“Looking Forth for the Great Day of the Lord to Come”
Lesson 21
– D&C 29:9-29; 34:5-12; 45:16-75; 88:86-99; 101:22-34; 133
The birth of Jesus and His Second Coming are two of the most
glorious events in the history of the world.
Due to his humble circumstances in mortality, Jesus was generally not
recognized as the Promised Messiah. His
Second Coming will be what many expected the first time—a great event in which
He comes in power and glory. Today’s
lesson will cover teachings about both His Second Coming and millennial reign
on earth.
In the dispensation of the fullness of times, we have
revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants that teach us about the Second
Coming, the events that will precede His coming, and the 1000-year millennial
reign. Prophecies about the Second Coming include:
-
D&C 29:9-11; 45:44 – Christ will come in power and
glory; the proud and wicked will be burned, and wickedness will cease on the
face of the earth.
-
D&C 34:7, 12; 43:17; 110:16 – The time of the Second
coming is at hand
-
D&C 34:8, 11; 63:34 – All nations will tremble; His
power and influence will be with the faithful
-
D&C 45:45-54; 88:96-99 – Deceased Saints will rise to
meet the Savior. Living Saints will be gathered to welcome Him. He will appear
on the Mount of Olives, which will divide. Jews will recognize the Messiah and
suffer remorse for having persecuted Him when He came into mortality and during
His ministry. Then, those inhabitants
of the spirit prison who received the gospel there will be resurrected.
-
D&C 49:6 – All enemies will be under His feet (subjected
to Him)
-
D&C 49:7 – No one, not even the angels know when the day
or hour of the Second Coming. (Note: What
were the teachings of Joseph Smith about this? You might do some research on
it. )
-
D&C 133:46-53 – The Savior’s robes will be red and
vengeance will come upon the wicked, while the righteous will be redeemed.
Our 10th Article of Faith states that Christ will
“reign personally on the earth” and “the earth will be renewed and receive its
paradisiacal glory” during the Millennium.
D&C 101 describes some of the Millennial conditions:
-
101:23 – Everyone will be able to see the Savior
-
101:24 – The wicked will be destroyed
-
101:25 – The earth will be in a renewed state
-
101:26 – People and animals will coexist peacefully together
-
101:27 – Righteous desires will be granted
-
101:28; 45:55; 88:110 - Satan will be bound (how and by
whom?) and we will not allow him to tempt us or gain power over us
-
101:29 – No sorrow or death
-
101:30-31 – The elderly will change suddenly from mortality
to immortality (They’ll be “twinkled”!!)
-
101:32-34 – All things about the earth and heaven, their
creation and destiny, will be revealed
-
45:58 – Children will grow up without sin
-
45:59; 133:25 – The Lord will be the king and the lawgiver
for the entire earth
Understanding the Millennial conditions should be a blessing
to us now and should strengthen our confidence in the Savior’s promises and the
teachings of the prophets.
D&C 133:4, 10-11 emphasizes the need to be properly
prepared for the Second Coming. The
Lord’s counsel is that our preparation should be an integral part of our daily
lives.
-
D&C 61:38 - Be watchful for signs of the Savior’s coming
-
D&C 45:36-39 this parable teaches why these signs
have been (or will be) given to us
-
Positive signs of the Second Coming include:
- D&C
45:9; 133:57-58 – The fullness of the gospel will be restored
- D&C
45:66-71 – The new Jerusalem will be built as a place of refuge for the
righteous
- D&C
65:2-6 – God’s kingdom will be established on the earth
- D&C
110:11-16 – The keys of the Priesthood will be restored
- D&C
133:8-9, 36-39 – The gospel will be preached throughout the world
-
Negative signs of the Second Coming include:
·
D&C 29:15; 88:91 – weeping, despair, fear…men’s hearts
will fail them
·
D&C 29:16; 45:31; 112:24 – Famines, scourges, disease,
and desolation
·
D&C 34:9; 45:40-42; 88:87 – Signs and wonders in the heavens
and the earth
·
D&C 45:26; 63:33 – wars and rumors of wars…the whole
earth in commotion
·
D&C 45:27 – The love of men will wax cold and iniquity
will abound
·
D&C 45:33; 88:89-90 – Earthquakes, tempests, tidal
waves. Hard hearts, conflict
Some of these signs have occurred,
others are occurring, and others will yet come.
