The Spirit that Leads to Do Good
Further Reflections on Doctrine and Covenants 11
How Did Hyrum Smith help to bring forth the Book of Mormon?
Scripture Central just published an excellent article to answer this question, but I wish that they would publish the author’s name. There’s no reason for such an article to remain anonymous, is there?
In essence, Hyrum Smith obeyed the Lord’s counsel in the revelation contained in D&C 11. For his diligence, faithfulness, obedience, the Lord commended and blessed Hyrum Smith. Little did Hyrum know at this time in the early Restoration that he would pay the ultimate price and lay down his life with his brother Joseph for the cause of Christ.
Hyrum sought and obtained God’s word and became a powerful witness of the truth and an instrument in the hands of God. Did Joseph have any greater and more faithful friend than his brother Hyrum? Probably not.
Hyrum Smith, therefore, was one of the first to read the Book of Mormon. As Joseph and Oliver translated the Book of Mormon by the gift and power of God, the truth of the Book of Mormon was inscribed upon their hearts by the power of the Holy Ghost. The Book of Mormon became the springboard for many other revelations, including many of the revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants. Hyrum Smith became one of the Eight Witness of the Book of Mormon, and therefore he had both a spiritual witness and a tangible physical witness of the truth of the Book of Mormon.
I love the Lord’s counsel to Hyrum:
And now, verily, verily, I say unto thee, put your trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good—yea, to do justly, to walk humbly, to judge righteously; and this is my Spirit. (D&C 11:12)
This morning as I studied the Book of Mormon the thought occurred to me that this Spirit which leads to do good is precisely the Spirit of the Book of Mormon. Everything in the Book of Mormon leads souls to love what is good and to do what is good. The Book of Mormon leads souls unto Jesus Christ by the Spirit which leads to do good, to do justly, to walk humbly, and to judge righteously. How could a book that on every page leads its readers to do good and to be good come from any other source but from God?
This is just one of myriad testimonies of the truth of the Book of Mormon, another testament of Jesus Christ. We owe a great debt of gratitude to Brother Hyrum Smith for the Book of Mormon and the foundations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, especially for his great love for and service to the Lord and his brother the Prophet Joseph Smith.
