Lesson: The Church of Jesus Christ Today

Gospel Principles, Lesson 17
The Church of Jesus Christ Today

By Marie Tiller

It's this simple. When you talk to your friends about the church help them see...Christ established a church...men changed it...Christ restored it once again.

The church in the former days

When Jesus lived on the earth, He established His Church, the only true Church.

He organized His Church so the truths of the gospel could be taught to all people and the ordinances of the gospel could be administered correctly with authority.

Through this organization, Christ could bring the blessings of salvation to mankind.

The church in the latter days

On April 6, 1830, the Savior again directed the organizing of His Church on the earth.

His Church is called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Christ is the head of His Church today, just as He was in ancient times. The Lord has said that it is “the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth, with which I, the Lord, am well pleased”.

Joseph Smith was sustained as prophet and “first elder” of the Church. Later the First Presidency was organized, and he was sustained as President. When the Church was first organized, only the framework was set up. The organization would develop as the Church continued to grow.

The Church was organized with the same offices as were in the ancient Church. That organization included apostles, prophets, seventies, evangelists (patriarchs), pastors (presiding officers), high priests, elders, bishops, priests, teachers, and deacons. These same offices are in His Church today.

The truths in both times
The Church today teaches the same principles and performs the same ordinances as were performed in the days of Jesus. The first principles and ordinances of the gospel are faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism by immersion, and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Through the gift and power of God, Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon, which contains the plain and precious truths of the gospel. Many other revelations followed and have been recorded as scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price.

Other important truths that the Lord restored include the following:

1. Our Heavenly Father is a real being with a tangible, perfected body of flesh and bones, and so is Jesus Christ. The Holy Ghost is a personage of spirit.
   
2. We existed in premortal life as spirit children of God.
   
3. The priesthood is necessary to administer the ordinances of the gospel.
   
4. We will be punished for our own sins and not for Adam’s transgression.
   
5. Children do not need to be baptized until they are accountable (eight years old).
   
6. There are three kingdoms of glory in the heavens, and through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, people will be rewarded according to their actions on earth and according to the desires of their hearts.
   
7. Family relationships can be eternal through the sealing power of the priesthood.
   
8. Ordinances and covenants are required for salvation and are available for both the living and the dead.

How have these truths influenced you and others?

e

Lesson Recap: Praise to the Man

Joseph Smith, Lesson 47
Latter-day Prophets Bear Witness of Joseph Smith

Since the time of Brigham Young, each of the prophets who has presided over the Church has testified of the remarkable mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

The testimonies of ancient and modern prophets join together to proclaim that Joseph Smith was the instrument through whom God restored the fulness of the gospel for the blessing of “the whole human family, from eternity to eternity.

Foreordained to his prophetic calling
Brigham Young
Joseph Smith was foreordained in eternity to preside over this last dispensation.

Joseph Fielding Smith
No prophet since the days of Adam, save, of course, our Redeemer, has been given a greater mission.

Ezra Taft Benson
The Prophet Joseph Smith was not only ‘one of the noble and great ones,’ but he gave and continues to give attention to important matters here on the earth even today from the realms above.

You
How does your understanding of Joseph Smith's earthly mission change when you view it in the light of eternity?

First Vision Fundamental to Our Testimonies
Joseph F. Smith
The greatest event that has ever occurred in the world since the resurrection of the Son of God...was the coming of the Father and of the Son to that boy Joseph Smith, to prepare the way for the laying of the foundation of God’s kingdom.

Heber J. Grant
Either Joseph Smith did see God and did converse with Him, and God Himself did introduce Jesus Christ to the boy ...or Mormonism is a myth. And Mormonism is not a myth!

Howard W. Hunter
My testimony...hinges upon the simple story of the lad under the trees kneeling and receiving heavenly visitors...it is one of the greatest single events in all history.

David O. McKay
The appearing of the Father and the Son to Joseph Smith is the foundation of this Church...What God is, is answered.

Ezra Taft Benson
If we do not accept this truth…if we have not received a witness about this great revelation, we cannot inspire faith in those whom we lead.

George Albert Smith
When the boy prophet, in the woods of Palmyra, saw the Father and the Son...there was a connection between the heavens and the earth.

You
What has helped you gain a testimony of the First Vision?

Taught by God and Angels
John Taylor
He was ignorant of letters as the world has it, but the most profoundly learned and intelligent man that I ever met in my life.

Wilford Woodruff
The Prophet of God was administered to by the angels of heaven. They were his teachers, they were his instructors, and all that he did...was by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Lorenzo Snow
Joseph Smith, whom God chose to establish this work, was poor and uneducated...but God had called him to deliver the poor and honest-hearted of all nations from their spiritual and temporal bondage.

