This Generation Shall Have My Work Through You

This Generation Shall Have My Work Through You
Doctrine &Covenants and Church History Lesson 13

The Lord declared that the people in this dispensation would receive His word through Joseph Smith.

After Martin Harris had lost the 116 pages of translation and was removed as Joseph’s scribe, he still felt an obligation to the work and to assist financially with the printing of the Book of Mormon. So, in March 1829, he traveled to Joseph’s home in Harmony to determine if Joseph still had the plates and the power to translate them. To settle this question, he wanted to see the plates, which had not been his privilege while acting as Joseph’s scribe. In response to his request, Joseph Smith received Doctrine and Covenants 5.

D&C 5:9-10
9 Behold, verily I say unto you, I have areserved those things which I have entrusted unto you, my servant Joseph, for a wise purpose in me, and it shall be made known unto future generations;
10 But this generation shall have my word athrough you;

To be clear, “this generation” is the whole present dispensation of the gospel, which enjoys the fullness of the gospel only through the work of the Prophet Joseph Smith.( Robinson& Garrett A Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants p. 47)

Joseph Smith was the chosen prophet to restore the gospel in this dispensation, including the covenants and doctrines associated with it.

Brigham Young
“ What I have received from the Lord, I have received by Joseph Smith; he was the instrument made use of. If I drop him, I must drop these principles, they have not been revealed, declared, or explained by any other man since the days of the Apostles.” ( Discourses of Brigham Young p. 458).

That great outpouring of truth in this dispensation through the prophet Joseph Smith included the coming forth of both ancient and latter-day scripture.

Many ancient and letter-day scriptures have come through Joseph Smith

The ancient prophets saw the day that Joseph Smith would be raised up and bring all truth to the children of men


To Moses, the Lord said,
40 And now, Moses, my son, I will speak unto thee concerning this earth upon which thou standest; and thou shalt awrite the things which I shall speak.
41 And in a day when the children of men shall esteem my words as anaught and btake many of them from the cbook which thou shalt write, behold, I will raise up another dlike unto thee; and they shall be ehad again among the children of men—among as many as shall believe

Lehi, in blessing his son Joseph, talks about their father Joseph, who was sold into Egypt:


2 Nephi 3:7, 12
7 Yea, Joseph truly said: Thus saith the Lord unto me: A choice aseer will I braise up out of the fruit of thy loins; and he shall be esteemed highly among the fruit of thy loins. And unto him will I give commandment that he shall do a work for the fruit of thy loins, his brethren, which shall be of great worth unto them, even to the bringing of them to the cknowledge of the covenants which I have made with thy fathers
12 Wherefore, the fruit of thy loins shall awrite; and the fruit of the loins of bJudah shall cwrite; and that which shall be written by the fruit of thy loins, and also that which shall be written by the fruit of the loins of Judah, shall grow together, unto the dconfounding of efalse doctrines and laying down of contentions, and establishing fpeace among the fruit of thy loins, and gbringing them to the hknowledge of their fathers in the latter days, and also to the knowledge of my covenants, saith the Lord.

LeGrand Richards
The Prophet Joseph Smith brought us the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price, and many other writings. As far as our records show, he has given us more revealed truth than any prophet who has ever lived upon the face of the earth. And the Lord said: “And not to the bringing forth my word only, … but to the convincing them of my word, which shall have already gone forth among them.” (2 Ne. 3:11.) What did he mean by that? That in the midst of these hundreds of churches of men—the result of men’s interpretations of the scriptures because they can’t agree, and these churches keep multiplying—that the Lord would give to this new prophet the ability to comprehend the scriptures that had already been sent forth among them. (LeGrand Richards, “Call of the Prophets,” Ensign, May 1981, 31)

So, lets talk about what the prophet Joseph has done to bring us the Lord’s word

The Book of Mormon
Since 1830 over 100 million copies of the Book of Mormon have been published in dozens of languages.
What significance does the Book of Mormon have?

