The Great and Marvelous Work ….

It really warmed my heart recently to revisit the experiences of our caravan to church historical sites a couple of Summers ago. As I wrote a short remembrance for a “memories” book that Shannon was putting together I recalled with fondness the abundant and rich testimonies from that trip. To see the very places where Joseph knelt in the grove, where the Book of Mormon plates were delivered to him, and the home where the church was organized made this latter-day work come alive again for me. Worshiping at the Kirtland Temple and in David’s Chamber in Nauvoo are experiences that will not soon be forgotten. It must have been marvelous to see and experience first hand the very beginnings of this latter-day work.

To have fresh from the lips of a prophet the word of the Lord ushering in this great and marvelous work surely was an experience like no other. Even today, the word of the Lord as it fell from Joseph’s lips carries with it the witness of the Spirit.

“Wherefore I the Lord, knowing the calamity which should come upon the inhabitants of the earth, called upon my servant Joseph Smith, Jr., and spake unto him from heaven, and gave him commandments, and also gave commandments to others, that they should proclaim these things unto the world; and all this that it might be fulfilled, which was written by the prophets;” (Section 1:4a-b)

The manifestations of the Spirit were great and gave the saints of a former day much assurance. Their faith was strong. Their dedication to the task of promulgating the gospel and building up the kingdom unshakable.

But anyone who is a student of early church history understands that the early church had it struggles too. The Lord addressed their difficulties in the very first revelation to the Church. His purposes on earth could not be frustrated by the foolishness of men.

“The works, and the designs, and the purposes of God, cannot be frustrated, neither can they come to naught, for God doth not walk in crooked paths; neither doth he turn to the right hand nor to the left; neither doth he vary from that which he hath said; therefore his paths are straight and his course is one eternal round.” (Section 2:1a-c)

While we are long removed from the beginnings of this latter day work, we, perhaps, will have the privilege of seeing its culmination. And while the struggles of the early church are well chronicled, we too have our difficulties. But rest assured, the Lord will culminate his work through the vehicle of His Church on earth because what was true for the early church remains true for us today, “the designs, and the purposes of God, cannot be frustrated.”

And like a former day, God will pour out his Spirit in great measure at the culmination of His work. An endowment of power from on high surely will come because our own strength is insufficient.

“And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, … And they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory.” (1 Nephi 3:230-231)

It was marvelous to “look back” on a former day but, dear Saints, it is with great anticipation that I “look forward” to what yet lies ahead of us. The “times of restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:21) is before us. Let us be faithful and trust in God. His promises are sure.