Harold B. Lee
Joseph, the man, could not have done this, but Joseph, actuated by the power of Almighty God, could and did perform the miraculous service of bringing forth the kingdom out of obscurity in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

David O. McKay
Joseph Smith’s greatness consists in divine inspiration.

Howard W. Hunter
We praise Joseph Smith for his capacity to commune not only with Jehovah but also with other personages of heaven. So many visited, gave keys, and tutored that ‘choice seer’...Through him, it has been estimated, more marvelous pages of scripture passed than through any other human in history.

You
As you seek spiritual knowledge, how can you follow Joseph Smith's example?

Called of God to Restore the Gospel
Spencer W. Kimball
The foreverness of this kingdom and the revelations which it brought into existence are absolute realities. Never again will the sun go down; never again will all men prove totally unworthy of communication with their Maker. Never again will God be hidden from his children on the earth. Revelation is here to remain.

Gordon B. Hinckley
There are those doubters who have strained to explain this remarkable organization as the product of the times in which he lived. That organization, I submit, was as peculiar, as unique, and as remarkable then as it is today. It was not the product of the times. It came as a revelation from God.

Joseph F. Smith
...he was called of God to introduce the Gospel to the world, to restore the holy priesthood to the children of men, to organize the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the world, and to restore all the ordinances of the Gospel, for the salvation not only of the living, but also of the dead, and he was called to this mission by God Himself.

You
Think about how your life would be different if you did not know of the restored gospel. Why are you thankful for Joseph Smith and his mission?

His work blesses all

Joseph F. Smith
The work in which Joseph Smith was engaged...is not something which relates to man only while he tabernacles in the flesh, but to the whole human family from eternity to eternity.

Joseph Fielding Smith
In the same way that I know Jesus is the Christ–and that is by revelation from the Holy Spirit—I know that Joseph Smith is and was and everlastingly shall be a prophet of God.

Gordon B. Hinckley
The glorious work, begun by him who was killed at Carthage, has grown in a miraculous and wonderful way…The testimonies which were sealed [there]... now nurture the faith of people around the world.

You
How have you and your family who has gone before and your family yet to be been blessed by the work of Joseph Smith?

A seer shall the Lord my God raise up, who shall be a choice seer unto the fruit of my loins. … And his name shall be called after me; and it shall be after the name of his father. And he shall be like unto me; for the thing, which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand, by the power of the Lord shall bring my people unto salvation. 2 Nephi 3:6, 15;

 Ellen

Lesson Recap: The Wentworth Letter

The Wentworth Letter

Taught by Marie Tiller

Significantly, it is the first time that Joseph Smith himself published an account of his First Vision.

"As Mr. Barstow had taken the proper steps to obtain correct information, all that I shall ask at his hands, is, that he publish the account entire, ungarnished, and without misrepresentation." Ultimately Barstow did not include the account in the history of New Hampshire, but we value the document immensely.

It is an original account by Joseph Smith testifying of his sacred call from God, his visions, and his ministry and teachings. It recounts the rise and growth of the Church and the persecutions of the Saints. It contains a prophetic declaration of the Church’s future success in the earth under the protective hand of the Great Jehovah. It also contains several important details not found elsewhere in the Prophet’s teachings, including a description of the gold plates and a sketch of the contents of the Book of Mormon. Concluding with the 13 declarations of Church doctrine now called the Articles of Faith, it stands as a powerful witness of the divine calling of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

Marie asked how we present the Joseph Smith story to others when it may sound fantastic to them and what significance does it have in our lives. Several sisters commented on how it is the center of what we believe and that to embrace it is to embrace the whole of the restoration. Mary Louise said that as a convert when she read that Joseph said, "For I had seen a vision; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it" this had a great effect on her and her growing testimony.

Today we see varying reports of the church both positive and negative. But we know just as Joseph testified, "nothing can stop the progress of truth."

At the end of the letter Joseph sums up the fundamental doctrines and principles of our religion in 13 brief statements we now refer to at the Articles of Faith.

1. We believe in God the eternal Father, and in His Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.
2. We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.
3. We believe that through the atonement of Christ all mankind may be saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.
4. We believe that the first principle and ordinances of the Gospel are: (1) Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; (2) Repentance; (3) Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; (4) Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
5. We believe that a man must be called of God by prophecy and by the laying on of hands, by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.
6. We believe in the same organization that existed in the primitive Church, viz.: apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, etc.
7. We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, etc.
8. We believe the Bible to be the word of God, as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.
9. We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
10. We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion will be built upon this [the American] continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.
11. We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.
12. We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.
13. We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul, We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report, or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

When you have friends and family "take the proper steps to obtain correct information" share the Wentworth letter!