Part 3

On one occasion after His resurrection, the apostles asked the Savior this question: "'Wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?' And He said unto them, it is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power." (Acts i:7.) This indicates plainly the establishment of God's kingdom at a future period of time. We may connect with these inspired sayings of the Savior the prophecy of Daniel, recorded in the second chapter of his prophetic utterances. By reading from the second chapter of his book we learn that the king of Babylon had received a dream which, having gone from his mind, he demanded to know of the wise men; and not only the interpretation, but the dream itself. They, of course, failed. Daniel, the prophet, was called in, and in the spirit of a true prophet and Saint of God acknowledged that it was not in man to reveal such things, "But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the King Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days." The image seen in the dream is next described by Daniel as being in form like a man, with a head of fine gold, his breast and arms of silver, his belly and thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. The interpretation made known that this image represented the kingdoms of the world, beginning with Babylon, the head of gold; next came the Medio-Persian, under Alexander the Great: then arose the Roman empire, out of which grew the modern kingdoms of Europe, represented by the feet and toes. Here comes the important feature of the prophecy which was to take place in the "latter days," of which the prophet Daniel says, "And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever."

The language of this prophecy shows: first, that unlike the preceding kingdoms, this last named kingdom was to be set up by God Himself, in other words, the kingdom of God, not of man. Second, unlike the other kingdoms, it should never be destroyed. Third, it should not, like the kingdoms of men, pass from one people to another, but should not be left to other people. Fourth, that it should have power to break in pieces and consume all other kingdoms.

The terms of this prophecy, and the history of God's dealings with men since it was uttered, are such that no thoughtful, well-informed man can suppose that this event took place at the first coming and ministry of the Savior, for the following reasons: first, the kingdoms represented by the toes and feet, contemporary with which the kingdom of God was to be set up, did not exist; the Roman empire, symbolized by the legs of iron, was that part of the image then extant. Second, the kingdom spoken of by Daniel was not to be left to other people, whereas the Savior Himself said to the disciples, as recorded in Matthew xxi:43, "Therefore say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to the nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." To this the testimony of Paul agrees in Acts xiii:46. "Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles."

These statements taken together, as well as many other conditions referred to, prove clearly that the kingdom spoken of by Daniel was not established in the days of our Savior. We are thus forced to the admission that if the kingdom of God has not come in this age, it is yet to come. There are, however, many other prophecies relating to the restoration of the last days, which show not merely that a restoration has been predicted, but that the Gospel veritably has been restored to man in this dispensation, with all the gifts and blessings which characterized the same in the days of the Messiah; and more, that a people are being prepared for the coming and reign of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

We have proved from the Bible prophecies that a restoration of the Gospel in its fullness, by modern revelation, would take place in the last days. We now desire to show that this restoration has taken place, and that Joseph Smith, the Prophet, was the man through whom God has established anew His Church upon the earth, after the ancient pattern, with apostles, prophets, gifts and blessings, visions and revelations.

Joseph Smith announced to the world that he had received the visitation of heavenly messengers, also that they conferred upon him authority to speak and officiate in the name of the Lord with the same power and authority received and exercised by John the Baptist and the apostle Peter in ancient times.

Now, the prophecies quoted here could not be verified unless some one should come to the world bearing just such a testimony as that borne by Joseph Smith.

Furthermore, when we ask Catholic and Protestant ministers if an angel has come to any of them with the everlasting Gospel, they answer in the negative, and deride the idea of new revelation. Ask them if Elijah the Prophet has come to them, to plant in the hearts of the children the promise made to the fathers. They say no. Has the messenger spoken of by Malachi come to you and taught you how to build a temple to the Lord, that He may "suddenly come to His temple?" The very question itself is treated with utter astonishment, and the man who asks it is regarded as being erratic. We must therefore turn from sects having forms of godliness "but denying the power thereof," to other sources to find some one who has received, or shall receive, the revelations of the Almighty in the last days.

One thing is certain, if the claims of the Latter-day Saints are not true, then some one must come in the future with just such claims. We ask the question, will the world be any better prepared to receive a message of this character in the future than it is today? Certainly the hearts of the people are not being prepared for such testmonies by the influence and teachings of modern ministers. Come, dear readers, let us reason together; let us divest our minds of all prejudice. "Prove all things, hold fast that which is good," and ask the question, what constitutes complete evidence that a man is a prophet of God?

