Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith

Those who revile Joseph Smith will not change Joseph's status with the Lord (see 2 Ne. 3:8)-merely their own! (Ensign, November 1983, p. 56.)

His prayer [in the Sacred Grove] was for personal and tactical guidance. The response, however, was of global and eternal significance. (Ensign, May 1992, p. 37.)

Yes, Joseph received remarkable manifestations, along with constant vexations. True, for instance, there were periodic arrivals of heavenly messengers, but these were punctuated by the periodic arrivals of earthly mobs. (Ensign, May 1992, p. 38.)

While Joseph was befriended by heavenly notables, he was also betrayed by some of his earthly friends. Receiving keys and gifts was real, but so was the painful loss of six of the eleven children born to him and Emma. Granted, Joseph had revealed to him glimpses of far horizons-the first and third estates. But these periodic glories occurred amid Joseph's arduous daily life in the second estate. (Ensign, May 1992, p. 38.)

Whenever we speak of the Prophet Joseph Smith … it should be in reverent appreciation of the Lord who called him and whom Joseph served so well. ("'A Choice Seer,'" p. 113.)

What came through Joseph Smith was beyond Joseph Smith, and it stretched him! In fact, the doctrines that came through that "choice seer" (2 Ne. 3:6-7) by translation or revelation are often so light-intensive that, like radioactive materials, they must be handled with great care! ("'A Choice Seer,'" p. 114.)

The Everest of ecclesiastical truth built from the translations and revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith speaks for itself as it towers above the foothills of philosophy.… Revelations came to us through an inspired prophet, Joseph Smith. His spelling left something to be desired, but how he provided us with the essential grammar of the gospel! ("'A Choice Seer,'" p. 115.)

Yet another way of testing and appreciating the significance of the ministry of the Prophet Joseph Smith is to ask oneself: (1) "What would we know about the holy temples and about the sealing power without the Prophet Joseph Smith?"; (2) "What would we know about the plan of salvation with its different estates without the Prophet Joseph Smith?"; (3) "What would we know about the precious and plain doctrine of premortality of mankind without the Prophet Joseph Smith?" The answer to each question is the same: "Very, very little; certainly not enough." ("'A Choice Seer.'")

Joseph Smith reflected some of the anxieties and activities of his time and period. Yet a torrent of truth came through that brilliant, good, but imperfect conduit, almost more than Joseph could communicate. (Sermons Not Spoken, p. 5.)

There was another factor at work in the soul stretching of the Prophet in the [Liberty,] Missouri dungeon. Earlier, Joseph had Oliver Cowdery and Sidney Rigdon to be not only his aides-de-camp but also in a measure as his spokesmen. After the Liberty Jail experience, however, Joseph was clearly his own spokesman. From that time forward, we begin to receive Joseph's stretching sermons, involving some of the gospel's most powerful doctrines. ("But for a Small Moment", p. 17.)

The prophecy given by the angel Moroni was that Joseph's name "should be had for good and evil among all nations" [JS-H 1:33]. The adversary will be doing his relentless part with regard to the negative portion of that prophecy. (See D&C 122:1.) By word and deed, faithful Church members must see to it that the positive portion is fulfilled. ("But for a Small Moment", p. 133.)

Let us examine an important verse in the third chapter of Second Nephi in which ancient Joseph spoke of the latter-day seer and said, "And he shall be like unto me." (2 Ne. 3:15.) The comparisons between the two Josephs, of course, reflect varying degrees of exactitude, but they are, nevertheless, quite striking. Some similarities are situational, others dispositional. First, both Josephs had inauspicious beginnings. Initially, they were unlikely candidates to have had the impact they did on Egyptian history and American history, respectively; indeed, upon world history. Next, both were falsely accused. Further, both were jailed. Both, in their extremities, helped others who later forgot them. In the case of ancient Joseph, it was the chief butler. (Gen. 40:20-23.) Joseph Smith had many fair-weather friends, including Sidney Rigdon, who, finally, did not merit Joseph's full confidence. Both Josephs were torn from their families, although ancient Joseph for a much, much longer time. Very significantly, both were "like unto" each other in being amazingly resilient in the midst of adversity. It is a truly striking quality. Indeed, good but lesser men could not have borne what the "Josephs" bore; the Lord knew His prophets-from back of the beyond. Both Josephs were generous to those who betrayed them. Ancient Joseph was generous to his once-betraying brothers whom he later saved from starvation. Joseph Smith, in but one example, was generous to W. W. Phelps whose brief betrayal, ironically, helped put Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail. Both were understandably anxious about their loved ones and friends. Ancient Joseph, when his true identity became known, inquired tenderly of his brothers, "Doth my father yet live?" (Gen. 45:3.) From Liberty Jail, the Prophet Joseph Smith, doubtless with comparative awareness, wrote, "Doth my friends yet live, and if they do, do they remember me?" (Writings, p. 409.) ("'A Choice Seer.'")

Mine is an apostolic witness of Jesus, the great Redeemer of mankind. It was He who called the Prophet Joseph Smith, tutored him, and nurtured him through his adversities, which were to be "but a small moment" (D&C 121:7). Once the Prophet Joseph hoped aloud that he might so live amid his own suffering that one day he could take his place among Abraham and the "ancients," hoping to "hold an even[w[e]ight in the balances with them" (The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, ed. Dean C. Jessee [1984], 395). I testify that Joseph so triumphed, which is why we rightly sing of his being "crowned in the midst of the prophets of old." (Hymns, no. 27). (Ensign, January 1997, p. 41.)


(Cory H. Maxwell, ed., The Neal A. Maxwell Quote Book [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1997], 183.)