Church History Lesson 52 (John 1; D&C 5; 135-136)
December 25-31
This week we are discussing the Joseph Smith, God’s Prophet, whose birthday was on December 23, just two days before Christmas. Next week, we will return to our normal schedule of posts.
THE IMPORTANCE OF JOSEPH SMITH’S MINISTRY
When we look at the full sweep of Joseph Smith’s accomplishments in his short 39 years of life, we must certainly be amazed. This humble farm boy from Vermont, without benefit of a formal education or a doctorate of divinity, established the most important religious movement in 19th-century America. It continues as the fastest growing denomination in America 182 years after its founding. It is sweeping the world with its message. And Mormons are found in every walk of life, including, most recently, a nominee for the Presidency of the United States.
“Art Thou That Prophet?”
John 1:19–21 The disciples in Jesus’ day knew all about the coming “Restoration prophet.” Their reference to “that prophet,” was to the Messiah ben Joseph that the Samaritans said would come before the great last coming of the Messiah. He would restore Israel to its former place of glory and power, through the leadership of the descendants of Ephraim.
D&C 5:7–10 The Lord declared that this generation would receive His word through Joseph Smith. He was, and is, the great Prophet of the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times.
Doctrinal Contributions of Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith’s first vision clarified the true nature of God and our relationship to Him.
He restored the original Church of Christ, its offices, powers, ordinances, & doctrines.
He added 900 new pages of revealed scripture in our day.
He translated new scripture (Book of Mormon and Book of Abraham) from records and papyri.
He received the Book of Moses by revelation.
He received revelations for the latter days recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants.
He corrected at least 3,410 verses in the Bible.
He received and clarified the entire gospel of Jesus Christ, its principles and doctrines.
He received the keys of salvation and saving ordinances for both the living and the dead.
He established a world-wide missionary force that brings thousands into the Church each year.
He authorized the building of the first temples in this dispensation in Kirtland, Nauvoo, and Missouri, and established the pattern for all future temple work.
Temporal Contributions of Joseph Smith
He colonized cities and towns in four states—New York, Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois.
He organized the School of the Prophets (a missionary training center for apostles, and one of the first adult-education schools in America).
He established a public school system, and a university.
He established an organization dedicated to the uplifting of womanhood—the Relief Society, in 1842.
He established many other social, cultural, economic, and educational institutions.
He was a military leader, as Lt. General of the Nauvoo Legion.
THE GREATNESS OF JOSEPH SMITH
D&C 135:3 John Taylor’s assessment of Joseph Smith was that he had done more for the salvation of the human race than any many who ever lived, with the exception of Jesus Christ.
Elder Neal A. Maxwell said, “Throughout the expanse of human history, no prophet has been scrutinized in such a sustained way, on as wide a scale, or for so long a period of time as Joseph Smith, Jr. The communication capacity of this age and the global impact of his work have so ensured. Young Joseph was told that his name would be “both good and evil spoken of” throughout the world. Except from a divine source, how audacious a statement! Yet his contemporary religious leaders, then much better known than Joseph, have faded into the footnotes of history, while the work of Joseph Smith grows constantly and globally.”1
President Brigham Young said, “It was decreed in the counsels of eternity, long before the foundations of the earth were laid, that he, Joseph Smith, should be the man, in the last dispensation of this world, to bring forth the word of God to the people, and receive the fulness of the keys and power of the Priesthood of the Son of God. The Lord had his eyes upon him, and upon his father, and upon his father’s father, and upon their progenitors clear back to Abraham, and from Abraham to the flood, from the flood to Enoch, and from Enoch to Adam. He has watched that family and that blood as it has circulated from its fountain to the birth of that man. He was fore-ordained in eternity to preside over this last dispensation.”2
D&C 136:37-39 The Lord’s words of comfort to the Saints regarding the Martyrdom.
D&C 135:1–2 Following the Prophet’s martyrdom, Elder John Taylor wrote an account of this tragic event together with his appraisal of Joseph Smith’s accomplishments.
D&C 135:3 “Joseph Smith, The Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it.”
D&C 135:4-5 The last words and actions of Joseph and Hyrum Smith are recounted.
D&C 135:6-7 “They lived for glory; they died for glory; and glory is their eternal reward. From age to age shall their names go down to posterity as gems for the sanctified.”
