Saturday, August 18, 2012

The fullness of John’s record



15 And I, John, bear record, and lo, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the form of a dove, and sat upon him, and there came a voice out of heaven saying: This is my beloved Son.
 16 And I, John, bear record that he received a fulness of the glory of the Father;
 17 And he received all power, both in heaven and on earth, and the glory of the Father was with him, for he dwelt in him.
 18 And it shall come to pass, that if you are faithful you shall receive the fulness of the record of John. (D&C 93:15-18)

I used to think that promise in verse 18 just meant that more scriptures written by John would be restored. (Do I say that no more records of John will be brought out?  No; I know better than to limit the Lord’s words.)  However, when I consider the things that John bore record of here, it seems to me this may be promising that we will receive experiences that will allow us to bear the same testimony John bore.  After all, v1 of the same section says:

Verily, thus saith the Lord: It shall come to pass that every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am; (D&C 93:1)

It seems to me that we can’t have the fullness of the record of John (assuming record here means testimony) unless we have the same revelatory experience as John. 

Without the experience of seeing and receiving the testimony of the Holy Ghost, the record is just words, and there are things words can’t express but can only hint at.  We have part of the record when we have the Holy Ghost testify to us, but the fullness of the record is seeing as well. 

I suppose it takes faith to trust that the fullness will come in the Lord’s time if we are faithful as He stipulates in v1.

0 comments: