It will fill the world!

It Will Fill the World

25 Oct 2011

Before there was an organized First Presidency or Quorum of Twelve Apostles, the Prophet Joseph Smith met in conference with the leading priesthood holders of the Church in a small log schoolhouse in Kirtland, Ohio.  The year was 1834.

After listening to the brethren bear their testimonies of the restoration the Prophet rose and made the following remark:  “Brethren I have been very much edified and instructed in your testimonies here tonight, but I want to say to you that you know no more concerning the destinies of this church and kingdom than a babe upon its mother’s lap.  You don’t comprehend it.  It is only a little handful of Priesthood (holders) you see here tonight, but this Church will fill North and South America – it will fill the world.”

I don’t know how any person living in 1834 could have seriously made such a prediction.  The infant Church had already suffered persecution in Pennsylvania and New York.  There was not yet an organization that demonstrated expandability to accommodate world-wide growth.  Joseph knew that the church would have to be led by one man, the Prophet, who would have to be in constant contact with the Church membership wherever they would be on the earth. 

This prophecy was made when, for many millennia, the most rapid form of human transportation had been on the back of a horse, and there was no sign of anything on the horizon that would change that.  Correspondence travelled even more slowly, especially inter-continental correspondence which could take three to six months depending on conditions.  Successfully administering any world-wide organization had been shown by history to be difficult if not impossible.  The idea of a world-wide church being directed by one man would have seemed very unlikely if not ridiculous.

But Joseph must have seen at least a glimpse of what God was going to reveal to the world to make the fulfillment of his prophecy possible.  He may not have understood the details of how it would work but he must have been shown something of how the church would be organized and administered in our day.

Technological progress was on the threshold of giant leaps.  Steam-powered locomotives were in their infancy but it would only be a few years before practical steam-powered ocean and land transportation would become a reality.  The telegraph was also just appearing with wires starting to go up in parts of the country.  This period was the beginning of exponential growth in the speed of communication and transportation. 

In his book, The Birth of Plenty (2004, McGraw-Hill),  William Bernstein quotes the following from Stephen Ambrose:

A critical fact in the world of 1801 was that nothing moved faster than the speed of a horse.  No human being, no manufactured item, no bushel of wheat, no side of beef, no letter, no information, no idea, order or instruction of any kind moved faster.  Nothing had moved any faster, and, as far as (Thomas) Jefferson’s contemporaries were able to tell, nothing ever would.

Bernstein continues; “Until approximately 1820, per capita world economic growth – the single best way of measuring human material progress – registered near zero”.  The thesis of Bernstein’s book is that a combination of events occurred at this point in history that changed forever the zero slope of human technological progress.  He writes; “Then, not long after 1820, prosperity began flowing in an ever-increasing torrent; with each successive generation the life of the son became observably more comfortable, informed, and predictable than that of the father”.

What Bernstein is observing is true, and he seeks to describe the causal factors that are effecting the epochal changes that he observes.  But what he misses is that in the spring of 1820 a single event occurred that changed the course of the world, an event that ushered in a new dispensation, an event that required enormous changes in the way people travel and communicate and store information.  The event, of course, was the appearance in the spring of 1820 of God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ to the boy Joseph Smith to initiate the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ on the earth. 

Measuring from that moment in time the world saw a rapid succession of developments: the perfecting of the steam engine, the telegraph, the steam locomotive, an unprecedented acceleration in the manufacture of textiles, tools, building materials, and consumer goods of every kind.  

Freedom of trade, travel, and belief, which were rare in the world before the adoption of the US Constitution, became more common eventually making possible the unhampered printing and distribution of the Gospel message.

These improvements in governments, freedoms, and technologies have just kept up with the growth of the Church.  The Church could not flourish today without the jet airplane or the computer or the Internet.  Today’s church leader may address a congregation in London in the morning and attend a committee meeting next morning in Salt Lake City.  And even while traveling he need never be out of communication with other leaders around the world. 

We are seeing the fulfillment of Joseph Smith’s prophecy.  The Church has literally penetrated every continent.  Only about one-fourth of church members live in the US.  There are 29,000 wards and branches around the globe.  The complete Book of Mormon has been translated into over 80 languages.  None of this would be possible without the world-wide progress that began in 1820.  If the world’s people are faithful there will be enough energy, enough food, enough freedom, for the gospel to sound in every ear and give all the opportunity to accept or reject its message. 

It is my testimony that the advancements in prosperity and technology in the world follow directly from the needs of the Lord’s growing Church.  And we must prepare to be amazed at what is in store for us.  I don’t believe we have seen anything yet.