Answers to Gospel Questions
Joseph Fielding Smith
Excerpts from Answers to Gospel Questions
Contents
Are We Now in the Millennium?
QUESTION
In this age of atomic energy when so many wonderful developments have taken place, and men are sending human-made satellites into outer space, aiming on traveling to the moon and perhaps to some of the planets, there arises the thought in our minds that perhaps we have actually entered into the millennium. Will you enlighten us on the question whether this is so or not?
ANSWER
This earth on which we dwell is filling the destiny assigned to it in the beginning. According to the divine plan it has passed through the period of its creation when the Lord pronounced everything good. Then came the fall, and the earth partook of the same mortal condition which was pronounced upon Adam. It is now passing through its mortal period where wickedness prevails upon its face. When this condition, which the Lord has called "temporal," is finished, then will come the thousand years of the reign of peace called the millennium. When this period is completed, then will come a "little season," when Satan, who will be bound during the thousand years of peace, will be loosed and again go forth to deceive the nations. The final destiny of the earth will come following this season of wickedness, and after the earth dies and receives the resurrection, it will be crowned with celestial glory and take its proper place prepared for it in the heavens.
WORLDLY WICKEDNESS CANNOT ABIDE THE MILLENNIUM
The prevalence of wickedness upon the face of the earth, the great commotions and distress among nations indicate most definitely that the millennial reign has not yet arrived. All of these conditions which we find today have been predicted by the ancient prophets. The Savior called attention to them in his final instruction to his apostles. Read the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew and the twenty-first chapter of Luke. In these instructions to his disciples the Lord pointed out very clearly that before his second coming there would be great wonders in the earth, in the heavens and upon the seas. There would be wars and rumors of war, and men's hearts would fail them because of the many troubles, commotions and turmoil among the nations, but all of these things would be but the beginning of troubles. The prophets and our Lord also predicted that there would be signs and wonders in the earth and in the heavens. There can be no question that the airplanes and missiles that are fired into the sky are part of these signs and wonders. Moreover, there shall be signs in the heavenly bodies in the due time of the Lord. The earth has not yet commenced to reel to and fro; the sun has not been darkened and the moon turned as blood; and the stars have not fallen from heaven according to the prediction.
Just before the coming of the Lord there will be a gathering of armies in Palestine. Jerusalem will be besieged. It will be at this time that the Mount of Olives will cleave in twain, as predicted in the vision to Zechariah and reiterated in the Doctrine and Covenants.
Our Redeemer will appear, the fleeing Jews who have gathered will fall at his feet asking him: "What are these wounds in thine hands and in thy feet?" And the Savior will answer them:
6 These wounds are the wounds with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. I am he who was lifted up. I am Jesus that was crucified. I am the Son of God.
(Zechariah 13:6, D&C 45:51-52)
Then will the repentant Jews recognize him as the Messiah for whom they have looked and prayed through the centuries. Then shall there be great mourning, "every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart." (Zechariah 12:12-14.)
TEMPLE TO BE BUILT IN JERUSALEM
Then shall the Lord forgive them for their sin and Jerusalem shall be established. Israel shall be reinstated in their promised land. The great temple shall be built in Jerusalem, and Christ shall reign over all the earth. Capital cities shall be established in Jerusalem and Zion, and the reign of peace will commence and continue for a thousand years.
The millennium will come when the Lord decides that the cup of iniquity is full. He will come to cleanse the earth, and in that day the veil of the covering of the temple "which hideth the earth, shall be taken off, and all flesh shall see me together," said the Lord.
23 And prepare for the revelation which is to come, when the veil of the covering of my temple, in my tabernacle, which hideth the earth, shall be taken off, and all flesh shall see me together.
24 And every corruptible thing, both of man, or of the beasts of the field, or of the fowls of the heavens, or of the fish of the sea, that dwells upon all the face of the earth, shall be consumed.
25 And also that of element shall melt with fervent heat; and all things shall become new, that my knowledge and glory, may dwell upon all the earth.
26 And in that day the enmity of man, and the enmity of beasts, yea, the enmity of all flesh, shall cease from before my face.
27 And in that day whatsoever any man shall ask, it shall be given unto him.
28 And in that day Satan shall not have power to tempt any man.
29 And there shall be no sorrow because there is no death.
30 In that day an infant shall not die until he is old; and his life shall be as the age of a tree;
31 And when he dies he shall not sleep, that is to say in the earth, but shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye, and shall be caught up, and his rest shall be glorious.
