Joseph Smith - A Prophet, Seer & Revelator

Some wonder why members of the LDS Church talk about Joseph Smith so much. Maybe even some members wonder the same. Do we truly appreciate what we have because of not only the simple faith of a young 14-year old boy but his willingness to act upon the answers he received? John Taylor, who was with Joseph Smith at the time of his death, said this about him:

“Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it. … He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people; and like most of the Lord’s anointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood.”

The Lord used the Prophet Joseph Smith to restore His church again to the earth. With the restoration came so many incredible blessings - the priesthood, which includes the ordinances and covenants made available through baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost and the temple, to name a few; the Book of Mormon and other scriptures; and living prophets and apostles to lead the Church. Because a young boy had enough faith to take his questions in prayer to God, we learned so much and have so much!

In Chapter 5: Joseph Smith, Prophet of the Restoration, Howard W. Hunter declared:

“Joseph Smith was the instrument the Lord used to restore the fulness of His gospel and the authority of His priesthood. Joseph Smith was not only a great man, but he was an inspired servant of the Lord, a prophet of God.

"In the year 1820, the Lord again appeared to a prophet. This prophet, Joseph Smith, could testify of his own positive knowledge that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, a Resurrected Being, separate and distinct from the Father. He did not testify as to what he believed or what he or others thought or conjectured, but of what he knew. This knowledge came to him because God the Father and the Son appeared to him in person and spoke to him. ... The Father and the Son demonstrated the undeniable truth that they are separate and distinct personages. Indeed, the relationship of the Father and the Son was reaffirmed by the divine introduction to the boy prophet, 'This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!'”

There are many things we learn as we study the life of Joseph Smith. In the beginning, it was his simple faith to seek for answers from his Heavenly Father. In the end, his life was taken because of his unshaken faith in his Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. And all the days in between, his trusting faith carried him through many spiritually profound experiences, as well as heart-aching trials.

I think at times we take for granted that we have a living prophet and what it really means to have prophets, seers and revelators that lead the Church. In the lesson, President Hunter taught what each of those titles means.

A prophet is one who "teaches truth as revealed by the Lord to man, and under inspiration explains it to the understanding of the people, who receives revelation and direction from the Lord and who is a spokesman for the Lord ."

A seer is one who sees with spiritual eyes, who is "able to see and behold the things which pertain to God. A seer is one who sees and knows of things which are past, and also of things which are to come, and by them shall all things be revealed. . . . He is one who sees, who walks in the light of the Lord with spiritual eyes open and quickened by the power of the Holy Ghost." A seer is "privileged to have a nearer view of the divine glory and power than other mortals have."

A revelator is one who "makes known something unknown or which has been previously known by man and taken from his memory. Always the revelation deals with truth, and always it comes with the divine stamp of approval."

Joseph Smith "was dependent upon the Lord and thereby received his help and was given his instruction. His life was led by revelation."

Joseph Smith truly was a prophet, seer and revelator!

President Hunter reminded us that "Joseph knew which way he faced. It was toward the Savior Jesus Christ to whom he listened ever since our Heavenly Father first instructed young Joseph, saying, 'This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!'”

I bear my testimony that, like the Prophet Joseph, every prophet faces toward the Savior Jesus Christ and listens to His instructions. Each tells us what we need to know to return to live with our Heavenly Father. If we follow the prophets, we will be blessed! President Hunter taught that, "When we follow the path that the Lord would have us follow and learn the lessons that He would have us learn, we find that our lives are purged of all things which are contrary to the purposes of God."

The testimonies of the Prophet Joseph Smith by all the prophets in our dispensation since him are powerful. I share them with you, hoping they will strengthen your testimony of the Prophet Joseph.

Brigham Young - “I feel like shouting Hallelujah, all the time, when I think that I ever knew Joseph Smith, the Prophet whom the Lord raised up and ordained, and to whom he gave keys and power to build up the Kingdom of God on earth and sustain it. I never saw any one, until I met Joseph Smith, who could tell me anything about the character, personality and dwelling-place of God, or anything satisfactory about angels, or the relationship of man to his Maker. Yet I was as diligent as any man need to be to try and find out these things. He took heaven, figuratively speaking, and brought it down to earth; and he took the earth, brought it up, and opened up, in plainness and simplicity, the things of God; and that is the beauty of his mission. I had a testimony, long before that, that he was a Prophet of the Lord, and that was consoling. I honor and revere the name of Joseph Smith.”

John Taylor - “If there is no other man under the heavens that knows that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God I do, and I bear testimony of it to God, angels and men. I testify before God, angels, and men, that he was a good, honorable, virtuous man—that his doctrines were good, scriptural, and wholesome—that his precepts were such as became a man of God—that his private and public character was unimpeachable—and that he lived and died as a man of God and a gentleman. This is my testimony.”

Wilford Woodruff - “I bear my testimony that Joseph Smith was a true Prophet of God, ordained of God to lay the foundation of His Church and kingdom in the last dispensation and fulness of times. … I do not believe there ever was a man … that was more closely united and associated with God the Father, and God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, than the Prophet Joseph Smith. The power of revelation was with him from the day that he was called to receive the Priesthood up to the time when he was martyred. … He was united with the Lord; he was united with the Holy Ghost; he was united with the angels in heaven."

Lorenzo Snow - "I received a perfect knowledge that there was a God, that Jesus, who died upon Calvary, was His Son, and that Joseph the Prophet had received the authority which he professed to have. The satisfaction and the glory of that manifestation no language can express! I could now testify to the whole world that I knew, by positive knowledge, that the Gospel of the Son of God had been restored, and that Joseph was a Prophet of God, authorized to speak in His name. I know that Joseph Smith was a true Prophet of the living God. I testify that he saw and spoke with God and with His Son Jesus Christ. The Lord gave me this living testimony and it has been burning within my soul ever since I received it. I now give it unto the whole world."