Throughout these times, the Lord
counseled in D&C 45:35 that we “be not troubled”. It will not be easy, but
we as Latter-day Saints can maintain a bright hope and be full of faith even
while surrounded on all sides by turmoil, sin, and distress. It’s a matter of trusting the Lord, his
promises, and his anointed leaders who hold the earthly keys during these
troubled times!
-
Stand in holy places
The main preparatory steps we can take are daily acts of righteousness. Each of the following scriptures counsels us with things we can do to prepare:
- D&C
27:15; 33:17 – Be steadfast in righteousness
- D&C
34:6; 39:19-20; 43:20-23 – Cry repentance and practice repentance as needed
- D&C
45:32; 87:8; 101:22-23 – Stand in holy places such as our temples, our chapels,
our homes, and the stakes of Zion. Even
in worldly environments, we must strive to assure that the wickedness and
temptations around us do not keep us from being holy and worthy.
- D&C
45:56-57 – Keep the Holy Ghost as our guide throughout our lives
President Gordon B. Hinckley taught: “How do you prepare for the
Second Coming? Well, you just do not worry about it. You just live the kind of life that if the Second Coming were to
happen tomorrow, you would be ready.
Nobody knows when it is going to happen…Our responsibility is to prepare
ourselves, to live worthy of the association of the Savior, to deport ourselves
in such a way that we would not be embarrassed if He were to come among
us. That is a challenge in this day and
age.” (Church News, 2 Jan 1999, 2)
Elder Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve gave the following counsel: “Teenagers also sometimes think, ‘What’s the use? The world will soon be blown all apart and come to an end.’ That feeling comes from fear, not from faith. No one knows the hour or the day (see D&C 49:7), but the end cannot come until all of the purposes of the Lord are fulfilled. Everything that I have learned from the revelations and from life convinces me that there is time and to spare for you to carefully prepare for a long life. One day you will cope with teenage children of your own. That will serve you right. Later, you will spoil your grandchildren, and they in turn spoil theirs. If an earlier end should happen to come to one, that is more reason to do things right” (Ensign, May 1989, 59)
Since the Lord has revealed more
to us than to any other people at any time in the world’s history, we should
use that knowledge to prepare and stand steadfastly in righteousness as the
signs unfold. Remember that His Second Coming will be a “great and dreadful
day”—great for the righteous and dreadful for the wicked. We, therefore, should be joyful as we
contemplate the coming of a joyful day!
The parable of the ten virgins is based on ancient Jewish wedding traditions. In Jesus’ time, the bridegroom and his friends would escort the bride from her home to the home of the bridegroom. Along the way, the friends of the bride waited to join them. When they arrived at the bridegroom’s home, they all went inside for the wedding. This usually took place in the evening, so those waiting for the bride usually carried small lamps fueled by oil. In the parable, the bridegroom represents the Savior, the virgins represent the members of the Church. The wedding represents the Savior’s Second Coming. The oil in the lamps represents preparation for the Second Coming.
President Spencer W. Kimball said: “In the parable, oil can be
purchased at the market. In our lives the oil of preparedness is accumulated
drop by drop in righteous living. Attendance at sacrament meetings adds oil to
our lamps, drop by drop over the years. Fasting, family prayer, home teaching,
control of bodily appetites, preaching the gospel, studying the scriptures—each
act of dedication and obedience is a drop added to the store. Deeds of
kindness, payment of offerings and tithes, chaste thoughts and actions,
marriage in the covenant for eternity—these, too, contribute importantly to the
oil with which we can, at midnight, refuel our exhausted lamps” (Faith Precedes the Miracle, [1972],
256).