A PROPHET'S BURDEN

 

God has always spoken through prophets. They have always been on the earth to cry repentance, to direct the work of God and to lead people to Christ. They have been listened to, followed, rejected, and even stoned and killed (Matthew 23:37).

Generally, when the world looks back on the prophets of old, they do not remember them as humans with flaws and imperfections. They revere them because they were rejected, reviled and killed and  because they are canonized in the scriptures……except for Joseph.

It would seem that the jaws of hell opened when Joseph was called to be the prophet of this dispensation but what a witness he became of the burden these men carry that even leads them to death!

Dispensations have come and gone and with them the prophets at their head that we now revere: Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Peter but this ‘dispensation of the fulness of times’ in which the Lord will ‘gather together in one all things in Christ’ (Eph 1:10) is still here with Joseph at its head, but not revered yet. Nevertheless, this the Lord proclaimed himself: “This generation shall have my word through you” (D&C 5:10).

It would seem that Joseph’s greatest fault, according to the world, was the non-disclosure of the golden plates. Even now, as in Joseph’s time, some people demand to see the plates for themselves as proof of the Book of Mormon authenticity. They ask if the Church still has the plates or if they are at some museum. When told that Moroni took them back, this automatically becomes proof for them that the Book of Mormon was made up by the pen of Joseph Smith.

“We have learned that people are not converted by miracles or by examining records. If the Lord had placed the plates where the scholars could examine them, they would have scoffed at them just as much as they do today…..

“The Jews witnessed the miracles of our Lord, but this did not prevent them from crying out against Him and having Him crucified”. (President Joseph Fielding Smith, Church History and Modern Revelation, 1:39-40).

President Smith went on to say that people are only converted by their hearts ‘being penetrated by the Spirit of the Lord’. Whether it is because of disbelief or lack of motivation to seek the witness of the spirit, people prefer tangible proof of spiritual matters. However, the fact remains that seeing proof of something can be forgotten but spiritual conversion lasts forever.

I have noticed when someone criticizes what I have written, I ask them to look up the scriptures I have quoted which support my point but they never do. It just seems like too much effort.

To get the conviction of the Spirit though, effort is very much needed. Even the Holy Ghost cannot bear witness if the individual does not allow Him to penetrate his heart:

“The power of the Spirit carries the message UNTO but not necessarily INTO the heart. A teacher can explain, demonstrate, persuade, and testify, and do so with great spiritual power and effectiveness.”

“Ultimately, however, the content of a message and the witness of the Holy Ghost penetrate into the heart only if a receiver allows them to enter. Learning by faith opens the pathway into the heart.”

-        Elder David A. Bednar, “Seek Learning By Faith”, Ensign Sept 2007, 61-68)

Nephi proved this to be true when he said he wasn’t mighty in writing like he was in speaking because when he spoke, the Holy Ghost was with him but the Holy Ghost could only carry his words UNTO ‘the hearts of the children of men’ but because there are many who harden their hearts’ they never receive the witness (2 Nephi 33:1).

I look forward to the day when Joseph will be revered as much as the prophets of the earlier dispensations, when people will have a witness of his divine calling.  Sometimes I feel so sorry for him that I want to shout loud enough for him to hear in the spirit world: “I believe you!!!”

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Revelation Given to Joseph Smith at the Organisation of the Church by Judith A. Mehr)

 

IN DERISION

 

I wonder if Joseph Smith really understood angel Moroni when he told him that his name will be had for good and evil among all nations and that his name will be spoken of as such among all people (JSH 1:33).

I have seen many strong, valiant people fall away from the Church because of Joseph Smith. When their  expectations of his perfection failed them, they concluded the Church could not be true. They disregarded the testimonies they had of the Book of Mormon and spiritual witnesses  they had that led them to the pulpit to bear their testimonies month after month.

This is how the world can mislead you…..some inactives believe that Joseph was not a true martyr because he attempted to protect and save himself from the mob that killed him. A true martyr, they reason is someone who voluntarily goes to his death. This is today’s meaning of the word ‘martyr’ (see the Dictionary).