Joseph F. Smith - "I declare unto you in all candor, and in all earnestness of soul, that I believe with all my heart in the divine mission of Joseph Smith, the Prophet, that I am convinced in every fiber of my being that God raised him up to restore to the earth the gospel of Christ, which is indeed the power of God unto salvation. I testify to you that Joseph Smith was instrumental in the hand of the Lord in restoring God’s truth to the world, and also the holy Priesthood, which is his authority delegated unto man. I know this is true, and I testify of it to you. To me it is all-in-all; it is my life, it is my light; it is my hope, and my joy.”

Heber J. Grant - “I bear witness to you that I do know that God lives, that he hears and answers prayer; that Jesus is the Christ, the Redeemer of the world; that Joseph Smith was and is a prophet of the true and living God; and that Brigham Young and those who have succeeded him were, and are, likewise prophets of God.“I do not have the language at my command to express the gratitude to God for this knowledge that I possess. Time and time again my heart has been melted, my eyes have wept tears of gratitude for the knowledge that he lives and that this gospel called Mormonism is in very deed the plan of life and salvation, that it is in very deed the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. No man ever had more real joy in testifying of his knowledge that God lives and that Jesus is the Christ, and that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God, than I have had. I rejoice in it.”

George Albert Smith - “Many of the benefits and blessings that have come to me have come through that man who gave his life for the gospel of Jesus Christ. There have been some who have belittled him, but I would like to say that those who have done so will be forgotten and their remains will go back to mother earth, if they have not already gone, and the odor of their infamy will never die, while the glory and honor and majesty and courage and fidelity manifested by the Prophet Joseph Smith will attach to his name forever.”

David O. McKay - "I have an abiding testimony that the Father and the Son appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith. The gospel of Jesus Christ, as revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith, is in very deed in every way the power of God unto salvation. It gives to every man the perfect life here, and through obedience to gospel principles it gives us eternal life. ”

Joseph Fielding Smith - “I have always been very grateful for the testimony coming to me through the Spirit of the Lord that Joseph Smith, the Prophet of God, was called to stand at the head of the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times. There is no doubt in my mind that the Lord raised the Prophet Joseph Smith up and gave him revelation, commandment, opened the heavens to him, and called upon him to stand at the head of this glorious dispensation. I am perfectly satisfied in my mind that in his youth, when he went out to pray, he beheld and stood in the actual presence of God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ; in my mind there is no doubt—I know this to be true. "

Harold B. Lee - "From the depths of my soul, I … know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of the living God. I know that he lived and died to bring to this generation the means by which salvation could be gained. I know that he sits in a high place and holds the keys of this last dispensation. I know that for those who follow him and listen to his teachings and accept him as a true prophet of God and his revelations and teachings as the word of God, the gates of hell will not prevail against them."

Spencer W. Kimball - "I now add my personal and solemn testimony that God, the Eternal Father, and the risen Lord, Jesus Christ, appeared to the boy Joseph Smith. I testify that the Book of Mormon bears testimony of the living reality of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Savior and Redeemer of mankind. I testify that the holy priesthood, with authority to act in the name of God, was restored to the earth and that the power and authority of those various divine bestowals are among us today. Of these things I bear solemn witness to all within the sound of my voice."

Ezra Taft Benson - "I testify to you that Joseph Smith was and is a prophet of God, one of the truly great prophets of all time, a man of destiny, a man of character, a man of courage, a man of deep spirituality, a God-like prophet of the Lord, a truly noble and great one of all time."

Howard W. Hunter - "I am grateful for my membership in the Church, and my testimony of its divinity hinges upon the simple story of the lad under the trees kneeling and receiving heavenly visitors—not one God, but two separate individual personages, the Father and the Son, revealing again to the earth the personages of the Godhead. My faith and testimony hinges upon this simple story, for if it is not true, Mormonism falls. If it is true—and I bear witness that it is—it’s one of the greatest single events in all history. I bear solemn testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith as the Lord’s anointed servant in these the latter days. To his testimony of the divinity and reality of Jesus Christ I add my own."

Gordon B. Hinckley - "I thank the Lord for the knowledge He has given me that Joseph Smith was a prophet of the living God. I thank my Father in Heaven for the testimony I have of the reality of the First Vision. I have stood among the trees where Joseph knelt as a boy, and heard the whisperings of the Spirit that it happened as he said it happened."

Thomas S. Monson - "I know he was God’s prophet, chosen to restore the gospel of Jesus Christ in these latter days. I pray that we may learn from his life. May we incorporate into our own lives the divine principles which he so beautifully taught—by example—that we, ourselves, might live more completely the gospel of Jesus Christ."

President Hunter offered us all this challenge, "As we commemorate this great prophet and reflect upon his life, ... have gratitude in our hearts for the things which have come into our lives by reason of his seership and his revelation to us—a choice seer, raised up by the Lord to guide us in these latter days, that we might turn our footsteps back to those paths which will lead us to exaltation and eternal life."

We have so much to be grateful to the Prophet Joseph for! I cannot imagine my life without the blessings that have come because of my membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! My understanding of the Savior, His life, His Atonement and His resurrection have brought unspeakable peace to my life! Neal A. Maxwell, in a talk given in April 1992 said this about Joseph Smith, "Joseph could not have accomplished what he did if he had not become consecrated and spiritually submissive." Our challange is to become more consecrated and spirutally submissive so we will be able to, as President Hunter prayed, "turn our footsteps back to those paths which lead us to exaltation and eternal life."