To be a reliable witness in a human court, an individual must be a person of veracity, whose honor cannot be impeached. Such a man was Joseph Smith, the Prophet. His parents were hard-working farmers. They had a standing in the community of virtue, honesty, industry and sincerity in religious devotion, unexcelled by any. His forefathers were among the early founders of New England, who came from the "mother country" to enjoy the greater liberty of worshiping God without molestation and according to the dictates of conscience. His progenitors were soldiers of the Revolution. They offered their lives freely upon the altar of liberty, for the freedom of the American colonies and their descendants for all generations to come. From such a line of ancestors came the Prophet Joseph Smith. If they were not popular, nor great, nor affluent, in the eyes of the world, neither were the immediate ancestry of Jesus and His apostles. If Joseph was poor and earned his bread by the sweat of his brow, so did most all of the prophets since the world began. He enjoyed the reputation, among those who knew him best, in every state in which he lived throughout life, of being an honest, industrious, virtuous, patriotic man. On trumped-up charges by the enemies of truth, he was arrested and tried thirty-nine times in courts not conducted by men of his own faith, and thirty-nine times he was honorably acquitted. The last time he was arrested, his enemies said, "If the law cannot reach him, powder and lead shall." How like the experience of Jesus before Pilate! Honorably acquitted by the judges, they cried out, "Let His blood be upon us and our children!" And so it has been; the same is true of those who shed the blood of the Prophet and Patriarch in these last days.

In view of the unpopularity of believing in angels and revelations in this age, what purpose could a man have in view, to make such a declaration, unless it was true? Joseph Smith gained no popularity or honors of men by it; he made no wealth of a worldly character by such a course. On the other hand, he suffered ignominy, scorn, and persecution in almost every form, including hunger, fatigue, exile, imprisonment and death at the hands of assassins. If it could be urged with the least propriety that when he announced his first vision he was so young--only about fifteen years of age (not much older than Samuel the prophet when God called him)--that he did not realize the terrible consequences of such a testimony, he certainly realized in a very short time and had every opportunity to correct his assertions had they been false.

Human nature is not such as to maintain known errors with such unwavering integrity and consistency against the bitter opposition of the world from boyhood to the grave. Yet with all his increasing trials and persecutions, which rolled upon him all his life like the angry waves of the ocean, driven by the winds against the peaceful shore, he never faltered. His testimony never wavered. He testified that he saw God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, and received of the ministrations of John the Baptist, Peter, James and John, Elijah and other prophets who lived in bygone ages. With an understanding of these circumstances and a knowledge of his character, the charge of fraud and dishonesty cannot be laid against him. If so, every prophet since the world began can be counted a dishonest man.

The question which naturally follows in this place is: Could Joseph Smith be mistaken? In answer we say: He was not a religious zealot. He was a young man of a practical turn of mind. While not a skeptic, he was reasonable, and thought that men professing to be the servants of the Lord should give proof of their calling similar to that given by the ancient prophets. If they had the true Gospel, with the gifts of the Holy Ghost, they should not be full of contradictions on doctrine, at least. This feature shows that Joseph was of a disposition not easily deluded by the unfounded theories of men. He belonged to no church, and like the ancient apostles, was free from preconceived dogmas and theories. He had no system to bolster up nor pet theory to maintain. His mind was free and of an order most likely to be selected for the great work which the Lord assigned him.

The circumstances which led to Joseph Smith's prayer offered in the grove near Palmyra, New York, in the spring of 1820, were these: A great religious revival had been in progress. He attended. It consisted of people who were Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, etc., represented in the pulpit by their respective ministers. When a convert joined the Baptists the other ministers would say: "This is the way; walk ye in it." And another: "This is right; follow this way." Yet their doctrines were in conflict. He could get no light from them. In this frame of mind he commenced to read the Scriptures. He came to the first chapter of James, fifth and sixth verses. This reads as follows: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering, for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. For, let not that man think that he shall receive anything from the Lord." Joseph believed the promise. He put it to the test. He knelt in a grove of timber, and asked God which denomination was right. While thus engaged an unseen power seized him, tied his tongue, as it were, and apparently would have destroyed his life. Here are Joseph's words, quoted from the "Pearl of Great Price," page 59: "Just at this moment of great alarm I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spoke unto me, calling me by name, and said (pointing to the other), 'This is my beloved Son, Hear Him.' In answer to my question, which of the sects were right, He answered that none of them were, and I was forbidden of the Lord to join any of them."