Illinois Governor Thomas Ford wrote of the martyrdom, “The murder of the Smiths, instead of putting an end to . . . the Mormons and dispersing them, as many believed it would, only bound them together closer than ever, gave them new confidence in their faith . . . Some gifted man . . . some splendid orator who will be able by his eloquence to attract crowds of the thousands, . . . may succeed in breathing a new life into [the Mormon church] and make the name of the martyred Joseph ring . . . loud and stir the souls of men.”3
Governor Ford lived with a fear that this would happen and that his own name would, like the names of Pilate and Herod, be “dragged down to posterity.” Ford’s fear came true.
Josiah Quincy, a newspaper editor from New England who visited Nauvoo said of Joseph Smith, “It is by no means improbable that some future textbook, for the use of generations yet unborn, will contain a question something like this : What historical American of the nineteenth century has exerted the most powerful influence upon the destinies of his countrymen ? And it is by no means impossible that the answer to that interrogatory may be thus written : Joseph, Smith, the Mormon prophet. . . . The man who established a religion in this age of free debate, who was and is today accepted by hundreds of thousands as a direct emissary from the Most High—such a rare human being is not to be disposed of by pelting his memory with unsavory epithets. Fanatic, impostor, charlatan, he may have been ; but these hard names furnish no solution to the problem he presents to us. Fanatics and impostors are living and dying every day, and their memory is buried with them; but the wonderful influence which this founder of a religion exerted and still exerts throws him into relief before us, not as a rogue to be criminated, but as a phenomenon to be explained.”4
President Joseph Fielding Smith said, “If Joseph Smith was verily a prophet, and if he told the truth when he said that he stood in the presence of angels sent from the Lord, and obtained keys of authority, and the commandment to organize the Church of Jesus Christ once again on the earth, then this knowledge is of the most vital importance to the entire world. No man can reject that testimony without incurring the most dreadful consequences, for he cannot enter the kingdom of God. It is, therefore, the duty of every man to investigate that he may weigh this matter carefully and know the truth.”5
President Gordon B. Hinckley said:
“The story of Joseph’s life is the story of a miracle. He was born in poverty. He was reared in adversity. He was driven from place to place, falsely accused, and illegally imprisoned. He was murdered at the age of thirty-eight. In this same period he established an organization which for almost a century and a half has withstood every adversity and challenge, and is as effective today in governing a worldwide membership of [millions] as it was 145 years ago.
“ . . . Seated in this hall today are those from North, Central, and South America; from the British Isles and Africa; from the nations of Europe; from the islands and continents of the Pacific; and from the ancient lands of Asia. You who have come from far and near, you are the flowering of the vision of Joseph Smith, the prophet of God. He was indeed a mighty seer, who saw this day and greater days yet to come as the work of the Lord moves over the earth. . . .
“We do not worship the Prophet. We worship God our Eternal Father and the risen Lord Jesus Christ. But we acknowledge him, we proclaim him, we respect him, we reverence him as an instrument in the hands of the Almighty in restoring to the earth the ancient truths of the divine gospel, together with the priesthood through which the authority of God is exercised in the affairs of his church and for the blessing of his people.”6
The Prophet Joseph Smith’s Own Observations
“It is my meditation all the day and more than my meat and drink to know how I shall make the Saints of God to comprehend the visions that roll like an overflowing surge before my mind. O how I wo[u]ld delight to bring before you things which you never thought of, but poverty and the cares of the world prevent. But I am glad I have the privilege of communicating to you some things which if grasped closely will be a help to you when the clouds are gathering and the storms are ready to burst upon you like peals of thunder. Lay hold of these things and let not your knees tremble, nor hearts faint.”7
“Would to God, brethren, I could tell you who I am! Would to God I could tell you what I know! But you would call it blasphemy, and there are men upon this stand who would want to take my life . . . If the Church knew all the commandments, one-half they would reject through prejudice and ignorance . . . When God offers a blessing, or knowledge to a man, and he refuses to receive it, he will be damned.”8
Notes:
1. In Conference Report, October 1983; also Ensign, November 1983, 54.
2. Discourses of Brigham Young, 108.
3. A History of Illinois, 2:217, 221–223.
4. Figures of the Past, 376.
5. Doctrines of Salvation, 1:189-190.
6. In Conference Report, Apr. 1977, 95–96.
7. In S.H. Faulring (Ed)., The Diaries and Journals of Joseph Smith: An American Prophet’s Record, 366-367.
8. Quoted in Orson F. Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball, 322–323.