Elder Neal A. Maxwell
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
If Joseph Smith had been the conduit for only one such divine
revelation, it would be, standing alone, sufficient to ensure his
prophetic greatness.
From 1820 on, Joseph Smith was steadily attacked
in a pattern
of accusations—followed by eventual vindications. The pattern
continues.
Just as prophesied, fools deride him, hell rages
against him, and his
name is "both good and evil spoken of" (JS—H 1:33). This swirl
needlessly preoccupies a few who seem to prefer chewing on old
bones in the outer courtyard instead of coming inside to the
resplendent, revelatory banquet, thus diverting them from giving
due attention to Joseph's mission as "a choice seer" (see 2
Nephi
3:6–7).
As Ammon's experience taught, a seer has the power
to translate
ancient records, and "a seer is greater than a prophet." But, said
Ammon, "a seer is a . . . prophet also" (see Mosiah
8:11–16). Thus
called, Joseph has become "a great benefit to his fellow beings" (Mosiah
8:18).
The "choice" translator brought forth—"by the gift and power of
God" (D&C 135:3)—the Book of Mormon, something tangible and
verifiable. For all who heed it, the Book of Mormon is like the
flinging open of long-closed doors on what was assumed to be a
complete canon of scripture.
Noted on the very title page is the book's special
role in "convincing" mortals "that Jesus is the Christ" (see also 2
Nephi
25:18). In a day of disbelief and equivocation regarding this
preeminent fact, this "convincing" effect is so needed! How
sharp-edged that promise!
The Book of Mormon will be "read upon the housetops" (2
Nephi 27:11). Even if neglected, it will constitute a lingering
invitation for "as long as the earth shall stand" (2
Nephi 25:22).
No wonder "the ends of the earth shall inquire after [Joseph's]
name" (D&C 122:1). Reassuring prophecies further declare that
Joseph's enemies "shall be confounded" and that the Prophet's
people will not be "turned against [him]" by the testimony of
traitors (see 2 Nephi 3:14; D&C 122:3).
As President Faust reminded us yesterday, of his
own
imperfections, Joseph said, "I never told you I was perfect—but
there is no error in the revelations which I have taught" (Andrew F.
Ehat and Lyndon W. Cook, The Words of Joseph Smith [1980],
369).
Ironically, young Joseph Smith went into the grove
merely wanting
to know which church to join—not seeking to be called as a seer,
revelator, translator, and prophet (see D&C 21:1). In the grove and
subsequently, there came sunbursts of serendipity! The resulting
revelations and translations were not mere speculations, thoughts
for the day, or even epigrams, but instead they were divine,
declarative disclosures.
The volume of resulting revelations and translations
is enormous,
underscoring the words "choice seer." But it isn't just the sheer
volume of what Joseph received which is now being shared with
mankind; it is also the existence of "stunners" in the midst of such
abundance.
Through multiple revelations and translations,
for example, came a description of a universe far, far exceeding the astrophysics
of the
1830s, a cosmos containing "worlds without number" and advising
us further that the "inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and
daughters [of] God" (Moses
1:33; D&C 76:24).
Anciently, the vastness of Abraham's eventual posterity
was
compared to the sand of the sea, a staggering promise (see Genesis
22:17). The Restoration's revelations and translations
accommodate a vast universe; thus it is no surprise to us that
scientists' latest estimate of the number of stars in the universe is
approximately 70 sextillion— "more stars in the sky," scientists
say, "than there are grains of sand in every beach and desert on
Earth" (Allison M. Heinrichs, "The Stellar Census: 70 Sextillion,"
Los Angeles Times, 26 July 2003; see also Carl Sagan, Cosmos [1980],
196).
Revelations and translations also came regarding
God's central
purpose "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man,"
giving us divine, succinct reassurances (see Moses
1:39). God's
plans for the development of souls have not changed. They were
described to ancient Israel, whose 40 years in the wilderness were
"to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine
heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no"
(Deuteronomy 8:2). Therefore, disciples today can understand why
our faith and patience are tried at times—so that we can be
prepared to go Home (see Mosiah
23:21).
Brothers and sisters, we do not go many hours in
our lives
without having to decide again "which way do we face" and
whether we will pitch our tents facing Sodom or the holy temple
(see Genesis 13:12; Mosiah
2:6).
God has no distracting hobbies off somewhere in
the universe. We are at the very center of His concerns and purposes. What
a sharp
contrast to those who believe that man lives in an "unconscious
universe" (Bertrand Russell, "A Free Man's Worship," in Mysticism and Logic and Other Essays [1917], 50), a "universe . . . without a master" (Albert
Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus and Other
Essays, trans. Justin O'Brien [1955], 123).
Revelations likewise came about our longevity as
God's spirit
children, since "man was also in the beginning with God"—a
declaration accompanied by even further glimmers about man's
eternal nature (see D&C 93:29). These enunciations with their
profound implications are major, challenging, for instance, the
teaching that man was created in an instant "out of nothing."
A further reality of our being with God "in the beginning"
means that you have been you for a long time. Hence the Apostle
John correctly wrote that "[God] first loved us" (see 1
John 4:19).