This prayer was offered by an honest boy, seeking after truth, unable to get the whole truth from men. Would the Lord suffer such a prayer to go unanswered, or suffer this boy to be deceived by Satan? All reason, all Scripture answers, no. "Ask and ye shall receive; knock and it shall be opened unto you." If a son ask his father for bread "will he give him a stone?" "If he ask for fish will he give him a serpent?" The Savior answers, no. If it is argued that Joseph was alone and no one else present to corroborate his testimony, we have two answers: One is that those determined to reject such revelations will deny the veracity of two or three men as readily as the assertion of one; the other is that those who believe the Bible, to be consistent, if they doubt the testimony of Joseph because he was alone, must also doubt the testimony of Moses, who was alone when God spoke to him from the burning bush, and again when he stood in His presence on the mount and received the Ten Commandments. Will they doubt that Isaiah saw the Lord in the days of King Uzziah? (Isa. vi.). Because Stephen alone saw God and His Son in the last moments of His life, is his testimony false? Paul saw the Savior, but the men who were with him saw Him not. Yet the Christian world believes that Paul saw the Lord, even though other men in the presence of Paul did not see him.

While Joseph was alone on the occasion above related, he was not alone in all the manifestations which the Lord gave him. We have other honest witnesses who corroborate the testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and their testimony has not been impeached. They were men of good repute. On the 5th day of May, 1829, John the Baptist appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, laid his hands upon their heads and conferred upon them the Aaronic Priesthood, which holds authority to preach the principles of the Gospel and baptize in water for the remission of sins, but not authority to administer in the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. This Aaronic Priesthood was held by John the Baptist, by Philip, who baptized the Samaritans, and by others in the times of the apostles. Subsequent to this Peter, James and John presented themselves to the same men, Joseph and Oliver, conferring upon them the holy apostleship, which included authority to organize the Church in its fullness and to open the door of the Gospel to all nations.

Passing over the many remarkable manifestations given to the Prophet and others, we will conclude this part of the subject by reference to the statements of the three witnesses respecting the Book of Mormon. Their testimony will be found in the title pages of every copy of that sacred volume, signed with their names--Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and Martin Harris. They assert that an angel appeared before them, held in his hands the metallic plates, giving an account of the ancient inhabitants of America; their origin, history and destiny; the dealings of God with them; and the fullness of the Gospel as taught by the Savior and ancient prophets on this land, from which sacred plates the Book of Mormon is translated into English. The witnesses saw and handled the plates, and gave their solemn testimony to the world. Under all circumstances the witnesses maintained their testimony to the end in private and public; to all who came to ask of them, they told the same unchanging story. Another feature of this evidence of these three witnesses is this: In the course of time they transgressed the rules and regulations of the Church, and of necessity had to be excommunicated. Having thus fallen away from their adherence to the Church, from their association and fellowship with the Prophet Joseph Smith, they were placed in a condition where every inducement was presented them to deny their testimony and in this way frustrate the scheme, if it had been false. If such a procedure had been possible they could thereby gain the fellowship and applause of the world for exposing to ridicule and shame the man who came to the world with a New Dispensation. But they did not do this. Being outside the pale of the Church, may they not be called truly disinterested witnesses, witnesses stronger in that sense than can be produced to substantiate the divinity of ancient Jewish Scriptures?

The writer once sat in the presence of David Whitmer and can testify from personal contact with him that he was firm and unshaken in the testimony which he bore to the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon. In David Whitmer's dying hours, when enemies of this work may have had some hopes of his recanting, he asked the leading men of Richmond, Mo., if they could honestly give an affidavit before an officer that, from their acquaintance and dealings with him, he was a man of honesty and truth. This they did, and published it. They were men not of Mr. Whitmer's religious views. With that affidavit signed by about twelve leading business men of the town, and the testimony of his physician that his mind was perfectly sound, he published again to the world his testimony that he had seen the angel, had handled the plates, and that the Book of Mormon was the divinely translated record.

