"So it was with me. I had actually seen a light, and in the midst of that light I saw two personages, and they did in reality speak to me; and though I was hated and persecuted for saying that I had seen a vision, yet it was true; and while they were persecuting me, reviling me, and speaking all manner of evil against me falsely for so saying, I was led to say in my heart: Why persecute me for telling the truth? I have actually seen a vision, and who am I that I can withstand God, or why does the world think to make me deny what I have actually seen? For 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. "I had now got my mind satisfied so far as the sectarian world was concerned; that it was not my duty to join with any of them, but to continue as I was until further directed. I had found the testimony of James to be true, that a man who lacked wisdom might ask of God, and obtain, and not be upbraided." Joseph Smith's Great Honor There is no account in history or revelation extant, where ever before both the Father and the Son appeared in the presence of mortal man in glory. Most wonderful was the honor bestowed upon this unsophisticated boy. Great was his faith--so great that he was able, like the brother of Jared, to penetrate the veil and behold the glory of these holy Beings, whose glory rested upon him. Without this power overshadowing him, he could not have endured their presence, for their brightness was far greater than the brightness of the noonday sun. It was not, therefore, with the power of the natural eye that this great Vision was beheld, but by the aid of the eye of the spirit. The natural man, without the saving grace of the power of the Lord, could not behold his presence in this manner, for he would be consumed. Joseph Smith, through the power of the Lord, was able to behold the presence of the Great Creator and his Glorified Son, for they deigned to honor him with their presence and converse with him. The Heavens No Longer Sealed No longer were the heavens as brass. No more would man be forced to stumble and grope in darkness. Salvation was made known and the glad tidings were to sound forth, as with the blast of a mighty trumpet, to the ends of the earth. Satan's reign was nearing its end, and the message of eternal peace was shortly to be proclaimed to every nation, and kindred, and tongue and people. The Vision Rejected by the World