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The Promised Kingdom of God is a narration of the restoration of the Lord's Church to the earth in the latter-days. Read it here at no cost to you."Come, my brethren, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money, come buy and eat; yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price." 2 Nephi 9:50 Read here online the entire book without cost |
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Chapter 1: Foretelling
the Kingdom
Joseph recorded his feelings and concern during
his early age:
“At about the age of twelve years my mind became
seriously impressed with regard to the all important concerns for the welfare of
my immortal Soul which led me to Searching the Scriptures believing as I was
taught, that they contained the word of God thus applying myself to them and my
intimate acquaintance with those of different denominations led me to marvel
exceedingly for I discovered that they did not adorn their profession by a holy
walk and Godly conversation agreeable to what I found contained in that Sacred
depository this was a grief to my Soul thus from the age of twelve years to
fifteen I pondered many things in my heart concerning the situation of the world
of mankind the contentions and divisions the wickedness and abominations and the
darkness which pervaded the minds of mankind my mind become exceedingly
distressed for I became convicted of my Sins and by Searching the Scriptures I
found that mankind did not come unto the Lord but that they had apostatized from
the true and living faith and there was no society or denomination that built
upon the Gospel of Jesus Christ as recorded in the new testament.” ((Milton
V. Backman, Jr., Joseph Smith's First Vision: Confirming Evidences and
Contemporary Accounts, 2d ed. rev. [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1980], 155.) Joseph,
after spending a great deal of time reading and meditating on the scriptures,
went to a grove of trees near his father’s farm to pray vocally concerning which
church he should join. In fulfillment of the promise to Daniel the prophet that
“the God of heaven” would set up a Kingdom in the last days, (Dan. 2:44) the
Father and Son appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith. “While I was
laboring under the extreme difficulties caused by the contests of these parties
of religionists, I was one day reading the Epistle of James, first chapter and
fifth verse, which reads: 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. “Never did any
passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at
this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my
heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed
wisdom from God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get
more wisdom than I then had, I would never know; for the teachers of religion of
the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as
to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible. “At length I came
to the conclusion that I must either remain in darkness and confusion, or else I
must do as James directs, that is, ask of God. I at length came to the
determination to ‘ask of God,’ concluding that if he gave wisdom to them that
lacked wisdom, and would give liberally, and not upbraid, I might venture. “So, in accordance
with this, my determination to ask of God, I retired to the woods to make the
attempt. It was on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring
of eighteen hundred and twenty. It was the first time in my life that I had
made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the
attempt to pray vocally. “After I had
retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around
me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires
of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon
by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence
over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered
around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden
destruction. “But, exerting all
my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which
had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair
and abandon myself to destruction—not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of
some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had
never before felt in any being—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 spake unto me,
calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son.
Hear Him! “My object in
going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that
I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of
myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above
me in the light, which of all the sects was right (for at this time it had never
entered into my heart that all were wrong)—and which I should join. “I was answered that I must join none of them, for
they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their
creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt;
that: ‘they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from
me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of
godliness, but they deny the power thereof.’ “He again
forbade me to join with any of them; and many other things did he say unto me,
which I cannot write at this time. When I came to myself again, I found myself
lying on my back, looking up into heaven. When the light had departed, I had no
strength; but soon recovering in some degree, I went home. And as I leaned up
to the fireplace, mother inquired what the matter was. I replied, ‘Never mind,
all is well—I am well enough off.’ I then said to my mother, ‘I have learned for
myself that Presbyterianism is not true.’ It seems as though the adversary was
aware, at a very early period of my life, that I was destined to prove a
disturber and an annoyer of his kingdom; else why should the powers of darkness
combine against me? Why the opposition and persecution that arose against me,
almost in my infancy?” (JS-History 1:11 - 20) The words spoken
to Joseph were in fulfillment of the prophecies of Isaiah: “Wherefore the
Lord said, forasmuch as this people draw near Me with their mouth, and with
their lips do honour Me, but have removed their heart far from Me, and their
fear toward Me is taught by the precept of men.” Notice that Isaiah witnessed
that it was the Lord who spoke these words, followed by the Lord’s promise “…to
do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder”
(Isaiah 29:13-14.) Joseph declared
that two personages appeared to him in the grove that spring morning, in
contradiction to the generally accepted view of the Godhead. Yet the description
of God as taught in the scriptures agree with that of Joseph Smith. Ezekiel saw
in vision God sitting on His throne and described the personage of God as
“the likeness as the appearance
of a Man.” (Ezek. 1:26) Jesus used
the metaphor that He and His Father are one, which has confused the Christian
world for centuries. The question might be asked, why would the Lord speak
things that might be misunderstood? The disciples inquired of Him the same
concern: “He answered and said unto them, because it is given unto you to know
the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.”
(Matthew
13:11) The term “one” is
the misunderstood expression, yet the Lord left definition of what was meant by
the idiom. As He
prayed for His followers Jesus pleaded: “That they all may be one; as thou,
Father, art in Me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that
the world may believe that thou hast sent Me. And the glory which thou gavest Me
I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are one:”
(John 17:21-22.) The meaning
then is crystal clear that the Lord was praying that His disciples would be
unified as He and His Father were in total unison, undivided in thought,
purpose, and action, with no contradiction of any manner in what the Lord taught
or the principles that He lived. Jesus acted even as our Father in Heaven would
have acted had His Father been on the earth.
“…He that sent me
is true; and I
speak to the world
those things which I have
heard of Him…And
He that sent Me is
with Me: the Father
hath not left
Me alone; for
I do always
those things that please Him.” (John 8:26,29)
The appearance of the two
separate beings, that of the Father and Son, can also be observed in the New
Testament. As Stephen was being stoned, he experienced this vision: “But he,
being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the
glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I
see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.”
(Acts 7:55-56.) A more thorough
discussion on the personages of the Godhead is given in the chapter on the
Godhead but suffice it to say that Joseph’s vision is not in contradiction to
the Bible, but the reason for the miscomprehension of the Godhead by the world,
can only be attributed to the fact that only with the Priesthood of God does the
true knowledge of God exist for the Priesthood “holdeth the key of the mysteries
of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God.” (D&C 84:19) It is clear that
Isaiah had seen the calling of this latter day prophet when he recorded the
words spoken to Joseph when he sought the Lord’s guidance in the grove that
spring morning and received this answer: “Forasmuch as this people draw near Me
with their mouth, and with their lips do honour Me, but have removed their heart
far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the precept of men.” The Lord
then informs that He is about to do perform a “marvellous work” upon the earth:
“Therefore, behold, I will proceed
to do a marvellous work among this people,
even a marvellous work and a
wonder: for the wisdom of
their wise men shall perish,
and the understanding of their prudent
men shall be hid.” (Isaiah 29:13, 14) This
statement is the Lord’s indictment on Christianity who teach, all that is
necessary is to confess that Jesus is Lord in order to be saved. Yet Christ
Himself taught: “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that
loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love
him, and will manifest Myself to him… He that loveth Me not keepeth not My
sayings:” (John 14:21,24.) It is often asked of us as it was asked of Jesus,
“what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?” The answer of Jesus
was simple, “if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” (Matthew
19:16,17)
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