In connection with the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, a remarkable prophecy of Isaiah has been strikingly verified: "And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is seated which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed: and the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned." (Isaiah xxix:11, 12.) When Joseph obtained the plates he discovered that a portion of them were sealed and learned from the angel that the time had not come to publish that part of the volume, but from the unsealed plates he copied some characters and sent them by Martin Harris to a learned linguist in New York--Prof. Anthon. The learned man examined them and gave Mr. Harris a certificate testifying that they were true characters of Hebrew and reformed Egyptian. Before leaving, the learned man asked Mr. Harris to bring him the plates and he would translate them. Mr. Harris answered that he was forbidden to do that, and also that a portion of the plates were sealed. He replied, "I cannot read a sealed book," and asked where Joseph Smith obtained them. When answered that an angel revealed them, he asked to see the certificate he had given of their genuineness. It was handed him and he tore it up in a rage, saying, "Angels do not appear nowadays." The words of the book, not the book itself, were delivered to the learned man, as Isaiah said they would be. He said he could not read a sealed book, as Isaiah said he would say. The book itself was delivered to Joseph, the unlettered youth, and in his humility he said, I am not learned; but God gave the gift of translation, that it should be done; not by the wisdom and learning of men, but by the power of God.

Other Bible prophecies might be quoted referring to the Book of Mormon, but our purpose at present is not to treat upon that sacred record, but incidentally to show that its coming forth furnishes strong evidence that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God. How it would be possible for an unsophisticated youth to devise a scheme that would answer in its workings so minutely the details of ancient prophecy, unless God inspired him, should require far more credulity to believe than it would that he was sent of God, and thus attribute to the Almighty the honor for the great work.

With this array of corroborating witnesses, and the practical character of Joseph Smith, we do not see the possibility of his being mistaken any more than were Paul, Stephen, Moses, Peter, James and John and all the ancient prophets. It should be remembered that God has His own way and does not show Himself openly to all the people, but to chosen witnesses. "Him God raised up the third day, and showed Him openly, not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before God." (Acts x:40, 41.)

We come now to another phase of evidence that the Gospel has been restored, namely, that the organization of the Church as established by the Prophet Joseph Smith, and also the doctrines taught by him, are in perfect accord with the teachings of the Bible. The proof of this is given in other chapters of this volume. The evidence there given of the divine mission of Joseph Smith is all the stronger when we take into consideration the fact that for seventeen centuries learned men have been organizing churches and teaching what they esteemed to be the essentials of salvation, without being able from the fragmentary teachings of the apostles to organize a church with apostles, prophets, seventies, etc. The force of this condition is also enhanced when we recall that each generation of reformers has possessed the advantages arising from the experience and conclusions of each generation preceding them. Neither has been able to unite upon the principles essential for mankind to obey in order to secure salvation.

Joseph Smith presents to the world a system which is a monument of inspiration, both as to the scriptural evidence that the organization is divine and in the fact that the practical workings thereof are perfect. He does not stop at this. He says to his followers that on condition of their acceptance of faith in God and in His Son, Jesus Christ, repentance from all sin, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, and the laying on of hands by Elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, they shall receive the Holy Ghost, and that the fruits thereof are the same as in olden times; they shall prophesy, speak in tongues, have dreams, visions, revelations, healings and miracles. There are in the Church today 310,000 souls. Of this number many are children, but the thousands who have arrived at the years of accountability have put the promise to the test, and the universal testimony of these people is that they have received knowledge of God for themselves. The tens of thousands, also, who have passed from life, since the date of the organization of the Church (1830), received the same testimony.

During the troubles of the Saints in Illinois, judge Stephen A. Douglas was an acquaintance of Joseph Smith and his people. He knew the injustice heaped upon them by his personal acquaintance with the facts. While in the presence of judge Douglas and others, the judge requested the Prophet to give him a history of the persecutions in Missouri, which he did. While addressing the judge the Prophet said: "Judge, you will aspire to the presidency of the United States; and if you ever turn your hand against me or the Latter-day Saints, you will feel the weight of the hand of the Almighty upon you; and you will live to see and know that I have testified the truth to you; for the conversation of this day will stick to you through life." (_Deseret News_, Sept. 24th, 1856.)