1 Peter 4-5; 2 Peter 1

(August 28, 2015)

                We hear those who, today, complain about the fact that our current Apostles and Prophets don’t speak openly about having seen the Savior.  I certainly don’t want to open that can of worms (other than to say that I find the criticisms of the Brethren unfair), but it does raise a point worthy of consideration.

                Do we appreciate what it means to have witnesses for the truth?  What must it be like to sit down beside Peter and have him speak of the fact that Christ rose from the dead?  What must it be like to sit beside Joseph Smith, and have him speak of the First Vision?

                But, as profound as those things are, they are not what converts.  Most who listened to Peter did not accept the Gospel.  The same with Joseph Smith.  The Three Witnesses all left the Church for a time.  Meanwhile faithful Saints the world over stand firm in their testimony, even when that testimony is nothing more than the most gentle of whisperings of the Spirit in the back of their souls.

                The point, of course, is that there is no partial witness.  Peter saw the Christ and so did Joseph, but if we have a witness of the Restoration through the Holy Ghost we likewise know just as well as they did of the truth of the resurrection and the First Vision.  We don’t need the miracles, because the only miracle that matters is the confirmation from the Holy Ghost.