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Chapter 47: “Praise to the Man”: Latter-day Prophets Bear Witness of the Prophet Joseph Smith,
Related Scriptures: 2 Nephi 3:6–19;
27:6–26;
3 Nephi 21:9–11;
D&C 1:17;
5:9–10;
21:1–6
Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, (2007),541–57
“The Prophet Joseph Smith … was called of God, by the voice of God
Himself, to open up the dispensation of the Gospel to the world for the
last time.” (Joseph F. Smith)
From the Life of Joseph Smith
Following the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother
Hyrum, the members of the Quorum of the Twelve who had been on
missionary journeys in the United States returned as quickly as
possible to Nauvoo. The members of the Twelve called a meeting of the
Saints for August 8, 1844, at which Brigham Young, the President of the
Quorum of the Twelve, spoke. As he did so, an extraordinary event
occurred that was witnessed by many Saints.
President Young was
miraculously made to appear and sound like Joseph Smith. “If Joseph had
risen from the dead and again spoken in their hearing,” George Q.
Cannon recalled, “the effect could not have been more startling than it
was to many present at that meeting. It was the voice of Joseph
himself; and not only was it the voice of Joseph which was heard; but
it seemed in the eyes of the people as though it was the very person of
Joseph which stood before them. A more wonderful and miraculous event
than was wrought that day in the presence of that congregation we never
heard of. The Lord gave His people a testimony that left no room for
doubt as to who was the man He had chosen to lead them.”
At the conclusion of this meeting, the Saints voted to have the
Twelve preside over them. A little over three years later, in December
1847, the First Presidency was again organized, with Brigham Young
sustained as the President of the Church.
Since the time of Brigham Young, each of the prophets who has
presided over the Church has testified of the remarkable mission of the
Prophet Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith was chosen in the Council in Heaven
to be the great prophet and seer of the latter days. His mission was so
important that it was foretold by ancient prophets, including the Old
Testament prophet Joseph, who was sold into Egypt. Joseph of Egypt was
himself a seer, and he prophesied at length about Joseph Smith:
“A seer shall the Lord my God raise up, who shall be a choice seer
unto the fruit of my loins. … And his name shall be called after me;
and it shall be after the name of his father. And he shall be like unto
me; for the thing, which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand, by the
power of the Lord shall bring my people unto salvation” (
2 Nephi 3:6, 15; see also
2 Nephi 3:6–22).
In December 1834, Joseph Smith Sr. gave the Prophet Joseph a
blessing, confirming that he was the seer of whom Joseph of old had
prophesied: “I bless thee with the blessings of thy fathers Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob; and even the blessings of thy father Joseph, the son
of Jacob. Behold, he looked after his posterity in the last days … ; he
sought diligently to know from whence the son should come who should
bring forth the word of the Lord, by which they might be enlightened
and brought back to the true fold, and his eyes beheld thee, my son;
his heart rejoiced and his soul was satisfied, and he said, … ‘From
among my seed, scattered with the Gentiles, shall a choice seer arise …
, whose heart shall meditate great wisdom, whose intelligence shall
circumscribe and comprehend the deep things of God, and whose mouth
shall utter the law of the just.’ … Thou shalt hold the keys of this
ministry, even the presidency of this church, both in time and in
eternity.”
Through Joseph Smith, the choice seer of the latter days, the
doctrines and saving ordinances of the gospel were revealed, and the
true Church of Jesus Christ was once again established on the earth.
The testimonies of ancient and modern prophets join together to
proclaim that Joseph Smith was the instrument through whom God restored
the fulness of the gospel for the blessing of “the whole human family,
from eternity to eternity.”
Testimonies of Latter-day Prophets
Joseph Smith was foreordained to his prophetic calling.
President Brigham Young: “It was decreed in the councils of
eternity, long before the foundations of the earth were laid, that
[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
fullness of the keys and power of the Priesthood of the Son of God. The
Lord had his eye 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. [Joseph Smith] was foreordained in
eternity to preside over this last dispensation.”