Likewise, amid the mortal turbulence, we learn who other mortals
really are—our spiritual brothers and sisters, not functions, rivals,
or enemies. Moreover, we should have a special sanctity and
regard for human life.
"Stunners" all, these three revelations and translations
are
especially responsive to the deepest human yearnings and
puzzlements. They restructure our understanding of the nature of
God, of the universe, and likewise of our personal identity and of
life's meaning! What could be more personal than these brief but
encompassing declarations?
If Joseph Smith had been the conduit for only one
such divine revelation, it would be, standing alone, sufficient to ensure
his
prophetic greatness. Yet even though God wants to give us "all that
[He] hath," we suffer from a poverty of perceptions! (see D&C
84:38).
Little wonder that Paul commended Abraham, who "staggered not . . . [in] unbelief" (Romans
4:20). There is a risk when we
contemplate the doctrines of the Restoration that we might
"stagger" in the face of such bold and promising truths.
Given such breathtaking revelations and translations,
let us,
therefore, heed King Benjamin's counsel: "Believe in God; . . . believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the
Lord can comprehend" (Mosiah
4:9).
An omnicompetent God leaves all mortals free to choose, but how
grateful we should be that God chose long, long ago to rescue and
to resurrect all His children through the Atonement of His Son.
Nevertheless, some reject and many are indifferent to these and
other divine beckonings, mostly because they are too caught up in
the cares of the world. They are strangers to the Savior, who is far
from the thoughts and intents of their hearts (see Mosiah
5:13).
In the midst of God's plan and the universe's incredible
vastness is
incredible personalness. For example, "[God] looketh down upon
all the children of men; and he knows all the thoughts and intents
of the heart" (Alma 18:32; see also Isaiah
66:18).
Since we are thus fully accountable to Him, on Judgment Day we
cannot invoke the Fifth Amendment!
I have saved for last the preeminent revelation that truly ranks first:
the theophanies showing the reality of a resurrected Jesus Christ
who is our Savior! Beginning with the Sacred Grove, other
confirming appearances soon followed in obscure locations like
Kirtland and Hiram, and all mankind thereby received this
desperately needed confirmation.
Alas, in a secular world Jesus is regarded by many,
at best, as a
distant figure; He is even denigrated. How transcendingly special,
therefore, that the revelations of the Restoration confirm this
cosmic fact: "God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son" (John 3:16).
Jesus, who performed the "infinite atonement," thereby
suffered
infinitely and is a fully comprehending Savior, having "descended
below all things" and "comprehended all things" (2
Nephi 9:7; D&C 88:6). Yes, as in the lyrics of the moving spiritual of
yesteryear, "Nobody knows the trouble I've seen, nobody knows
but Jesus."
Brothers and sisters, the cast of players on this
planet for whom the revelations and translations are so pertinent includes
those who, in
that familiar phrase, are living "lives of quiet desperation" (see
Henry David Thoreau, Walden [1965], 7). They have now been
joined by those living lives of noisy, slurping indulgence, wrongly
celebrating their capacity to feel so that they finally lose their
capacity to feel and become "past feeling" (see Moroni
9:20; Ephesians 4:19; 1
Nephi 17:45). Hence they lick their particular
platters in a desperate search for more sensations. Such individuals,
however, are still not a majority but a "lesser part" of the people
(see Mosiah 29:26–27).
Notably, at the last day the adversary "will not support" those who
followed him anyway (see Alma
30:60). He cannot. Jesus will
triumph majestically, and the adversary's clever constructs,
"pleasing to the carnal mind," will also collapse, and "the fall
thereof will be exceedingly great" (see Alma
30:53; 1 Nephi
11:36). Even now, one can see in the lives of those prodigals who
come to themselves the devil's doctrines dripping in early
meltdown (see Luke 15:17). Many, having experienced the utter
emptiness of the lower ways, are "in a preparation to hear the
word" and now await being informed of the rescuing revelations
and translations (see Alma 32:6).
Brothers and sisters, we dare not hold back the
restored gospel's declaratives! We dare not hold back the reassuring revelations
and
truth-telling translations about "things as they really are, and . . . things as they really will be." These are so needed by those whose
weary hands hang down because they suffer from doctrinal anemia,
which can best be treated by the red blood cells of the Restoration
(see Jacob 4:13). To hold back would be to restrain repentance and
to obscure the beckoning spiritual alternative, which will become
"fair as the sun, and clear as the moon" (see D&C 105:31).
Meanwhile, let us expect that many will regard
us indifferently. Others will see us as quaint or misled. Let us bear the
pointing
fingers which, ironically, belong to those finally who, being bored,
find the "great and spacious building" to be a stale and cramped
third-class hotel (see 1
Nephi 8:31–33). Let us revile not the
revilers and heed them not (see D&C 31:9). Instead, let us use our
energy to hold up the shield of faith to quench the incoming fiery
darts—aided perhaps by a touch of spiritual Teflon (see 1
Nephi
15:24).
Brothers and sisters, given all of the foregoing, "what can I say
more" except "Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah!"
(Jacob 6:12; "Praise to the Man," Hymns, no. 27). In the name of
Jesus Christ, amen!
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