In leading up to the ‘most important event,’ I will first lay the groundwork. In laying the groundwork, we have to go back in history and become acquainted with, and understand what Moses’ final advice and warning was to the children of Israel before they crossed over the river Jordan and into the promised land. Then he went back to the desert to die. Moses speaking to the Israelites:
”Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation (Israel) is a wise and understanding people. For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons; Specially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, …And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone. And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it. Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb…Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,.. And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them,…But the Lord hath taken you, and brought you forth out of …Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day. Furthermore the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, and sware that I should not go over Jordan,…ye shall go over, and possess that good land. Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of anything , which the Lord thy God hath forbidden thee. For the Lord thy God is …a jealous God. When …ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of anything , and shall do evil in the sight of the Lord thy God, to provoke him to anger: …the Lord shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the Lord shall lead you. And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. (29) But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; (For the Lord thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy father’s (the promises made to Abraham) which he sware unto them. (Deuteronomy 4: 5-31)
The above, hopefully, laid the groundwork for the rest of the story about the most important message. The Lord advised us all to read what Isaiah, another great prophet, had to say. That advice, coming from the Lord should suggest to us, that that which the Prophet Isaiah had to say must have great importance to our understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is a quote from that ‘one of a kind’ prophet, speaking of the Latter Days.
“Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near unto me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their hearts far from me, and their fear towards me is taught by the precepts of men—Therefore, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, yea, a marvelous work and a wonder, for the wisdom of their wise and learned shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent shall be hid.” (Isaiah 29:13-14)
Historically, the Israelis have indeed been scattered (driven) throughout the world, just as Moses prophesied. He also prophesied that in the latter days, many gods would be served by men, gods other than the living God, but god’s that cannot see, hear, nor smell, etc. During the council of Nicaea, which convened in 325 A.D. there were 318 Bishops (prudent ones) who met to debate on the true divinity and personality of the Son of God, and the equality of Christ with God. They labored four weeks, before they could become sufficiently united to make a public declaration on the matter. Their declaration is essentially what is taught by Christian churches, even today, with only minor deviations. The following briefly describes their gods, the largest Christian denomination teaches; God is…“a supreme spirit who has neither body, nor figure, nor color, and who cannot fall under the senses.” Therefore a god without a body can hardly have senses, so he cannot see, hear nor smell, etc. The other churches have similar beliefs as they are protestants or protestors of the largest church and have broken away. What they were protesting was not the nature of God but the practices of the church, such as ‘the sale of Indulgences.’ Their doctrine teaches a very similar god,“… everlasting, without body or parts …etc.” Therefore, more Gods who can neither hear, smell nor see. Moses was indeed prophetic in knowing what was to happen to Israel. Instead of the Father, the Son, and Holy Ghost being three separate personages the churches of today have made them one. Quote; “In the unity of this Godhead there are three persons, of one substance, power and eternity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.” (Methodist Discipline, 1886)
How could any young child of God be expected to understand, love and be loved by such an incomprehensible being as the above description of that council’s god? Parley P. Pratt an early leader of the restored Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said; “That which has no parts has no whole. Beings which have no passion have no soul.”
Could the scriptures be wrong in respect to the nature of God, or is it possible that that ‘august body’ which convened in 325 A.D. have been in error? The scriptures are very clear on the true nature of God. “And God said, Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness…So God created man in his own image, in the image God created he him; male and female created he them.”(Gen 1:26-27)…Plus: ”And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image, and called his name Seth.” (Gen 5:3) In Exodus, it states, And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. (Exodus 33: 9-11) Can it possibly be true that God and His son, Jesus Christ have bodies like we do, even faces? With faces, is it not possible that they can see, hear and smell? Either the scriptures are wrong or that ‘august body’ of men were wrong. The vast evidence of the ages tells us they were wrong. Their misguided declaration has been perpetuated for centuries but the truth has come forth and will prevail and one day the whole world will be able to embrace it. It was called the “restitution of all things.” The true Gospel of Jesus Christ.
One morning a young boy went to a grove near his home to pray unto the Father to find out which of the many churches vying for him to join, were true. On that Spring day in 1820, there occurred one of the most important and momentous events in this world’s history. God, the Eternal Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to the young boy, when he was in his fifteenth year, called him by name and gave him instructions concerning the establishment of the Kingdom of God, once again, upon the earth in these latter days. In answer to his question he was told, to “join none of them forasmuch as this people draw near unto me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their hearts far from me, and their fear towards me is taught by the precepts of men.” (Precepts of men sounds a little like those 318 Bishops discussing the nature of god.) Joseph Smith has left us a detailed account of that glorious experience in his brief history. That visit opened the door to the establishment of the kingdom of God upon the earth in this dispensation which was the greatest event, not only in the nineteenth century but in all the nearly 2000 years since the crucifixion of the Savior. The young Joseph learned, among other things, that he was personally and literally in the image of God, the Father, and Jesus Christ. Even Shakespeare had a better and clearer picture of man’s relationship to God than the bishops of Nicene. Quoting from his famous Hamlet: “What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason! How infinite in fancy! In form and moving, how express and admirable! In action how like an angel! In apprehension how like a God!”
Was there a need for a restoration of all things in these last days as prophesied? Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick described the decadent condition of the Christian churches in these words:
“…Christianity today has largely left the religion which he (Jesus) preached, and has substituted another kind of religion altogether.” Even the Bible itself predicted a falling away. Paul in writing to Timothy said, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be…high minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God: Having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5) Later, Paul talking to the Thessalonians in reference to the second coming of Christ said: “Let no man deceive you …for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first.”
Three years after the first visit, in 1823, Joseph was visited by an angel who called himself Moroni. This Moroni appeared to him several times and began giving him instructions as to the events that would shortly come to pass. He was told of ancient records buried in a nearby hill. Those records were written in an ancient script and Joseph was later to translate them. They became the Book of Mormon, a religious record of an early people living on this the American continent.
Moroni lived 600 years ago and had been a prophet and military leader among those ancient people, living on this continent, as described in that ancient record. After that Joseph was visited and instructed by several other angels, men who had lived on this earth, had died and were now serving as messengers of God to instruct the young Joseph in the process of restoring the Kingdom of God on the earth in these last days.
Keeping that in mind: Many years ago (approximately 1930) a Nationally Prominent Commentator made a statement over the radio about this question that he had been asked, “What mes- sage could be broadcast to the world that would be considered more important than any other?” The commentator came to the conclusion that to be able to announce that a man who had lived upon the earth, had died, and had returned again with a message from God. If that message could be broadcast to the world it would be the most important of any other. That would not only be an important message but it would be as Isaiah said, a “Marvelous Work and a Wonder.”
That has happened, in fact several messengers, men who had lived on the earth, had died, and now have returned to the earth with messages from God. That message is, in fact, the most important message the world could ever receive. Currently there are over seventy thousand young men and women broadcasting that message throughout the world. They are known by the world as ‘Mormon Missionaries’ or more appropriately, Missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.