Few men on earth, said Elder Bruce R. McConkie, either in or out of the church, have caught the vision of what the Book of Mormon is all about. Few are they among men who know the part it has played and will yet play in preparing the way for the coming of Him whom it is a new witness.. The Book of Mormon shall so effect men that the whole earth and all its peoples will have been influenced and governed by it..There is no greater issue ever to confront mankind in modern times that this: Is the Book of Mormon the mind and will and voice of God to all men? We testify that it is. (The Mellenial Messiah p. 159, 170, 179)
1. Although it does not contain every aspect of the restoration or all the principles of the gospel, it served as a catalyst for continuing revelation.
· One example: In the spring of 1829, while Joseph and Oliver were translating, the record raised questions about baptism. Joseph and Oliver retired to the woods to pray about their questions. The result of their prayer was the visit of John the Baptist and the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood.
2. It is a second witness for Jesus Christ. It declares that the gospel is a gospel for the world and not just a chosen few.
3. Possibly, the greatest significance of the Book of Mormon is that it brings men and women to Christ. It is the greatest tool of conversion in this generation.
Consider Parley P. Pratt's experience: "As I read, the spirit of the Lord was upon me, and I knew and comprehended that the book was true, as plainly and manifestly as a man comprehends and knows that he exists" (Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, p20). One cannot read this book, learn of its truth, and then ignore it. At the time Parley read the Book of Mormon, he was on a mission preaching the word of God as he knew it. He had been a recent convert to the Cambellite faith. Almost immediately, Parley made his way to Palmyra in search of the Prophet and shortly thereafter Parley was baptized. The remainder of his life was spent in service to the restored church.
The Doctrine & Covenants

From 1823 to 1831, Joseph Smith received more than 60 revelations from the Lord. A few handwritten copies of these revelations were given to missionaries and others, but most Church members did not have access to them.

At a conference held in Ohio in late 1831, church leaders decided to publish the revelations in a volume called the Book of Commandments. Oliver Cowdery and John Whitmer were selected to take the revelations to Independence, Missouri, a distance of approximately 1,000 miles, where the book would be printed and bound.

Oliver Cowdery and John Whitmer reached Independence in January 1832, and by July 1833 William W. Phelps had printed the first 160 pages of the Book of Commandments. However, on 20 July 1833 a mob destroyed Brother Phelps’s printing press and many of the unbound pages of the Book of Commandments were thrown into the street.

Two young girls, Mary Elizabeth and Caroline Rollins, seeing this were determined, at the risk of their own lives, to rescue what they could. While the mob was busy at one end of the house, the two girls ran and filled their arms with the precious sheets. The mob saw them and ordered the girls to stop. Mary Elizabeth reported, “ We ran as fast as we could. Two of them started after us. Seeing a gap in a fence, we entered into a large cornfield, laid the papers on the ground, and hid them with our persons. The corn was from five to six feet high, and very thick; they hunted around considerable, and came very near us but did not find us.”

President Ezra Taft Benson:
"The Book of Mormon brings men to Christ. The Doctrine & Covenants brings men to Christ's kingdom, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 'the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth' (D&C 1:30)....
"The Book of Mormon is the 'keystone' of our religion, and the Doctrine and Covenants is the capstone, with continuing latter-day revelation. The Lord has placed His stamp of approval on both the keystone and the capstone" (Ensign, May 1987, p83).

