Necessity for a Restoration
The Marvelous Work
The work of the Protestant revolution having been accomplished, and
the land of America having been prepared by the sowing of the seed
of religious freedom, the time for the restoration of the Gospel had
arrived. The promise made by the Savior that the Gospel of the kingdom
should be preached in all the world for a witness, was about to be
fulfilled, and the Church of Jesus Christ was again to be established
in the earth. The "marvelous work and a wonder," which Isaiah predicted
should come forth in the latter days, was about to make its appearance,
to the confounding of the wisdom of the worldly wise.
Reasonable and Scriptural to Expect a Restoration
It is reasonable as well as scriptural, to believe that the Lord,
before he shall come in judgment and to commence his reign of a
thousand years, will send a messenger to prepare the way before him.
In justice the people should be warned and given the privilege of
repentance and remission of sins, through the preaching of the Gospel,
and have an opportunity for membership in the Church of Christ. "Surely
the Lord God will do nothing," said Amos, "until he revealeth the
secret unto his servants the prophets."[1]
Ancient Predictions to be Fulfilled
Many of the ancient prophets had spoken of the opening of the heavens
and revealing anew to man, the everlasting Gospel, before the second
coming of the Lord. The visitation of heavenly messengers, and the
pouring out of the Spirit of the Lord, in which the sons and daughters
of Israel should prophesy, old men dream dreams, and the young men see
visions, were also foretold as events for the latter days.
Daniel Saw Our Day
Daniel, in vision, while an exile at the court of Babylon's great
king, saw our day and the work of setting up the kingdom which should
be given to the Saints of the Most High, who should possess it "even
forever and forever." The same event he confirmed in the interpretation
of Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the wonderfully constructed image. It was
to be in the last days at a time when the kingdoms represented by the
toes of the image should bear rule. In that day the God of heaven will
"set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, or left to other
people."
Vision of John
John also saw the time when the Gospel should be declared by an angel
flying in the midst of heaven "having the everlasting gospel to preach
unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred,
and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give
glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him
that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters."
This also was to be in the last day, when the people were departed from
the teachings of the Lord, and needed a call unto repentance, for this
angel was to be followed by another who should say: "Babylon is fallen,
is fallen;" and before Babylon should fall, she was to be warned and
given a chance of repentance.
Joseph Smith Divinely Called
It was necessary, therefore, that one should be chosen and clothed
with power from the Father to re-establish the Church of Jesus Christ
on the earth.[2] In choosing a representative to stand at the head
of this "great and marvelous work, about to come forth unto the
children of men," the Lord did not select one who was versed in the
learning and traditions of the world. His ways are not the ways of
man, neither are his thoughts like the thoughts of men. One taught in
the learning of the world would have had too much to unlearn of the
traditions and philosophy of men. In his great wisdom, the Lord chose
an unsophisticated child--a boy fourteen years of age. Unto this youth
the Lord revealed the fulness of the Gospel, which the world could not
receive because of unbelief. Through years of heavenly guidance--for he
was instructed by messengers from the presence of the Lord--this young
man, Joseph Smith, was prepared to direct the work of the restoration
of the Gospel and the building of the Kingdom of God.
Notes
1. Amos 3:7. The Prophet Joseph Smith's revision.
2. The erroneous idea which prevails in the world in relation to the
Church, is set forth in Smith's _Bible Dictionary_, Article--Church,
vol. 1, p. 458, as follows: "We have seen that according to the
scriptural view the Church is a holy kingdom, established by God
on earth, of which Christ is the invisible King--it is a divinely
organized body, the members of which are knit together amongst
themselves, and joined to Christ their Head, by the Holy Spirit, who
dwells in and animates it; it is a spiritual but visible society of
men united by constant succession to those who were personally united
to the Apostles, holding the same faith that the Apostles held,
administering the same sacraments, and like them forming separate, but
only locally separate, assemblies, for the public worship of God. This
is the Church according to the Divine intention. But as God permits men
to mar the perfection of his designs in their behalf, and as men have
both corrupted the doctrines and broken the unity of the Church, we
must not expect to see the Church of Holy Scripture actually existing
in its perfection on earth. It is not to be found, thus perfect, either
in the collected fragments of Christendom, or still less in any one
of these fragments; though it is possible that one of those fragments
more than another may approach the scriptural and Apostolic ideal which
existed only until sin, heresy, and schism, had time sufficiently to
develop themselves to do their work."