(D&C 101:23-31 Compare Isaiah 65:17-25.)
When the millennium comes this earth will be renewed and cleansed of its wickedness, and that which is proclaimed in the Tenth Article of Faith, which is as follows, will be fulfilled:
We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion will be built upon this [the American] continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.
Churches on Earth during the Millennium
QUESTION
Will there be any other churches with ministers on the earth during the Millennium teaching doctrine contrary to the doctrines of the Church which the Lord established? I understand that in the resurrection people of all creeds and manners of belief will be resurrected, but I am not clear in relation to the millennial reign?
ANSWER
When the reign of Jesus Christ comes during the Millennium, only those who have lived the telestial law will be removed. It is recorded in the Bible and other standard works of the Church that the earth will be cleansed of all its corruption and wickedness. Those who have lived virtuous lives, who have been honest in their dealings with their fellow man and have endeavored to do good to the best of their understanding, shall remain. To Malachi it was revealed that". . . 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."(Malachi 4:1) Isaiah also declared that because the people had broken the everlasting covenant and defiled the earth, ". . . therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left."(Isaiah 24:6.) In this dispensation the Lord revealed the following:
23 And prepare for the revelation which is to come, when the veil of the covering of my temple, in my tabernacle, which hideth the earth, shall be taken off, and all flesh shall see me together.
24 And every corruptible thing, both of man, or of the beasts of the field, or of the fowls of the heavens, or of the fish of the sea, that dwells upon all the face of the earth, shall be consumed;
25 And also that of element shall melt with fervent heat; and all things shall become new, that my knowledge and glory may dwell upon all the earth.
(D&C 101:23-25)
ALL CORRUPTIBLE THINGS SHALL BE CONSUMED
So we learn that all corruptible things, whether men or beasts or element, shall be consumed; but all that does not come under this awful edict shall remain. Therefore, the honest and upright of all nations, kindreds, and beliefs who have kept the terrestrial as well as the celestial law, will remain. Under these conditions people will enter the great reign of Jesus Christ, carrying with them their beliefs and religious doctrines. Their agency will not be taken from them. On this subject President Brigham Young has said:
In the Millennium men will have the privilege of their own belief, but they will not have the privilege of treating the name and character of Deity as they have done before. No, but every knee shall bow and every tongue confess to the glory of God the Father that Jesus is the Christ.
(Discourses of Brigham Young, pp. 182)
The Prophet Joseph Smith has said:
There will be wicked men on the earth during the thousand years. The heathen nations who will not come up to worship will be visited with the judgments of God, and must eventually be destroyed from the earth.
(Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 268)
The saying that there will be wicked men on the earth during the Millennium has been misunderstood by many, because the Lord declared that the wicked shall not stand, but shall be consumed.(D&C 5:18-19; D&C 29:8-10; D&C 101:23-25) In using this term "wicked" it should be interpreted in the language of the Lord as recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants, Section 84, verses 49-53. Here the Lord speaks of those who have not received the gospel as being "wicked" as they are still under the bondage of sin, having not been baptized. "The inhabitants of the terrestrial order will remain on the earth during the Millennium, and this class is without the gospel ordinances."(Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 269)
The Lord said through Isaiah, speaking of the Millennium:
17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
18 But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
19 And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.
20 There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.
(Isaiah 65:17-20. Compare D&C 101:28-31)
GOSPEL TO BE TAUGHT WITH GREAT POWER
The gospel will be taught far more intensely and with greater power during the Millennium until all the inhabitants of the earth shall embrace it. Satan shall be bound so that he cannot tempt any man. Should any man refuse to repent and accept the gospel under those conditions then he would be accursed. Through the revelations given to the prophets we learn that during the reign of Jesus Christ for a thousand years, eventually all people will embrace the truth. Isaiah prophesied of the Millennium as follows:
6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child put his hand on the cockatrice' den.
9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.
(Isaiah 11:6-9.)
This chapter in Isaiah Moroni quoted to the Prophet Joseph Smith and said to him it was about to be fulfilled. If the knowledge of the Lord covers the earth as the waters do the sea, then it must be universally received. Moreover, the promise of the Lord through Jeremiah is that it will no longer be necessary for anyone to teach his neighbor, ". . . saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord." (Jeremiah 31:34.)