The Pearl of Great Price
the Pearl of Great Price is appropriately named. Like a pearl, it is small in size but great in worth. Although it is only 61 pages long, it spans the eternities, including passages about the Grand Council in Heaven, the restoration of the gospel in the dispensation of the fulness of times, the Savior’s Second Coming, the Millennium, and everlasting life. It contains valuable teachings on the Creation, the Fall, the Atonement, and the agency of mankind. This book of scripture has five parts:
1. Selections from the Book of Moses.
· Shortly after the organization of the Church, the Prophet returned to Colesville and Harmony. There were troubles between the believers and some of their neighbors. Joseph went through two trials. He was acquitted in both instances. The Prophet wrote: "I will say, however, that amid all the trials and tribulations we had to wade through, the Lord who well knew our infantile and delicate situation, vouchsafed for us a supply of strength, and granted us 'line upon line of knowledge—here a little and there a little,' of which the following was a precious morsel" (HC, 1:98). This morsel was a revelation now known as the first chapter in the Book of Moses.
· The translation of the Book of Mormon convinced the Prophet that many plain and precious parts of the Bible were missing. After receiving Moses 1, the Prophet took up a revision of the Bible which occupied much of his time over the next few years. The remainder of the Book of Moses is an extract from that revision. The Prophecy of Enoch was restored in December 1830 and provided information that would enable the Church to begin the building up of Zion after the pattern of the Zion of Enoch.
2.The Book of Abraham.
· The Book of Abraham came from the Prophet's translation of ancient Egyptian scrolls that came into his hands through a Michael Chandler of Philadelphia. Chandler had been bequeathed mummies and scrolls from Antonio Lebolo who had discovered them in Egypt in 1818. Part of the collection was sold to the Church in 1835.
· Joseph Smith: "Soon after this, some of the Saints at Kirtland purchased the mummies and papyrus, a description of which will appear hereafter, and with W. W. Phelps and Oliver Cowdery as scribes, I commenced the translation of some of the characters or hieroglyphics, and much to our joy found that one of the rolls contained the writings of Abraham, another the writings of Joseph of Egypt, etc.,—a more full account of which will appear in its place, as I proceed to examine or unfold them. Truly we can say, the Lord is beginning to reveal the abundance of peace and truth." (HC, 2:231)
3.Joseph Smith—Matthew.
· Joseph Smith—Matthew is part of the Prophet's inspired revision of the Bible and parallels Matthew 23:39 and Matthew 24.

4. Joseph Smith—History.
· In 1838, Joseph Smith began to write his history, which became known as the History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The first part of this history is the content contained in the Pearl of Great Price and includes the accounts of the First Vision and subsequent visits from the angel Moroni. The first portion of this to appear in print was contained in the Times and Seasons, published in Nauvoo.

5. The Articles of Faith.
· Elder B.H. Roberts: "One other document of great historical and even doctrinal importance was published about the same time as this Book of Abraham, namely, in the spring of 1842. This document is what is called The Wentworth Letter. Mr. John Wentworth, editor and proprietor of the Chicago Democrat, solicited of Joseph Smith a statement concerning the history and doctrine of the Church of the Latter-day Saints, for his friend Mr. Barstow, of New Hampshire, who was writing a history of that state. Responding to this request the Wentworth Letter was prepared by the Prophet. Beginning with the birth of Joseph Smith, in 1805, it traces in admirable manner the development of the great latter-day work, the story of its persecutions, up to the settlement of the saints in Nauvoo; and also details their prosperous condition and happy prospects at the time the letter was written." (CHC, 2:130-131)
· The letter closed with the Articles of Faith as a summation of the beliefs of the Church.
· Elder Roberts: "They were not produced by the labored efforts and the harmonized contentions of scholastics, but were struck off by one mind at a single effort to make a declaration of that which is most assuredly believed by the church, for one making earnest inquiry about her history and her fundamental doctrines. The combined directness, perspicuity, simplicity and comprehensiveness of this statement of the doctrine of the church is regarded as strong evidence of a divine inspiration operating upon the mind of Joseph Smith." (CHC, 2:131)

The Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible

Joseph Smith had learned early in his translation of the Book of Mormon that plain and precious truths, including many covenants of the Lord, had been “taken away” or “kept back” by designing individuals in the periods surrounding the compilation of the Old and New Testaments.

Although we do not have a specific revelation where the Lord commands Joseph to carefully study the Bible as a means of restoring these truths, Joseph and his scribes acknowledged in sections 45 and 76 that this sacred mission was appointed him.

