“I had seen a vision; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it, neither dared I do it; at least I knew that by so doing I would offend God, and come under condemnation.” (Joseph Smith--History 1:25).
How has the First Vision influenced your life?
Joseph Smith the Prophet went willingly to his death. He sealed his
testimony with his life--his own blood. On that fateful day in Nauvoo,
Illinois, as he looked back upon his city and people whom he loved, on
his way to Carthage Jail and his martyrdom, he declared: “This is the
loveliest place and the best people under the heavens; little do they
know the trials that await them” [History of the Church, 6:554].
Later the Prophet said feelingly, but calmly and courageously, “I am going like a lamb to the slaughter, but I am as calm as a summer’s morning. I have a conscience void of offense toward God and toward all men. If they take my life I shall die an innocent man, and my blood shall cry from the ground for vengeance, and it shall be said of me, ‘He was murdered in cold blood’” [History of the Church, 6:555].
Thus did the Prophet Joseph Smith climax his earth life and fulfill the mortal part of his divinely appointed mission. This mortal mission, he made clear, was not to end until fully completed. Like the mission of the Savior, “a lamb slain before the foundation of the world” [see Revelation 13:8], Joseph was truly foreordained to his great mission.
Chapter 7: Joseph Smith, an Instrument in the Hands of the Lord
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