The Book of Mormon

There are many who claim to be a prophet. Christ even told us in the Bible that false prophets would come. He said, "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves" (Matt 7: 15). With this warning, how are we to know what to believe? Christ gives us the answer later on in this chapter, "Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."

One of the fruits that we have from Joseph Smith, so we can know that he was a true prophet, is the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is an ancient record of the dealings of God with the people in the America's. It is a history that begins in Jerusalem about 600 B.C. A prophet named Lehi is commanded by God to leave Jerusalem and he would be led to a promised land. They leave, cross the ocean, and eventually come to the land promised to them. Time passes, people listen to and learn of God. Many also reject the teachings of Christ. Prophets were called of God to teach the people and guide them to salvation. These prophets all testified that the Son of God would come and suffer the sins of all mankind. They also promised these people that Christ would show himself to him and visit them.

While Christ was on the earth he told the people in Jerusalem, "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd."  (John 10: 16) After his resurrection Christ came to these people in America, he taught them his gospel, he established his church among them. They had peace and prosperity for hundreds of years.

Eventually the people began to reject Christ's teachings again. They became wicked and killed Christ's followers. One last prophet named Moroni had the records of these people, written on gold plates. He buried these plates with the promise from God that they would be revealed to the world in the future.

Joseph Smith was shown by an angel where these plates were buried. He was able to translate them by the gift and power of God. It became evidence that God had called Joseph to be a prophet, to restore Christ's church on the earth today, and to lead all of God's children!

There is a promise in the Book of Mormon. Moroni tells us, "And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost" (Moroni 10:4).

I can promise you the same, if you want to know if Joseph Smith is a true prophet, pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true. You will receive the answer that it is. I know it is true. Our loving God has reached out to us once again. He leads us with a prophet that he has chosen. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is his church on the earth today!

The Restoration

I mentioned in my last post that the Lord promised us that even though there would be an apostasy, he promises a restoration in the "Dispensation of the Fullness of Times."(Ephesians 1:10) In the year 1820 this happened.

At the age of 14 a young boy named Joseph Smith lived at a time of "unusual excitement on the subject of religion" (Joseph Smith History). There were many faiths who contended with one another over converts. During this time of confusion, Joseph Smith wondered which of all the churches was right. He wondered which was the "one Lord, one faith, one baptism," that Paul talks about in Eph 4: 5.

Because of the difference in opinion, Joseph couldn't decide which church to join. He says, "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" (JSH). In his search for the truth he came across the scripture in James 1: 5 that says, "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." This scripture "seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of [his] heart.[He] reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, [He] did; for how to act [He] did not know..."

Joseph determined that he must ask God which church is true. So one spring morning, he went to a grove of trees and knelt down and prayed. In an answer to his prayer he received a vision from God and Jesus Christ! He says, "I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me... 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!"

His prayer was answered an he was told that while each church had truth in them, none of them had the whole truth. After centuries of being lost, the Lord's gospel would once again be revealed to his children. He was also told how he would be the Lord's servant in this work, he had been called by God to be a prophet. He was given the authority to restore Christ's church to the earth today.

This event has a great importance for the world! Christ's church is back! We have a prophet on the earth speaking the Lord's will to us today! I know this is true and you can as well!

The Great Apostasy of Christ's Church

So if Jesus Christ set up one church, why are there so many today? Where can we find the church that he set up? What happened to the church after the Bible stops recording the history of the church?

While Christ was on the earth he started his church. After he was crucified, his apostles set about building the church and bringing everyone to Christ. It was a great time of enlightenment for the people. They finally had the truth about why they were here on earth, and what they needed to do to be happy during this life. They learned, most importantly, the things they needed to do in order to return to live with their Heavenly Father.

As the church grew, it became more spread out. We read of seven churches (Revelation 1) of Christ, in different parts of the land. Being isolated they began to make small changes in the doctrine of Christ. When the apostles heard of this, they wrote letters to remind the churches the true doctrine of Christ's church and taught them the things they needed to be doing. The people knew who they could trust, because they knew Christ had given his apostles the authority to guide them. They were the "foundation" "And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;"    (Eph 2 :20)

The members of the church at this time endured great persecution. So great that the apostles began to be martyred, until they were all taken from the people. This authority wasn't able to be passed on to more people. The foundation of the church was gone! As a result the church began to deteriorate and just as a house with no foundation would, Christ's church fell. Despite the faithful members, error crept into the church. As Christ's divine organization was lost, the church lost the truth. This was foretold by many prophets. Amos talks about a "famine... of hearing the words of the lord: " (Amos 8: 11). This famine began and the church was no longer Christ's true church. This time in history is called the Dark Ages.

Many inspired men knew that something was wrong with the church. They helped bring this knowledge to the people. This period of time is known to us as The Reformation. Many people began to pick up the pieces that they could find that Christ talked about. But in doing this they would miss some of the important parts of Christ's Gospel. During this time people would "wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it." (Amos 8: 12).
The fulness of Christ's Gospel wasn't on the earth. Instead of a reformation of the church, we needed a restoration by someone called of god.

The Lord promised us that he would restore his church to the earth again. John said, "And I saw another angel fly 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" (Revelation 14:6). I can promise you that this has taken place. We once again have the "everlasting gospel" on the earth today. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.