2 Ne 3:6 he shall do a work…which shall be of great worth unto them

LeGrand Richards

“Josiah Quincy, former mayor of Boston, had met the prophet Joseph Smith and was impressed with the fact that the world would yet have to account for his claims that he was a prophet sent of God:

“’It is by no means improbable that some future textbook, for the use of generations yet unborn, will contain a question something like this: What historical American of the nineteenth century has exerted the most powerful influence upon the destinies of his countrymen? And it is my no means impossible that the answer to that interrogatory may be thus written: Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet…’ (Josiah Quincy, Figure of the Past, Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1883, p. 376)

“…To provide a brief summation, we will mention some of the great truths upon which the Lord has shed his divine light through the instrumentality of the Prophet Joseph Smith:

1.    The true personality of God

2.    Man’s true relationship to God

3.    The proper foundation of the gospel

a.    Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ

b.    Repentance

c.    Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins

d.    Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost

4.    An understanding of the difference between the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods (Hebrews 7:11-12)

5.    An understanding of the different offices in these two priesthoods; the duties of each, the number required to form a quorum, etc.

6.    The proper organization of the Church and its purpose

7.    The correct name that the Church of Jesus Christ should bear

8.    That the followers of Christ’s church were and should be called ‘saints’

9.    Where we came from and that we lived before we were born

10. Why we are here upon the earth

11. The three degrees of Glory and what one must do to prepare for celestial glory

12. Who are to come forth in the first resurrection, and that the rest of the dead are not to come forth until the end of the thousand years, which will be the great judgment day

13. That obedience to the ordinances of the gospel is so necessary that the perfect plan of God provides for a vicarious work of the living for the dead, for the benefit of those to whom the gospel has not been preached or who have not accepted it in this life

14. That the gospel is being preached to the dead, and for what purpose

15. That the millennium of one thousand years has been provided to complete this work, without which the final judgment day should come at the beginning and not the end thereof

16. That the condition and time of one’s life here upon the earth is as much the result of a life previously lived as the life to come will be the result of how we live and what we do in this life

17. That the church established by Christ in the meridian of time should fall into an apostate condition, of which fact both the ancient prophets and the apostles of the Master freely bore witness

18. That the prophets of the Old testament and the apostles of the New Testament predicted a complete restoration of ‘all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began’ (Acts 3:21), rather than a reformation to correct the false teachings of the churches

19. The meaning and fulfillment of the following prophecies:

a. ‘And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,

‘Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.’ (Revelation 14:6-7.)

b. ‘And he shall send Jesus Christ,…Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.’ (Acts 3:20-21.)

c. ‘Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.’ (Malachi 3:1.)

d. ‘Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:

‘Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.’ (Isaiah 29:13-14.)

e. ‘And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break into pieces and consume all these kingdoms and it shall stand for ever.’ (Daniel 2:44.)

20. That Elijah has been sent back to this earth, and for what purpose (Malachi 4:5-6)

21. Why there has been such a marvelous change in the world with respect to genealogical record keeping, genealogical organizations, societies, libraries, and research work

22. That marriage, according to the scriptures, was intended to be eternal

23. That the family unit is to endure beyond the grave

24. Why temples are erected unto the Most High, and for what purpose they are used

25. Where the temple is that Isaiah saw that should be built in the tops of the mountains in the last days (Isaiah 2:2-3)

26. That in case of sickness, we should call the elders of the Church to anoint the sick with oil (James 5:14-16)

27. The command of God to Ezekiel that two sticks (or records) should be kept, one of Judah and his companions and one of Joseph and his companions, and [what] these two records are (Ezekiel 37:15-19)

28. What people should speak out of the ground with a voice that hath a familiar spirit (Isaiah 29:1-4; 2 Nephi 25:7-8; 2Nephi 26:15-170

29. What the ‘sealed book’ is to which Isaiah refers (Isaiah 29:11-12; 2Nephi 27:5-26)

30. To what people Jesus referred when he said, ‘Other sheep I have which are not of this fold’ (John 10:16; 3 Nephi 15:11-12)

31. The promises made to Joseph by his father Jacob, and by Moses, when he was promised a new land in ‘the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills’ (Genesis 49:22-26; Deuteronomy 33:13-18), and where that new land and the everlasting hills are to which they referred.” (A Marvelous Work and a Wonder, pp. 406-411)

Elder Richards continues to list another 11 items restored through the instrumentality of the prophet, Joseph Smith. He concludes, “Joseph Smith, or any other man, could not have obtained all this information by reading the Bible or from studying all the books that have ever been written. It came from God.” (A Marvelous Work and a Wonder, p. 411)