking if they are merely "Saints in name only" or truly "essaying to be my saints." The call is to gather and live up to the Book of Mormon standard by naming their city Zarahemla. D&C 126: An Honorable Release. The Lord gives Brigham Young an honorable release from constant missionary travel, declaring, "your offering is acceptable to me." His new command: "take especial care of your family from this time, henceforth and forever." This sets the eternal priority of family over temporary callings. D&C 127-128: The Great Cause. Joseph Smith's letters, written while he was "deep water is what I am wont to swim in," focus intensely on baptism for the dead. The Power of Binding: We learn the "very bold doctrine" that whatsoever is bound on earth by proper priesthood authority is "bound in heaven". This work is essential, as "their salvation is necessary and essential to our salvation." The Record: The Lord requires a recorder who is an "eye-witness" for every ordinance, ensuring the records are "in order" and worthy to be placed in the temple archives. The Offering: Joseph encourages the Saints to "waste and wear out our lives" in this cause. The ultimate goal is to present in the holy temple a "book containing the records of our dead, which shall be worthy of all acceptation"—an offering in righteousness to the returning King. The Final Charge: Joseph rallies the Saints with an ecstatic vision of the Restoration, crying, "shall we not go on in so great a cause? Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory!" This work forms the "welding together of dispensations" that defines the fullness of times. Call-to-Action: What small act can you do this week to "weld" your family together—living and dead? Share your commitment below! If this message inspired you to go "on, on to the victory," please like, subscribe, and hit the notification bell to stay "Unshaken" in your faith. Chapter Timestamps: 0:00 Introduction 3:20 Saints in Name Only 11:50 An Honorable Release 21:34 Deep Water 38:26 Always On My Mind 50:19 The Infinite Umbrella 1:13:12 A Book of Remembrance 1:27:44 So Great a Cause 1:39:41 One-Liners

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello, my friends. It is so good to be with you. I'm Jared Halverson. This is Unshaken,
0:03.6	and we're diving into scripture this week, every week. We have some amazing material to study,
0:08.9	section 125 through 128, and honestly 127 and 128 are gems. These are letters written by
0:16.0	Joseph Smith to the Saints. He's in hiding, up in an attic somewhere, kind of bouncing around
0:20.0	between friends' houses just to try to escape the law. Some interesting time period in Navu. And yet
0:26.8	Joseph cannot be contained. These are letters that, those two revelations are letters that he
0:32.0	writes. So in some ways, we're back to what we saw two weeks ago in Liberty Jail. And it's a prison of sorts.
0:38.6	He's under kind of self-imposed house arrest as he's been in danger of extradition back to Missouri.
0:44.6	Lilburn W. Boggs, who is no longer the governor of Missouri, had been an attempted murder
0:50.3	against Governor Boggs, and they automatically assume that it must be the Latter-day Saints.
0:55.9	Those old Mormons, they may have left the state, but they can't leave the state alone, kind of
0:59.1	an approach. And since Boggs signed the extermination order, now the Mormons are trying to
1:04.9	exterminate him. Joseph Smith was not in the state, had nothing to do with it. Some people assumed
1:10.2	it must have been
1:11.0	Oren Porter Rockwell under Joseph Smith's command, and yet Porter Rockwell's, his best self-defense
1:18.3	was, if I had done it, it wouldn't have been unsuccessful. Boggs would no longer be here.
1:24.9	And I don't know how that would fly in a court of law. But anyway, Joseph is
1:29.5	under pressure because the Missourians want to bring him across the river where they can do anything
1:34.4	they want with him back in Missouri since the extermination order still stands. Tricky time period.
1:39.6	Okay. Meanwhile, the city of Navu is growing. They're building a temple there. The saints are flocking in. In fact, they're coming so quickly and spreading so densely that they're starting to spill over to the western edge of the Mississippi River as well, into Iowa territory. That's actually where Section 125 comes in. What do we do with the Saints over there, other side of the river?
2:01.5	Then 126, we'll see some information about Brigham Young, who's been off on mission after
2:05.6	mission after mission. Now he's coming home and what's my next, what's my next mission, Joseph?
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Jared Halverson, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Jared Halverson and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.