The Dispensation of the Fulness of Times

Today someone pointed me to the article, Joseph Smith among the Prophets,  in the June 1994 Ensign. They were pointing to this quote in the article:

“As suggested earlier, the life of Joseph Smith was in some degree patterned after that of his Master, Jesus Christ. That pattern holds true even when extended to its tragic conclusion. Like his Master, Joseph Smith also shed his blood in order that the final testament, the reestablishment of the new covenant, might be in full effect (see Heb. 9:16).” (Emphasis added.)

This article also contained the oft-repeated quote of John Taylor: “Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it.”

It quotes Brigham Young who said: “Joseph Smith holds the keys of this last dispensation, and is now engaged behind the vail in the great work of the last days. I can tell our beloved brother Christians … that no man or woman in this dispensation will ever enter into the celestial kingdom of God without the consent of Joseph Smith. From the day that the Priesthood was taken from the earth to the winding-up scene of all things, every man and woman must have the certificate of Joseph Smith, junior, as a passport to their entrance into the mansion where God and Christ are—I with you and you with me. I cannot go there without his consent. He holds the keys of that kingdom for the last dispensation—the keys to rule in the spirit world; and he rules there triumphantly, for he gained full power and a glorious victory over the power of Satan while he was yet in the flesh, and was a martyr to his religion and to the name of Christ. …”

It continues:

“Should not this thought comfort all people? They will, by-and-by, be … thankful for such a man as Joseph Smith, junior. … It is his mission to see that all the children of men in this last dispensation are saved, that can be, through the redemption” (in Journal of Discourses, 7:289; emphasis added).

It also links Joseph Smith and “the restoration” to Malachi’s prophesy: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:” (Mal 4:5) And to the fulfillment of “the dispensation of the fullness of times,” mentioned by Paul in Eph 1:10.

I truly did weep reading this article!! It absolutely breaks my heart that I knew so little of the Bible, apart from the LDS lens with which I was given to read it while a member of the church, that I never once questioned assertions like these. And now, in hindsight, I cannot see how anyone who knows their Bible could ever be convinced of LDS Doctrine with these kinds of proof-texts.

Brothers and Sisters, Jesus himself said the prophesy in Malachi was fulfilled by John the Baptist.

(Mat 17:9-13) And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead. And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias (Elijah) must first come? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.

And, of course, it was; the prophesy was about the coming of the day of the Lord! That is why the disciples asked Jesus about it. They knew that Elijah was supposed to come before the Messiah.

(Mal 4:1-6) For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts. Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

Jesus said he did!

If we actually read Paul’s letters to the Ephesians, in full, we can see that Paul is also talking about the coming of the Lord! And Paul said it was in “the dispensation of the fulness of times” that God “gathered together in one all things in Christ.”

(Eph 1:1-12) Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

Paul is talking about the cross!! He spells it all out for us, as he goes on to say….

(Eph 2:13-18) But NOW in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST. For he is our peace, WHO HATH MADE BOTH ONE, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; FOR TO MAKE IN HIMSELF OF TWAIN ONE NEW MAN, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God IN ONE BODY BY THE CROSS, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.”

This was when God “gathered together IN ONE all things IN CHRIST.”

Jesus said: “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” (John 12:32)

This was what Paul was talking about when said:

(Heb 10:24-25) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, (IN ONE BODY!!) as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

This is what throws some of us off. How can the day of the Lord have come and yet still be approaching? If we don’t know, then we say it must not have come yet, and it comes when Christ comes “the second time.” Because we don’t see how the two are connected or understand how Christ comes “the second time.” Or what it means that “the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up.”

Surely “that day” has not yet come!!! OR has it?

Maybe I will make that the topic of my next blog. I am not going to get into the day of the Lord in this writing; here I wanted to discuss “the dispensation of the fulness of times” and show that Paul was not talking about a dispensation that would begin with Joseph Smith, but one that was (and is) intimately connected to “the coming of Christ.”

Joseph Smith did not shed his blood for your sins. Nor did he “shed his blood in order that the final testament, the reestablishment of the new covenant, might be in full effect.”

If you believe this, PLEASE REPENT!!

Salvation was/is accomplished by/at the cross of Christ.  He does not need our help. He did not need the help of Joseph Smith. He is the Saviour. We are the redeemed. He may use men to preach “the gospel OF our salvation,” to “pluck men OUT OF the fire,” or even to “cast men INTO the fire,” and “stand in HIS stead;” but it was His blood, shed on the cross, that provides the atonement for sin and opens to the door to the Kingdom of heaven.

He is the Door!

No one!! I repeat, no one!! will need “the consent of Joseph Smith” to “enter into the celestial kingdom of God.” That is blasphemy!! Making this another place where Mormon Doctrine Falls Apart.

 

PS. Despite what the Bible says about the Holy Spirit being poured out at Pentecost, this article also says: “Joseph Smith serves as the legal administrator associated with that period of time prophesied by Joel when the Lord would pour out his Spirit upon all flesh (see Joel 2:28–29).”

Please, please, please take off your LDS lenses when reading the Bible. Stop letting the leaders and other members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints tell you what the Bible says. Read it for yourself. Read all of it. Read it in context. And let the Holy Spirit do its job!!

(1Jn 2:24-29) Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life. These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.

In my next blog I will discuss “his coming.”