The word’s origin is Greek, however, and it literally meant a ‘witness’: “He assumes the obligation to be a witness, knowing full well what that dangerous duty entails” (“Against the Christian Door” by Andrew Knaupp). Therefore, a martyr is really someone who will not deny his religious beliefs even as Joseph didn’t when he went to Carthage as ‘a lamb to slaughter’ knowing full well he would not return (D&C 135:4).

I investigated the Church when I was 17. I never had a problem with the first vision or with Joseph Smith. I believed it all. It took some 30 years for me to question that testimony when I saw my friends leaving. I went looking for evidence that Joseph Smith was indeed the prophet that I believed him to be rather than looking for proofs that he wasn’t one, like my friends did. You find what you look for.

I started recording impressive proofs of Joseph Smith’s prophetic validity as I studied the scriptures. My list is still going because I find it so fascinating. It is extensive and impressive. If only people would listen to the whisperings of the spirit rather than the whisperings of the world.

My list however, was not what solidified my testimony of Joseph. It came when I had started my list and I had to do a history assignment for my degree. I chose to write about Church history. I read many things on line about Joseph and polygamy, in particular, to the point of alarm. It drove me to my knees in tears begging God to understand.

What happened is something I did not expect. During my prayer I was “shown” Joseph’s heart. I could literally see and understand what was in it. I knew that all that Joseph did was from the goodness of his heart. I also saw the early Church members around him all dressed in white. I could feel how much they loved him and held him in high regard, blaming him for nothing.

Now when I am confronted with someone’s derision of Joseph, I tell them that God himself would have to come down and tell me that he is a bad man. The spiritual witness I received is iron clad.

When in the Missouri jail, Joseph cried out in misery to God, and the Lord answered: “The ends of the earth shall inquire after thy name and fools shall have thee in derision, and hell shall rage against thee; while the pure in heart, and the wise, and the noble, and the virtuous, shall seek counsel and authority and blessings constantly from under thy hand.” (D&C 122:1-2)

I am happy to be one of the pure in heart, and the wise, and the noble, and the virtuous, who believe……

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Joseph Smith's Last Dream by Jon McNaughton)

 

THE SACRED ROAD TO EMMAUS

 

 

 

“Did not our hearts burn within us…….while he opened to us the scriptures?” was the heartfelt reflection of two believers who enjoyed the company of the resurrected Christ on the road to a village called Emmaus (Luke 24:32). 

 

The story goes that the Saviour joined two men, post resurrection, travelling to Emmaus, who were discussing the hottest topic of the day, His possible resurrection. The travellers told Him they ‘trusted’ the Galilean was the Messiah who would redeem Israel but were now sceptical because He had died (v 21). The Saviour was gracious even though He chided them for their unbelief (v 25). He then expounded to them all that was prophesied of Him ‘beginning at Moses and all the prophets’ (v27). His point was, ‘how is it that you know the scriptures but you don’t believe them’??? Indeed, many who were witnesses of His mortal mission did not believe Him because they did not understand the scriptures which testified of Him and what He would do as the Redeemer and Saviour of the world. 

 

Luke tells us that these disciples’ eyes were restrained from knowing Him (v 16a). Could it be that it was more important for Jesus that they believed on Him through the scriptures than through showing them His resurrected body? Did He not say to Thomas, 'blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed'? (John 20:29)

The lesson is this: the ‘burn’ comes from only one place: The Holy Ghost. The lesson is also this: the Saviour is in our midst STILL through the medium of The Holy Ghost. It is he who can open our eyes and our hearts so that we will not only believe but KNOW Christ. And where is the Christ most if not in the scriptures? If we study the scriptures without the presence of the Holy Ghost we are just building upon our knowledge and not our testimony. We need to feel ‘the burn’ to know. We all know what we must do to be worthy of his sacred companionship. As you travel on your personal road to Emmaus may the scriptures be burnt upon the tablets of your heart and may you know, and not just believe, that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Saviour of the world. He is the Resurrection and the life. He is the Redeemer of your soul. He is the road…… 

 

 

I gave you My all:

My heart, my body, my soul.

I paved the way

And conquered death.

I am in your midst;

I am the only,

I am the last,

And I am the first.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: The Road to Emmaus by Liz Lemon Swindle)