{"chapter_no":"29","chapter_title":"A Great and Marvelous Work","book_id":"2","book_name":"The Story of James","subchapter_no":"0","page_no":"325","page_number":"1","verses_count":0,"total_pages":4,"page_content":"

 <\/p>

Chapter 29<\/p>

A Great and Marvelous Work<\/h1><\/p>

 <\/p>

The <\/i>restored Church of Jesus Christ<\/i> was established by a miracle—<\/i>D&C<\/i> sections<\/i> <\/i>76 and <\/i>132
provide the greatest <\/i>hope for<\/i> the future of<\/i> mankind<\/i>––It's no coincidence that <\/i>Latter-day Saints<\/i> are great
neighbors<\/i>.<\/i><\/p>

 <\/p>

 <\/p>

 <\/p>

As members of the Church in these latter days, we often think of miracles as something
only intended by the Lord for those living in olden times:<\/p>

 <\/p>

Oh, that we could have lived during Old Testament <\/i>times or<\/i> during <\/i>Book of Mormon<\/i>
times! We could have witnessed the great miracles with our own eyes and heard the revelations
firsthand<\/i>. T<\/i>hen we would believe.<\/i><\/p>

 <\/p>

Oh, that we could have been living during the time of <\/i>Christ or<\/i> the ministry of the <\/i>T<\/i>welve <\/i>
A<\/i>postles! We could have seen the great miracles performed by Jesus firsthand and hear<\/i>d the
teachings of His apostles. T<\/i>hen we would believe.<\/i><\/p>

 <\/p>

Oh, that we could have lived during the 1830s<\/i> and 1840s<\/i> in the first decades of <\/i>the
Church<\/i>! We could <\/i>have witnessed<\/i> the great visions, miracles, and <\/i>revelations first<\/i> hand. T<\/i>hen
we <\/i>would believe<\/i>.<\/i><\/p>

 <\/p>

The triggering event in 1820, the First Vision, the means by which the Church was later
fully restored to the earth, was both a revelation and a miracle of the highest order. By the power
of the Holy Ghost, we bear testimony of this fact to everyone who will hear us. We believe it and
we testify of it. The same was equally true of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, the
Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. Miraculous events individually in their
own right, we hold these books in our hands, along with the Bible, as we walk to church every
Sunday. <\/p>

 <\/p>

And it must be said that the anger and disrespect on the part of some towards Joseph
Smith, as founder of the Church on earth, and as the first prophet called of Jesus Christ in this
dispensation, is one of the great tragedies of the modern world. But we should not be
discouraged, for we need only look at the manner in which Christ Himself came into the world,
and the humble circumstances surrounding his birth. Great things come from very small
beginnings when the Lord is involved!<\/p>

Why is Joseph Smith's name had for evil among so many? In reality, all men should hope
that Joseph Smith's testimony is true, for it offers the greatest outlook for the future of humanity
ever recorded. The knowledge concerning life after death revealed to the world via Joseph Smith
in the 1830s and 1840s gladdens the heart like no other. Here are eight of these important truths
that were restored to the earth through Joseph:<\/p>

 <\/p>

(1) An understanding that married couples and families can be sealed together forever in
celestial glory through obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel.<\/p>

 <\/p>

(2) An understanding that, following the resurrection and the Final Judgment, there are
three degrees of glory in heaven available to the souls of man––the celestial kingdom, the
terrestrial kingdom, and the telestial kingdom––and not just the old sectarian notion of one
heaven and hell; that within the celestial kingdom itself, there are three degrees of glory, the
highest of which any and all men and women born into this earth may enter into if they are
worthy; and that the glory of even the telestial kingdom, the lesser reward, surpasses all
understanding.<\/p>

 <\/p>

(3) An understanding that there is a temporary state of the soul, a space of time between
the death of the mortal body and the resurrection of the body, a world of spirits where the
righteous exist in a state of peace and happiness, and where the gospel is preached to those who
have yet to hear it, as well as to those who rejected it while in this life. <\/p>

 <\/p>

(4) An understanding that, in the resurrection, a perfect, glorified body of flesh and bones
is bestowed upon each one of us, regardless of whether we are good or evil.<\/p>

 <\/p>

(5) An understanding that the same sociality we enjoy today on earth can be enjoyed
forever by us in the eternal world, and that the knowledge we obtain while on this earth will rise
with us in the resurrection.<\/p>

 <\/p>

(6) An understanding that the terms \"eternal punishment\" and \"endless punishment,\"
often referred to in the scriptures, were spoken, both by the Lord and through His prophets, to
work upon the hearts of men. These words should not be understood to mean there will be no
end to the punishment.<\/p>