President Joseph Fielding Smith: “Joseph Smith was chosen to
stand at the head of the work of the Lord in the last days, and his
work was assigned to him through the fore-knowledge of our Eternal
Father in the eternities before he was born. He came in the spirit of
Elias to prepare the way for the coming of our Lord. No prophet since
the days of Adam, save, of course, our Redeemer, has been given a
greater mission.”
President Ezra Taft Benson: “To get a vision of the magnitude
of the Prophet’s earthly mission we must view it in the light of
eternity. He was among ‘the noble and great ones’ whom Abraham
described as follows:
“ ‘Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that
were organized before the world was; and among all these there were
many of the noble and great ones; and God saw these souls that they
were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will
make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw
that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of
them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born.’ (
Abraham 3:22–23.)
“So it was with Joseph Smith. He too was there. He too sat in
council with the noble and great ones. Occupying a prominent place of
honor and distinction he unquestionably helped in the planning and
execution of the great work of the Lord to ‘bring to pass the
immortality and eternal life of man,’ the salvation of all our Father’s
children [
Moses 1:39].
His mission had had, and was to have, impact on all who had come to
earth; all who then dwelt on earth and the millions yet unborn. …
“The Prophet Joseph Smith was not only ‘one of the noble and great
ones,’ but he gave and continues to give attention to important matters
here on the earth even today from the realms above. For in the eyes of
the Lord … it is all one great eternal program in which the Prophet
Joseph plays an important role—all through the eternal priesthood and
authority of God.”
Joseph Smith’s First Vision is a fundamental part of our individual testimonies.
President Joseph F. Smith: “The greatest event that has ever
occurred in the world since the resurrection of the Son of God from the
tomb, and his ascension on high, was the coming of the Father and of
the Son to that boy Joseph Smith, to prepare the way for the laying of
the foundation of [God’s] kingdom—not the kingdom of man—never more to
cease nor to be overturned.
“Having accepted this truth, I find it easy to accept of every other
truth that he enunciated and declared during his mission … in the
world. He never taught a doctrine that was not true. He never practiced
a doctrine that he was not commanded to practice. He never advocated
error. He was not deceived. He saw; he heard; he did as he was
commanded to do; and, therefore, God is responsible for the work
accomplished by Joseph Smith—not Joseph Smith. The Lord is responsible
for it, and not man.”
President Heber J. Grant: “Either Joseph Smith did see God and
did converse with Him, and God Himself did introduce Jesus Christ to
the boy Joseph Smith, and Jesus Christ did tell Joseph Smith that he
would be the instrument in the hands of God of establishing again upon
the earth the true Gospel of Jesus Christ—or Mormonism, so-called, is a
myth. And Mormonism is not a myth! It is the power of God unto
salvation; it is the Church of Jesus Christ, established under His
direction, and all the disbelief of the world cannot change the
fundamental facts connected with the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints.”
President Howard W. Hunter: “I am grateful for my membership
in the Church; and my testimony of its divinity hinges upon the simple
story of the lad under the trees kneeling and receiving heavenly
visitors—not one God, but two separate, individual personages, the
Father and the Son, revealing again to the earth the personages of the
Godhead. My faith and testimony hinge upon this simple story, for if it
is not true, Mormonism falls. If it is true—and I bear witness that it
is—it is one of the greatest single events in all history.”
President David O. McKay: “The appearing of the Father and the
Son to Joseph Smith is the foundation of this Church. Therein lies the
secret of its strength and vitality. This is true, and I bear witness
to it. That one revelation answers all the queries of science regarding
God and His divine personality. Don’t you see what that means? What God
is, is answered. His relation to His children is clear. His interest in
humanity through authority delegated to man is apparent. The future of
the work is assured. These and other glorious truths are clarified by
that glorious First Vision.”
President Ezra Taft Benson: “The First Vision of the Prophet
Joseph Smith is bedrock theology to the Church. The adversary knows
this and has attacked Joseph Smith’s credibility from the day he
announced the visitation of the Father and the Son. … You should always
bear testimony to the truth of the First Vision. Joseph Smith did see
the Father and the Son. They conversed with him as he said they did. It
is the most glorious event since the resurrection of our Lord. Any
leader who, without reservation, cannot declare his testimony that God
and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith can never be a true leader, a
true shepherd. If we do not accept this truth, … if we have not
received a witness about this great revelation, we cannot inspire faith
in those whom we lead.”
