Transcript

[MUSIC PLAYING--"A POOR WAYFARING MAN OF GRIEF"] (SINGING) A poor, wayfaring man of grief hath often crossed me on my way, who sued so humbly for relief that I could never answer nay. I had not pow'r to ask his name, whereto he went or whence he came-- [GRUNTS] Hold the door, men. [GUNSHOT] Come on! Stand back! [INAUDIBLE].

Hyrum! [GUNSHOTS] No!

Come on, come on!

[GUNSHOT] The Mormons are coming. The Mormons are coming.

Let's go!

Take me. Oh. Tom.

To seal the testimony of this book and the Book of Mormon, we announce the martyrdom of Joseph Smith the Prophet, and Hyrum Smith the Patriarch. 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.

Joseph, I am willing to forget we ever had this conversation if you will never speak of such blasphemous things again. But it's true. God does not speak to men in this age. Not to you, not to anyone. But He does. He spoke to me. Even if God were to speak to someone in this day, and I'm not saying He would, why would He choose to speak to a common farm boy like you? I suppose because I sought Him out. Joseph, listen to what you're saying. It's madness. It's the talk of the devil. There are no revelations or visions in these days. Such things ended with the Apostles. But it's true, sir. As I live, it is true. God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to me.

This is heresy. Ho! And I will hear no more of it.

Mark my words, Joseph Smith, no good will come from this.

[MUSIC PLAYING] I had actually seen a light, and in the midst of that light I saw two Personages, and they did in reality speak to me; and though I was hated and persecuted for saying that I had seen a vision, yet it was true. I knew it, and I knew that God knew it. [MUSIC PLAYING] These were days never to be forgotten-- to sit under the sound of a voice dictated by the inspiration of heaven. Day after day I continued, uninterrupted, to write from his mouth as he translated the history or record called the Book of Mormon. [MUSIC PLAYING] My heart was there from the time I became acquainted with the Book of Mormon. From the first time I read this volume of volumes, even until now, I have been struck with a kind of sacred joy. What a wonderful volume, and what a glorious treasure. By that book, I learned the right way to God. By that book, I received the fulness of the everlasting gospel. I found the new covenant, a key to the holy prophets, and by that book began to unfold the mysteries of God. And I was made glad. The knowledge it contains is desirable. The doctrine it teaches is from the blessed Savior. On a certain day, Oliver and I went into the woods to pray and inquire of the Lord respecting baptism for the remission of sins that we found mentioned in the translation of the plates.

"Upon you, my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah, I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins." [MUSIC PLAYING] We now call upon you to manifest whether you accept us to be your teachers in the things of the kingdom of God. We also call upon you to manifest your consent that we perceive to organize as a Church according-- We attended to our business of organizing, according to the laws of the land, the Church acknowledging us six elders as their ministers.

This Church is the most glorious fabric that was ever established upon the face of the earth because it is God's Church. It is the Church of Jesus Christ, unparalleled by anything else. Such is the Church and such the organization that the Prophet Joseph was the means in the hands of God of restoring once more to the earth. He laid the foundation of this work. [MUSIC PLAYING] The veil was taken from our minds. "I have accepted this house, and my name shall be here; and I will manifest myself to my people in mercy in this house." And Moses appeared unto us and committed unto us the keys of the gathering of Israel. After this, Elias appeared and committed the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham. After this vision had closed, another great and glorious vision burst upon us, Elijah the prophet. Therefore, the keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands. Baptism for the dead was much dwelled upon-- the absolute necessity of the completion of the temple, that the ordinances might be administered to the living, and through the living for the dead. I ask, who understood anything about these things until Joseph, being inspired from on high, touched the key and unlocked the door of these mysteries of the kingdom? The Apostle Paul has written, "Neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord." It was Joseph Smith who taught me how to prize the enduring relationships of father and mother, husband and wife, of brother and sister, son and daughter, and that the refined sympathies and affections which endeared us to each other emanated from the foundation of eternal love. It was from him we learned that we might cultivate these affections and grow and increase in the same to all eternity, while the result of our endless union would be an offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven.

I remember the last speech that Joseph gave us before his death. --on the face of the earth. These principles, and this priesthood and power, belong to this great and last dispensation, which God in Heaven has set His hand to establish in the earth.

I have sealed upon your heads every key, every power, every principle which the Lord has sealed upon my head. The keys of the kingdom are planted on the earth to be taken away no more, forever.

Brethren, you have many storms to pass through, and many, many sore trials await you.

If you are called upon to lay down your lives, die like men. Should you have to walk right into danger and even the jaws of death, fear no evil. Jesus Christ has died for you.

Now, round up your shoulders and stand under it like men, for the Lord is going to let me rest a while.

[MUSIC PLAYING] Joseph 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. "No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing. Persecutions may rage. Mobs may combine. But the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every climb, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done."

Joseph Smith—Prophet of the Restoration

Description
(D&C 135) This review of the Prophet Joseph Smith's ministry shows that he "has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world."
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