When the Savior came to live among the inhabitants of the earth, He taught them the fullness of His gospel. As time passed after His crucifixion, those who held the priesthood necessary to conduct His church in His absence were martyred. The precious truths of the gospel became corrupted or were lost entirely.
Heavenly Father wouldn’t allow the population of the world to continue living in ignorance of the fullness of the gospel of truth. So He used righteous people who loved Him to start laying the foundation for restoring these truths. Last week’s post focused on many of these acts of God through the hands of men. All of these culminated in the early 19th century in the United States of America.
At this time and in this place, the various religions were highly active in attempting to convert the populations of the United States to their faith. The various communities became divided between differing religions. The believers of each religion would often find themselves contending with believers of another religion. It was in this atmosphere that a young boy named Joseph Smith, Jr., found himself torn with indecision.
Joseph Smith, Jr., was born to parents that loved their Heavenly Father and taught him that He should as well. This family honored the Holy Bible, knowing it to be a precious gift of God. Joseph was no exception. He constantly searched the pages of this holy writ. Young Joseph and his family wanted to please God and live as He would have them live.
So, when Joseph heard the various religions contending with each other and sharing differing opinions about the same scriptures, he became very distraught. He was certain they couldn’t all be right. In fact, only one of them could be. But how was he to know which one? He spent hours, days, weeks, pondering upon this very matter. He knew this was vitally important to the salvation of his soul.
While he was pondering upon this matter, Joseph was studying the scriptures. He came upon a verse that struck him to the core. It seemed to speak to his very need. This verse, found in James 1:5, read, “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.”
Joseph certainly lacked wisdom. So why shouldn’t he ask of God? He spent some time pondering upon this scripture and finally determined to do just as it suggested. He would ask of God. So he determined to retire to a grove of trees to ask this most important question. And he did just that.
Lucifer, the father of lies, knew what was about to happen, and he was determined to prevent it. So it was that Lucifer exercised every ounce of power he had to seize Joseph and try to stop him. The power of Lucifer and his wicked hosts is very real, and Joseph had to face it. But the testimony of Joseph’s parents, and the many hours he had devoted to studying the scriptures and learning of God, had prepared Joseph to place his trust in Him. So Joseph prayed for help. And he got it.
The Heavens opened. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared unto Joseph. And Lucifer departed. It was here, in this sacred grove, that Joseph learned the truth about God. It was here that he learned that, though the religions of the world contained many precious truths, none of them contained the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And it was here that he learned he would play an important role in restoring the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
You may suppose this story can’t be true because miracles no longer happen. Yet I know that if you search your heart, you will find you hope they do happen. You hope they will happen for you. Hope is the beginning of faith. So let your hope grow into faith. Let your hope that miracles happen compel you to ask God if miracles do happen. Let yourself hope that God loves us enough that He would answer a prayer of faith from a young boy asking which church is true. You will find that God will answer you and tell you He does still work in miracles, and He did give a miracle to Joseph Smith and answered his prayer.
You may suppose this story can’t possibly be true because Joseph was merely a teenage boy. Certainly Heavenly Father wouldn’t give a vision to a mere boy, let alone entrust this important mission to a mere boy. Yet if you search the scriptures you will find evidence that God does just that. Study the life of Samuel the prophet who was called in the temple when he was merely a boy. Study the life of Joseph, who had visions in his youth that caused his brothers to hate him and sell him into Egypt. The scriptures contain records of God working through youth to bring about His works.
I know that Joseph received the visions of which he spoke. He truly saw God the Eternal Father and His Son, Jesus the Christ. He truly heard from the mouth of Jesus the Gospel Head that none of the churches of the time contained His gospel. And Joseph was truly called to restore the fullness of the gospel in these the latter days.
That gospel was restored. The priesthood keys necessary for revelation and the guidance of the true church were restored. The truth about the nature and characteristics of God were restored. And we live in a world where these truths will never again be removed from the earth, for God Himself has promised it.
Remember that the words of Isaiah, Malachi, John the Beloved, and many other ancient prophets testified of these things. In the Book of Mormon, Nephi and many of the prophets of ancient America testified of these things. And in our time, Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and many other prophets all the way down to Thomas S. Monson, have testified of these things. The gospel has been restored.
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