Dispensations, Apostasy & Restoration
I want to portray to you the love that our Stake Presidency has for
each of you. They are so thankful for all you do to build the
kingdom of God in this area of his vineyard.
[Introduce
myself - "Got back as soon as I could"]
[Nauvoo - Great
history]
Rolling off of the Kingdom
In Nauvoo
just before the prophet Joseph was martyred, a great event calling
the "rolling off of the kingdom" happened. One of the Apostles,
Wilford Woodruff, left us this account of what happened in Nauvoo as
the Prophet spoke to the Twelve: “On that occasion the Prophet
Joseph rose up and said to us: ‘Brethren, I have desired to live to
see this temple built. I shall never live to see it, but you will. I
have sealed upon your heads all the keys of the kingdom of God. I
have sealed upon you every key, power, and principle that the God of
heaven has revealed to me. Now, no matter where I may go or what I
may do, the kingdom rests upon you.’” Every prophet that followed
Joseph, from Brigham Young to [our current prophet], has held and
exercised those keys and has held the sacred apostleship.
>
Many that were present said that Joseph was physically exchausted.
He spoke to them almost trembling, with great physical, emotional
and spiritual effort. They wrote of the event as being more
than just words, but described how Joseph had transferred the
responsibility of this dispensation onto the 12 Apostles and Brigham
Young.
This Final Glorious Gospel Dispensation
By
Elder Bruce R. McConkie
of the Quorum of the Twelve
... God, our Father, and Jesus Christ, his Son, by the voice
...of angelic ministrants, gave to Joseph Smith and his associates
every key, power, and priesthood ever held by man on earth. They
have set up anew their earthly kingdom, the kingdom of God. That
kingdom is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This
Church administers the gospel and offers salvation to all who will
believe in Christ and live his laws...
Gospel Grace Is
Dispensed in Dispensations. Whenever the Lord reveals the plan
of salvation anew... it is called a dispensation of the gospel.
This may or may not involve a restoration of keys and powers and
priesthoods. It did when Jesus came to replace the Mosaic
dispensation, for instance, but not when the dispensations of Enoch
and Noah were ushered in.
We do not know how many
dispensations there have been, probably dozens or scores... We live
in the dispensation of the fulness of times. That is to say, we live
in the dispensation of the fulness of dispensations. We have
received all of the “keys, and powers, and glories,” possessed by
them of old. Angelic ministrants have come from those Biblical
dispensations which had distinctive keys and powers—“all declaring
their dispensation, their rights, their keys, their honors, their
majesty and glory, and the power of their priesthood” (D&C
128:18–21).
“In the dispensation of the fulness of times,” as
Paul promised, the Lord will “gather together in one all things in
Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth” (Eph.
1:10). All of the rivers of the past have or will flow into the
ocean of the present; already all of the keys and powers have fallen
to our lot; in due course all of the doctrines and truths will be
manifest to us.
“It is necessary in the ushering in of the
dispensation of the fulness of times...that a whole and complete and
perfect union, and welding together of dispensations, and keys, and
powers, and glories should take place, and be revealed from the days
of Adam even to the present time.” Then he named those who had
restored keys and powers: Moroni, Peter, James, and John, Michael,
Gabriel, Raphael, and “divers angels, from Michael or Adam down to
the present” The “divers angels” included—among others, perhaps, of
whom we are not aware—John the Baptist, Moses, Elijah, and
Elias....
1. Moroni. This ancient Nephite came first on the
night of 21 September 1823, when he spent the whole night teaching
and counseling Joseph Smith relative to the Book of Mormon, the
restoration of the gospel, and what was to be in the latter days...
2. John the Baptist. On 15 May 1829 conferred upon Joseph Smith
and Oliver Cowdery the Aaronic Priesthood and the keys thereof. This
gave them “the gospel of repentance, and of baptism of immersion for
the remission of sins” which is the preparatory gospel. They were
also empowered to make offerings unto the Lord as the sons of Levi
had done anciently. Thus the processes began to prepare a people for
the Second Coming of the Son of Man as John, in mortality, had
prepared repentant persons for the first coming of Christ.