President George Albert Smith: “When the boy prophet, in the
woods of Palmyra, saw the Father and the Son, and realized that they
were indeed personages, that they could hear and reply to what he said,
it began a new era in this world, and laid a foundation for the faith
of the children of men. They could now pray to our Father in heaven and
realize that he could hear and answer their prayers, that there was a
connection between the heavens and the earth.”
The Prophet Joseph Smith was taught by God and angels.
President John Taylor: “Who was Joseph Smith? The Book of
Mormon tells us he was of the seed of Joseph that was sold into Egypt,
and hence he was selected as Abraham was to fulfil a work upon the
earth. God chose this young man. He was ignorant of letters as the
world has it, but the most profoundly learned and intelligent man that
I ever met in my life, and I have traveled hundreds of thousands of
miles, been on different continents and mingled among all classes and
creeds of people, yet I have never met a man so intelligent as he was.
And where did he get his intelligence from? Not from books; not from
the logic or science or philosophy of the day, but he obtained it
through the revelations of God made known to him through the medium of
the everlasting gospel.”
President Wilford Woodruff: “I have never read anywhere, that
I know of, of the same power manifested in any dispensation to the
children of men, which was manifested to the Prophet of God in the
organization of this Church, when the Father and the Son both appeared
to the Prophet Joseph in answer to his prayer, and when the Father
said, ‘This is My Beloved Son; behold Him; hear ye Him.’ This was an
important revelation, which has never been manifested in the same
manner in any dispensation of the world, that God has given concerning
His work. So in its organization, the Prophet of God was administered
to by the angels of heaven. They were his teachers, they were his
instructors, and all that he did, and all that he performed from the
commencement, from that day to the day of his martyrdom, was by the
revelation of Jesus Christ.”
President Lorenzo Snow: “Joseph Smith, whom God chose to
establish this work, was poor and uneducated, and belonged to no
popular denomination of Christians. He was a mere boy, honest, full of
integrity. … Like Moses he felt incompetent and unqualified for the
task, to stand forth as a religious reformer, in a position the most
unpopular, to battle against opinions and creeds which had stood for
ages, having had the sanction of men, the most profound in theological
obedience; but God had called him to deliver the poor and
honest-hearted of all nations from their spiritual and temporal
thraldom [bondage]. And God promised him that whosoever should receive
and obey his message, and whosoever would receive baptism for remission
of sins, with honesty of purpose, should receive divine manifestations,
should receive the Holy Ghost, should receive the same gospel and
blessings as were promised and obtained through the gospel, as preached
by the ancient apostles, and this message, this promise, was to be in
force wherever and to whomsoever it should be carried by the Elders,
God’s authorized messengers. So said Joseph Smith, the uneducated, the
unsophisticated, the plain, simple, honest boy.”
President Harold B. Lee: “Joseph Smith, the young man not
schooled in the theologies of the day, not schooled in the high schools
of learning of his day, … [was] one who could be submissive to the
teachings and whisperings of the Spirit. Joseph Smith could not have
established this Church. He could not have brought forth the work of
the Lord, the Book of Mormon. They may scoff at the Prophet Joseph
Smith as a man. They may question how this Church began, but here the
thing stands as a monument—the Book of Mormon itself. Joseph, the man,
could not have done this, but Joseph, actuated by the power of Almighty
God, could and did perform the miraculous service of bringing forth the
kingdom out of obscurity in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.”
President David O. McKay: “It is of Joseph Smith, not only as
a great man, but as an inspired servant of the Lord that I desire to
speak on this occasion. Indeed, Joseph Smith’s greatness
consists in divine inspiration. …
“ ‘How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?’ questioned the Jews as they marveled at the wisdom of Jesus [
John 7:15].
So may we repeat the question regarding Joseph Smith, as we consider
his outstanding accomplishments during the brief span of [fourteen]
years between the organization of the Church and his martyrdom; as we
contemplate the perfect harmony of the Restored Gospel with that of the
primitive Church established by Jesus and his Apostles; as we note his
penetrating insight into principles and doctrines; and as we see the
incomparable plan and efficiency of the Church, established by the
inspiration of the Christ whose name it bears. The answer to the
question ‘Whence hath this man wisdom?’ is given in the stirring
stanza:
“Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah!
