Jacob 5:29

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29 And it came to pass that a long time had passed away, and the Lord of the vineyard said unto his servant: Come, let us go down into the vineyard, that we may labor again in the vineyard. For behold, the time draweth near, and the end soon cometh; wherefore, I must lay up fruit against the season, unto mine own self.

Quotes for Discussion

A long time passed away

“When the gospel sun went down almost two millennia ago,” Elder Bruce R. McConkie explained, “when the priesthood was taken away and a dreary dusk descended in the congregations that once had known light, when light and truth no longer shone forth from heaven, and when those on earth no longer were taught and directed by apostles and prophets, then spiritual darkness reigned. Darkness covered the earth and gross darkness the minds of the people (see Isaiah 60:2). The dark ages had their beginning, and the light of heaven no longer dwelt in the hearts of those who professed to worship Him whose we are….

“True, the heaven still teemed with stars, an uncounted host of them, for there were many wise and good people who reflected forth to others such light and truth and goodness as they had. And month after month a new moon arose to reflect such of heaven’s truths as came by instinct and from reason. There was a St. Augustine, a Maimonides, a Joan of Arc, a Thomas More, a Michelangelo, a Galileo, a host of others—each for the month when their moon shone—who reflected such borrowed light as in their power lay. But the light of heaven no longer shed its rays on the strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life….

“But finally the heralds of a distant dawn came forth. There was a Calvin, a Zwingli, a Luther, a Wesley; there were wise and good men—morning stars who shone more brightly than their fellows—who arose in every nation. There were men of insight and courage who were sickened by the sins and evils of the night. These great souls hacked and sawed at the chains with which the masses were bound. They sought to do good and to help their fellowmen—all according to the best light and knowledge they had....

“When the set time had fully come—when the day for the promised restoration of all things was at hand—the Lord in heaven, in his infinite wisdom, mercy and goodness, sent from the courts of glory that eternal spirit whose foreordained mission it was to usher in the dispensation of the fullness of times. Joseph Smith began his mortal life. It was December 23, 1805. The sun was then just hidden by the mountain peaks.”(CR, April 1978, p. 17)

Ibid, p. 57-58

“The end soon cometh”

The final labor of the master of the vineyard and his servant takes place in the dispensation of the fullness of times. Joseph Smith and his successors in this final dispensation of grace are Eliases before the coming of the Messiah. We live now in the eleventh hour, in an era wherein final preparations are being made for the great and dreadful day of the Lord—his second coming in glory. And the “end of the world” will be the destruction of the wicked (see Joseph Smith—Matthew 1:4, 31).

Ibid, p. 58