 <\/p>

(7) An understanding that those who die without a knowledge of the true, restored gospel
of Jesus Christ, and who would have received it with all their hearts, will obtain all of the same
blessings in the eternal world as those who are faithful and accept the gospel while in this life.<\/p>

 <\/p>

(8) An understanding that we have the chance, as sons and daughters of God, to receive
all that the Father has, to grow and develop in the celestial kingdom with eternal increase, a
continuation of the seeds forever and ever.<\/p>

 <\/p>

The very detailed description of exaltation found in D&C sections 76 and 132 exceeds in
power, glory, and happiness anything ever contemplated by any other serious religion of the
world, past or present. The rather vague ideas about life after death, those that have developed
over centuries in the Christian world through biblical interpretation, pale in comparison. The <\/p>

truth is that Heavenly Father's plan of salvation for mankind is actually more beautiful and
glorious than that which man himself has ever been able to conceive!<\/p>

 <\/p>

Why then is it so hard for the world to accept that in 1820, at the young and innocent age
of fourteen, Joseph Smith was called of God to be the first prophet in this, the final dispensation
of the earth?<\/p>

 <\/p>

Were not his parents, grandparents, and great grandparents from among the same fine
stock of good Christian men and women of the 1700s that helped establish this great country of
ours? The same era of honorable Americans who brought George Washington and Abraham
Lincoln into the world?<\/p>

 <\/p>

And being so young, was not Joseph willing to go speedily and join himself with any of
the existing Christian churches of his day if the Lord were so to direct him––to the Baptists, to
the Methodists, to the Lutherans, to the Catholics, and so on? He was hardly looking to establish
a church of his own or to introduce new volumes of scripture to the world. <\/p>

 <\/p>

If the apostle Paul––or any other great apostle or prophet from the Bible––had been a
young boy of fourteen in 1820 (born many centuries later in world history), and had gone to pray
in a grove of trees in Palmyra, New York seeking the truth about religions of the day, and had, in
the process of which, seen the same vision of God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, as was
attested to by Joseph, and had subsequently brought forward new revelation and new scriptures,
wouldn’t he have been rejected as well? Rejected, in fact, by all of the religious leaders and
teachers of Joseph Smith's day and of our day? The answer is yes. That’s the sad truth. Paul, as
an apostle/prophet in the 1820s and 1830s, or as an apostle/prophet today, would be firmly
rejected by most all of the same good people around us who firmly espouse belief in the Bible.
Why is this? Because modern revelation from God doesn't fit in with their understanding of the
gospel of Jesus Christ.<\/p>

 <\/p>

Being a little intellectually lazy, many opponents of the Church tend to look for obvious
examples of false prophets or apostate groups in today's world (like the ones who provide
interesting stories on slow cable news days or make fabulous characters for reality TV programs)
and then say to us, “See there! False prophet! That’s what 1820 was all about. It's the same
thing!” Their chosen rule of thumb is that it’s okay for religious leaders to fill important roles in
society with secondhand knowledge of God, but not actual prophets and apostles called of
God—men who have been ordained with the proper priesthood authority, and who actually
receive direct revelation from God that is ready to be canonized and become scripture like the
Bible itself.<\/p>

 <\/p>

Many of our day have built up an image of the restored Church of Jesus Christ in their
minds that is comfortable for them, and that is sometimes unflattering based on silly, untrue, and
on occasion, even true characterizations of us, allowing them to keep on believing and doing
things as they have always done without their consciences bothering them. But this image of the
Church engraved in their hearts is not of God; it’s of their own making, or the making of other
men or women of past generations that has been passed down to them.<\/p>

There is one simple fact that people worldwide know about Latter-day Saints—they are
among the kindest and most Christian people who walk the earth today, speaking of the members
of the Church collectively as a group and not individually. The teachings of Christ in the Book of
Mormon are the reason why. The book and this people of God are the precious fruit that has
come about from a young boy of fourteen being called of God in 1820 to bear witness to the
world, following after the order of Adam, Enoch, Noah, Melchizedek, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
Joseph, Moses, Isaiah, and Elijah, as well as all of the other prophets and apostles known to us
from the Bible in the eastern hemisphere, and from the Book of Mormon in the western
hemisphere. <\/p>

 <\/p>

It’s no secret, it’s no accident, and it’s no coincidence that Latter-day Saints are widely
known as great neighbors and great people. Joseph Smith was an instrument in the hands of the
Lord to help make all of this happen and today it’s visible for all the world to see.<\/p>"}