Jesus anointed that Prophet and Seer.
Blessed to open the last dispensation,
Kings shall extol him, and nations revere.”
President Howard W. Hunter: “We praise [Joseph Smith] for his
capacity to commune not only with Jehovah but also with other
personages of heaven. So many visited, gave keys, and tutored that
‘choice seer’ raised up in the latter days. … We praise Joseph Smith,
too, for his diligence and capacity to translate and to receive
hundreds of pages of revealed scripture. He was the revealing conduit.
Through him, it has been estimated, more marvelous pages of scripture
passed than through any other human in history.”
The Prophet Joseph Smith was called of God to open the final dispensation and restore the fulness of the gospel.
President Spencer W. Kimball: “I bear witness to the world
today that more than a century and a half ago the iron ceiling was
shattered; the heavens were once again opened, and since that time
revelations have been continuous.
“That new day dawned when [a] soul with passionate yearning prayed
for divine guidance. A spot of hidden solitude was found, knees were
bent, a heart was humbled, pleadings were voiced, and a light brighter
than the noonday sun illuminated the world—the curtain never to be
closed again.
“A young lad … , Joseph Smith, of incomparable faith, broke the
spell, shattered the ‘heavens of iron’ and reestablished communication.
Heaven kissed the earth, light dissipated the darkness, and God again
spoke to man, revealing anew ‘his secret unto his servants the
prophets.’ (
Amos 3:7.)
A new prophet was in the land and through him God set up his kingdom,
never to be destroyed nor left to another people—a kingdom that will
stand forever.
“The foreverness of this kingdom and the revelations which it
brought into existence are absolute realities. Never again will the sun
go down; never again will all men prove totally unworthy of
communication with their Maker. Never again will God be hidden from his
children on the earth. Revelation is here to remain.”
President Gordon B. Hinckley: “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 38. Yet in the
brief space of 20 years preceding his death, he accomplished what none
other has accomplished in an entire lifetime. He translated and
published the Book of Mormon, a volume which has since been
retranslated into scores of languages and which is accepted by millions
across the earth as the word of God. The revelations he received and
other writings he produced are likewise scripture to these millions.
The total in book pages constitutes approximately twice the volume of
the entire New Testament of the Bible, and it all came through one man
in the space of a few years. In this same period he established an
organization which … has withstood every adversity and challenge and is
as effective today in governing a worldwide membership … as it was in
governing a membership of 300 in 1830. There are those doubters who
have strained to explain this remarkable organization as the product of
the times in which he lived. That organization, I submit, was as
peculiar, as unique, and as remarkable then as it is today. It was not
the product of the times. It came as a revelation from God. …
“Within the space of that 20 years preceding his death, Joseph Smith
set in motion a program for carrying the gospel to the nations of the
earth. I marvel at the boldness with which he moved. Even in the infant
days of the Church, in times of dark adversity, men were called to
leave homes and families, to cross the sea, to proclaim the Restoration
of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Prophet’s mind, his vision
encompassed the entire earth.
“For our general conference meetings twice each year, members gather
in North, Central, and South America; in the British Isles and Africa;
in the nations of Europe; in the islands and continents of the Pacific;
and in the ancient lands of Asia. These 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.”
President Joseph F. Smith: “Whatever else the Prophet Joseph
Smith may have done or may have been, we must not forget the fact that
he was the man out of the millions of human beings that inhabited this
earth at the time—the only man, that was called of God, by the voice of
God Himself, to open up the dispensation of the Gospel to the world for
the last time; and this is the great thing to bear in mind, that he was
called of God to introduce the Gospel to the world, to restore the holy
priesthood to the children of men, to organize the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints in the world, and to restore all the
ordinances of the Gospel, for the salvation not only of the living, but
also of the dead, and he was called to this mission by God Himself. …
“… There have been other prophets, and great prophets, too, who have
had angels minister to them, and others who have seen the finger of
God, and who have been favored more or less; but where is the
circumstance, and who is the man unto whom the Father and the Savior
have appeared together in person, and declared themselves unto him?
