(Part eleven of a
series compiled by Dennis B. Horne)
President
Smith was the grandson of Hyrum Smith, brother to the Prophet Joseph Smith. He
was and still is considered one of the great expounders of doctrine and
interpreters of the scriptures in this dispensation. He became President of the
Church with the death of President David O. McKay. He felt a special
responsibility and therefore took pleasure in teaching about his forebears and
the mission they performed as church leaders. His words reflect that
obligation:
I want to
say to all those who are listening at this particular time that I have a
testimony that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God, and is, for his work has not
ceased, for a righteous man's work does not cease: Joseph Smith was a righteous
man when he died; I know that he was called, appointed by our Father in heaven;
that he received revelation and guidance from the Son of God that would be of
benefit and a blessing to all men if they would receive it.
Now in what
I have to say I wish to direct my remarks to those who are not members of the
Church, if there are any such listening. I want them to know that I believe
this sincerely and absolutely. That is my faith. I think I can say safely it is
my knowledge, by the gift of God, that Joseph Smith in the year 1820 did see
the Father and the Son; that the Father introduced his Son; that the Son spoke
to him, asked him what he wanted to know, and gave him counsel; told him what
to do, with the promise that eventually other light would come and the fulness
of the gospel, which was not then upon the face of the earth, would be restored.
This is
either true or false. To me it cannot be false. To you who sit here looking at
me it cannot be false. It is just as true as it is that the sun shines. You
know it, and I know it. And every soul upon the face of the earth who has a
desire to know it has the privilege for every soul that will humble himself,
and in the depths of humility and faith, with a contrite spirit, go before the
Lord, will receive that knowledge just as surely as he lives, so that he also
may know that this story is true.
I am
just as firmly convinced that this Book of Mormon from which I have read is the
word of God and was revealed, as Joseph Smith declared it was revealed, as I am
that I stand here looking into your faces. Every soul on the face of the earth
who has intelligence enough to understand may know that truth. How can he know
it? All he has to do is to follow the formula that was given by the Lord
himself when he declared to the Jews that they who would do the will of his
Father should know of the doctrine, whether it was of God or whether he spoke
of himself. My witness to all the world is that this book is true. I have read
it many, many times. I have not read it enough. It still contains truths that I
still may seek and find, for I have not mastered it, but I know it is true.
I know that
the testimony of these witnesses recorded in each copy of the Book of Mormon is
true, that they stood in the presence of an angel of God who declared unto them
that the record as it was translated was correct, that their testimony that God
spoke to them from the heavens calling upon them to bear witness of that fact
is true, and there is not a soul who cannot receive that testimony if he
desires to receive it, by reading this book prayerfully and faithfully, with a
desire to know the truth as Moroni has declared by revelation. He shall know
the truth regarding the restoration of this scripture given to the ancient
inhabitants of this continent.
Now
this declaration or testimony that I have given is vital to every living soul,
for I want to say that if a man unto whom the knowledge of this record comes,
and unto whom the testimony has been given that Joseph Smith saw the Father and
the Son, and that the gospel was restored by commandment of God and the coming
of angels, rejects that testimony and will not follow it through, he will have
to face it before the judgment seat of God and give answer why he refused to
harken—so it is a vital message to every soul.
Every man
who rejects this record, who rejects the testimony of Joseph Smith, who
declares him to be a false prophet and this book a fraud, who has had this
testimony which it contains given unto him, will stand before the judgment seat
of God condemned, because the truth was laid before him. He had the opportunity
to hear and receive, and in rejecting it he has placed himself in disfavor with
his Father in heaven.
I feel humble,
and also I feel the loss of our beloved President, just as you who are
assembled here feel that loss. With the help of the Lord, I shall bear my
testimony. I am very grateful to the Lord for the knowledge that I have of the
truth of this divine work. I was baptized when I was eight years old. It was
impressed upon me at that time that through baptism I had received the
remission of sins and stood pure, clean, before the Lord. I had a sister who
was very kind, as all my sisters were, who impressed upon my mind the need of
keeping myself unspotted from the world. Her teachings to me the day I was
baptized have stayed with me all the days of my life, and I honor her memory.
I
have a perfect knowledge of the divine mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith. There
is no doubt in my mind that the Lord raised him up and gave him revelation,
commandment, opened the heavens to him, and called upon him to stand at the
head of this glorious dispensation. I am just as satisfied in my mind that in
his youth when he went out to pray he beheld the actual presence, stood in the
actual presence, of God the Father and his son, Jesus Christ; in my mind there
is no doubt; I know this to be true. I know that he received later the
visitations from Moroni, the Aaronic Priesthood under the hands of John the
Baptist, the Melchizedek Priesthood under the hands of Peter, James, and John,
and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized on the
sixth day of April 1830 by divine command. These things I know. The Lord has
revealed them to me. . . .
I wish to
bear testimony to the restoration of the gospel, to the mission of our
Redeemer, to the call of the Prophet Joseph Smith and the establishment of this
work in the dispensation in which we live, known as the Dispensation of the
Fulness of Times. I know absolutely that Jesus Christ is the only Begotten Son
of God, the Redeemer of the world, the Savior of men insofar as they will
repent of their sins and accept the gospel. Through his death he redeemed all
men and took upon him that sacrifice which would relieve us of our sins that we
may not answer for them if we will accept him and be true and faithful to his
teachings.
I am just as fully satisfied, because I know, that the father and the Son
appeared to Joseph Smith and revealed to him the great truth which had been
lost because of the wickedness of the world; that they are separate distinct
Personages; that the father and the Son, together with the Holy Ghost,
constitute the Godhead, the great ruling power of the universe; that Jesus Christ
volunteered to come into this world to redeem it; that John the Baptist came to
the Prophet, as did Moroni before him, and Peter, James, and John later, to
give authority and to usher in the kingdom of God anew in this dispensation in
which we live, because men had turned away from the truth. Through darkness
which covered the earth they had lost the knowledge of God; they had
transgressed the laws and changed the ordinances; and instead of teaching the
simple truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ, they taught the commandments of
men just as the Lord Jesus Christ declared to the Prophet Joseph Smith.
Interested readers desiring to read more of Joseph
Fielding Smith’s teachings may desire to peruse his lengthy piece in the April
1920 Improvement Era, “Origin of
the First Vision.”
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