New translations of the Bible I the 1830s was nothing new. Religious revivalism was at it’s peak in the early 19th century. From 1777 to 1833, more than 500 separate editions of the Bible (or parts thereof) were published in America.

Joseph’s translation, however, was different from the rest. Joseph began by careful reading and study of the King James version of the Bible in June of 1830. He acted under divine direction, according to his appointment as prophet, seer and revelator. He sought to harmonize himself with the Spirit of God, as well as the mind and will of the ancient writers, so as to convey not only what was written, but what was intended as well.

It took the prophet 3 years to complete the task. A total of 3,410 verses in the printed JST differ In textual construction from the King James bible. Although the formal work of translation ended in 1833, Joseph spent his remaining years reviewing and revising the manuscripts-seeking to find appropriate words to convey what he had come to know by revelation.

Robert J. Matthews
“ The Lord had Joseph Smith make a translation of the Bible because of the good it would do Joseph Smith as well as the good it would also do the Church. This was the way in which the Prophet Joseph Smith learned many things about the gospel. He did not read through the Bible looking for errors, looking for ways to correct it. He studied the scripture for what he could gain. Then when it was inadequate, either because of loss of material or because of faulty translation, by inquiring of the Lord and studying and pondering and thinking about it, he was able to perceive by revelation what the intention of that passage really was.” (Robert J. Matthews, “Using the Scriptures, “ in 1981 Brigham Young University Speeches (Provo, Ut.: Brigham Young University Publications, 1981), p.123.)

The process of translating the Bible not only brought the correction and restoration of doctrines in the Bible. It also helped bring about the restoration of doctrines through the Doctrine and Covenants. Many revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants are responses to questions the Prophet asked while pondering the translation of the Bible

For example:

D&C 76, the “vision of the glories,” received by Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon on 16 Feb 1832, came as a result of prayerfully pondering John 5:29

D&C 77 is a question and answer session with the Lord, wherein Joseph learned valuable insights regarding the Apocalypse of John the Beloved

The JST can be found in the Pearl of Great Price, footnotes of the LDS edition of the king James bible and in the appendix following the Bible Dictionary.

Plain and precious doctrines of the gospel have been restored through Joseph Smith

The Doctrines
Reference
Physical nature of the Godhead
Joseph Smith—History 1:17; D&C 130:1; D&C 130:22
Our creation in God's image
Moses 6:8-9
Apostles and prophets
D&C 107:23; D&C 107:33; D&C 107:35; D&C 107:39; D&C 107:58; D&C 112:30-321835 - The Quorum of the Twelve Organized
Melchizedek Priesthood
D&C 84:19-25; D&C 107:1-8; D&C 107:18-19 1829 - Restored by Peter, James, & John
Aaronic Priesthood
D&C 13; D&C 84:18; D&C 84:26-27; D&C 84:30; D&C 107:1; D&C 107:13-14; D&C 107:20 1829 - Restored by John the Baptist
Mode of baptism
3 Nephi 11:22-26; Moroni 8:8-12; D&C 20:71-74
The gift of the Holy Ghost
D&C 20:41; D&C 20:43; D&C 35:6; D&C 121:46
Pre mortal existence
D&C 93:29; Abraham 3:22-26
Baptism for the dead
D&C 128:16-18
Resurrection
Alma 11:42-45
The three kingdoms of glory
D&C 76:50-112; D&C 131:1
Eternal marriage
D&C 131:1-4; D&C 132:19
Our potential to become like Heavenly Father
D&C 88:107; D&C 93:20; D&C 132:20-24

Joseph was the Lord's mouthpiece, but he was also the Lord's engineer that began the foundation of the Lord's earthly kingdom. Under the Prophet's direction, missionaries were sent out, temples erected, and cities constructed. The gathering of Israel was begun and the building of Zion initiated.

When contemplating what your life would be like without the truths restored through the prophet Joseph, how can you feel anything but tremendous gratitude?