Where is that man? Nowhere that history records, except the Prophet
Joseph Smith, and that while he was a youth. He was only a youth,
comparatively in fact, when he was martyred, being only 38 years of
age.
“… The Prophet Joseph Smith … communed with the Father and the Son
and spoke with angels, and they visited him, and conferred blessings
and gifts and keys of power upon him that were never before bestowed
upon any human being other than the Son of God Himself. No man yet that
ever lived upon the earth had all the keys of the Gospel and of the
dispensations bestowed upon him as were bestowed upon the Prophet
Joseph Smith in the temple at Kirtland when he was visited there by the
Son of God, by Moses, and by Elias and Elijah, and when the heavens
were opened unto him and he received the keys of power and authority by
which he could lay the foundation of the work of God, broad and deep,
to cover the earth with the knowledge of God, and with His power and
glory.”
The work of Joseph Smith blesses those who have lived on the earth, those who are now living, and those who will yet be born.
President Joseph F. Smith: “The work in which Joseph Smith was
engaged was not confined to this life alone, but it pertains as well to
the life to come and to the life that has been. In other words, it
relates to those that have lived upon the earth, to those that are
living and to those that shall come after us. It is not something which
relates to man only while he tabernacles in the flesh, but to the whole
human family from eternity to eternity. Consequently, as I have said,
Joseph Smith is held in reverence, his name is honored; tens of
thousands of people thank God in their heart and from the depths of
their souls for the knowledge the Lord has restored to the earth
through him, and therefore they speak well of him and bear testimony of
his worth. And this is not confined to a village, nor to a State, nor
to a nation, but this extends to every nation, kindred, tongue and
people where the Gospel, up to the present time, has been preached.”
President Joseph Fielding Smith: “In the same way that I know
Jesus is the Christ–and that is by revelation from the Holy Spirit—I
know that Joseph Smith is and was and everlastingly shall be a prophet
of God.
“I revere and honor his holy name. With his brother, my grandfather,
Patriarch Hyrum Smith, he sealed his testimony with his blood in
Carthage Jail. And I, for one, want to be an instrument in the Lord’s
hands of letting the ends of the earth know that salvation is again
available because the Lord raised up a mighty seer in this day to
reestablish his kingdom on earth.
“In a spirit of testimony and thanksgiving, I close with these
inspired words from the Doctrine and Covenants: ‘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 135:3.)”
President Gordon B. Hinckley, speaking in Carthage, Illinois, on
June 26, 1994, in honor of the 150th anniversary of the Prophet Joseph
Smith’s martyrdom: “The glorious work, begun by him who was killed
at Carthage, has grown in a miraculous and wonderful way. … This
marvelous work, which has sprung from the prophetic calling of the boy
of Palmyra, has ‘come forth out of the wilderness of darkness,’ and is
shining ‘forth fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an
army with banners,’ as the Prophet prayed it would (
D&C 109:73). …
“We pause in reverence here this evening. We reflect on the miracle
of the life begun in the green hills of Vermont and ended here in the
jail of Carthage. That life was not long. But the fruits of that life
have been something almost beyond comprehension.
“This great cause of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
has been more precious than life itself to thousands upon thousands who
have died in its service. Witnesses have gone into the world by the
hundreds of thousands to bear testimony of Joseph Smith’s calling as a
Prophet of God. The holy priesthood restored through him has fallen as
a mantle upon uncounted numbers of men of integrity and virtue who have
been clothed with this divine power. The Book of Mormon is going across
the earth as another testament of the Lord Jesus Christ.
“To quote a truism uttered long ago and in different circumstances,
‘the blood of the martyrs has become the seed of the Church.’ The
testimonies which were sealed here in these very precincts, on this
ground where we meet tonight, that hot and sultry day 150 years ago,
now nurture the faith of people around the world.”
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Plainview Texas Branch; Lubbock Stake Announcements;
Saturday, December 12th, 2009: Branch Social 6:00 p.m.
Sunday, December 13th, 2009: 9:00a.m. PEC