3.
Peter, James, and John. Shortly thereafter, these three brethren,
who were the First Presidency in their day, brought back the
Melchizedek Priesthood including the holy apostleship; they restored
the keys of the kingdom; and they conferred the keys of the
dispensation of the fulness of times... Because Peter, James, and
John came in our day we have again the kingdom, which is the Church,
and we have been given the missionary commission commanding and
empowering us to preach the gospel to all people in this day.
4. Moses. Israel’s great lawgiver... came to Joseph Smith and
Oliver Cowdery on 3 April 1836, in the Kirtland Temple. He gave
them: (1) “the keys of the gathering of Israel from the four parts
of the earth,” and (2) the keys of “the leading of the ten tribes
from the land of the north”
Since then, with increasing power
and in great glory, we have gathered, from their Egyptian bondage as
it were, the dispersed of Ephraim and a few others, initially to the
mountains of America, but now into the stakes of Zion in the various
nations of the earth. The gathering of Israel is a reality. When the
ten tribes return they will come at the direction of the President
of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for he now holds
and will then hold the keys of presidency and direction for this
mighty work.
5. Elias.... As Joseph Smith records it, what
Elias actually said to him and Oliver Cowdery was that “in us and
our seed all generations after us should be blessed” And so, the
Lord be praised, the marriage discipline of Abraham was restored; it
is the system that enables a family unit to continue in eternity; it
is the system out of which eternal life grows. The laws and
conditions pertaining to this holy order of matrimony in the new and
everlasting covenant constitute “the promises made to the fathers,”
which, as Moroni said (quoting Malachi), were to be planted “in the
hearts of the children”
6 ...Elijah came and conferred the
sealing power upon his mortal fellow servants. By virtue of this
sealing power all ordinances, both for the living and the dead, may
be binding on earth and in heaven
7. Our first
father—Michael or Adam came...
8. Gabriel or Noah...
9. Raphael....
Enoch... Could it be that the keys from his
dispensation are the ones that will bring to pass a Millennial
quickening of the earth? We do know, of course, that the city of
Enoch will return in the Millennial day to join with the earthly
zion then built up by mortals.
10. “Divers angels.... Every
key, power, and priesthood ever held by a mortal on earth has been
restored. All such came to Joseph Smith and his associates and these
keys are now vested in the First Presidency and the Twelve...
It is of these keys and these brethren that the Lord says: “For
unto you, the Twelve, and those, the First Presidency, who are
appointed with you to be your counselors and your leaders, is the
power of this priesthood given, for the last days and for the last
time, in the which is the dispensation of the fulness of times. …
“Verily I say unto you, behold how great is your calling”
> How does all this affect us?
... Some of
the characteristics of our dispensation are glorious indeed, for
they make available to the Saints the joys of the gospel and the
wonders of eternity; others are and will be the cause of great
sorrow and suffering for us and for all men, for they appertain to
the plagues and desolations to be poured out upon the earth without
measure.
As to the blessings and wonders poured out upon us—
... We hold, as did Peter and the Apostles of old, the keys of the
kingdom... We have received the gift of the Holy Ghost and enjoy all
of the gifts of the Spirit to some degree, so that we are able to
receive revelation, to see visions, to entertain angels, to sanctify
our souls, and to see the face of God while we yet dwell in this
world of sin and sorrow.
We are in process of completing the
restoration of all things, of gathering Israel and building Zion, of
preparing a people for the Second Coming of the Son of Man, and of
ushering in the Millennial era of peace and righteousness.
We
hope we shall abide the day of his coming, that we shall be selected
to rule and reign with him for a thousand years, and that finally we
shall sit down with Abraham. Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of God
to go no more out.
We take comfort in a divine promise...
never ... given of God in any previous dispensation. It is that the
gospel and all that appertains to it shall never again be taken from
the earth. It is that the Church and kingdom will prevail; never
again will there be a universal apostasy with the consequent need
for a restoration; this time the knowledge of God is destined to
cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.
Trials
of Our Dispensation
As to the desolations, upheavals,
and trials of the latter days— We shall see more of these than at
any time in the history of the earth. There will be earthquakes,
floods, plagues, and famines in all parts of the earth. There will
be wars, desolation, destruction, and death in every nation and
among every people....
In the midst of all this the Lord’s
Saints are commanded to stand in holy places and be not moved.
> Addie Story - Shoes... I went to church
with my two little grandbabies last Sunday up in Lehi. After church
at their home, like most every good Canadian, I took off my shoes as
is a custom. I was surprised and touched later when I saw that our
almost three-year-old Addie had for some reason decided to put her
shoes inside of mine. The thought hit me strongly that our little
ones are watching. They can and will literally follow in our
footsteps. I was reminded that I need to choose wisely where I
stand. I need to choose wisely where I decide to go. I
need to choose to be found in holy places, as little ones are
watching, ready to follow.
What, then, lies
ahead for us as the Saints of the Most High?
Ours is
the most glorious of all dispensations. In it will come to pass the
destruction of evil and the triumph of truth. So far the foundation
has been laid. We are now building the house of the Lord upon that
foundation. We have many things yet to do.
We have yet to
gain that full knowledge and understanding of the doctrines of
salvation and the mysteries of the kingdom that were possessed by
many of the ancient Saints. O that we knew what Enoch and his people
knew! Or that we had the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon, as
did certain of the Jaredites and Nephites! How can we ever gain
these added truths until we believe in full what the Lord has
already given us in the Book of Mormon, in the Doctrine and
Covenants, and in the inspired changes made by Joseph Smith in the
Bible?...
We have yet to attain that degree of obedience and
personal righteousness which will give us faith like the ancients:
faith to multiply miracles, move mountains, and put at defiance the
armies of nations; faith to quench the violence of fire, divide seas
and stop the mouths of lions; faith to break every band and to stand
in the presence of God. Faith comes in degrees. Until we gain faith
to heal the sick, how can we ever expect to move mountains and
divide seas?
...Until we live the law of tithing how can we
expect to live the law of consecration? As long as we disagree as to
the simple and easy doctrines of salvation, how can we ever have
unity on the complex and endless truths yet to be revealed?
...We have yet to preach the gospel in every nation and to every
creature. This must be done before the Second Coming. Ours is a
missionary dispensation. In the waters of baptism every member of
the Church covenants to stand as a witness of Christ at all times
and in all places and under all circumstances, even unto death. So
far we have scarcely scratched the surface where this great
commission is involved. Billions of the earth’s inhabitants yet walk
in darkness and have little present hope of hearing the warning
voice of... one sent of God to herald the glad tidings of salvation.
We need more missionaries, many more valiant souls who will use
their time and their means to bring joy and hope to the honest in
heart in all nations.
We have yet to search out our ancestors
and perform the ordinances of salvation and exaltation for them in
the temples of the Lord. Ours is the great dispensation of vicarious
ordinances...
We have yet to prepare a people for the Second
Coming... of him whose gospel we have received, and on whose errand
we labor. Our time, talents, and wealth must be made available for
the building up of his kingdom. Should we be called upon to
sacrifice all things, even our lives, it would be of slight moment
when weighed against the eternal riches reserved for those who are
true and faithful in all things.
This is the dispensation in
which saviors shall come up upon Mount Zion and the kingdom shall be
the Lord’s as the prophets foretold. The glorious gospel is and
shall prosper forever. Shall we not now, as a Church and as a people
and as the Saints of latter days, build on the foundations of the
past and go forward in gospel glory until the great Jehovah shall
say: “The work is done; come ye, enter the joy of your Lord; sit
down with me on my throne; thou art now one with me and my Father.”
President Russell M. Nelson:
"From the
President of the Church to the newest deacon, we are responsible to
the Lord. We are to be true and faithful and live by every principle
and doctrine that He has given to us. We cannot compromise a
revelation or a commandment committed to our charge. He trusts us to
“build up the kingdom of God, and to establish his righteousness.
One day each of us will give an account to the Lord...