HE WILL COME

 

Isaiah’s “King of Glory” prophecy foretells the Saviour’s Second Coming when He will come and subdue all Israel’s enemies under His feet; put down all kingdoms; will sit on the throne of ‘His father’ David; and ‘the government shall be upon his shoulder’ (Isaiah 9:6).

In the words of Bruce R. McConkie: “He came once – born in a stable, cradled in a manger – to redeem His people; to restore His everlasting gospel; to work out the infinite and eternal atonement; to bring salvation. He shall come again – with ten thousands of his saints, in all the glory of his Father’s kingdom – to slay the wicked by the breath of his lips; to cleanse the vineyard of corruption; to ransom those who love His appearing: to bring salvation.”  

(Bruce R. McConkie, The Promised Messiah, p 1)

He will come –

-          When we come out of every nation to Zion, the city of New Jerusalem, singing songs of everlasting joy (D&C 45:71);

-          When the Ten Tribes return from the land of the north (D&C 110:11; Jeremiah 3:18; D&C 133:26-34);

-          When the City of Enoch descends from the spiritual realm and ‘we fall upon their necks and we kiss each other’ in love and fellowship of Zion (Moses 7:63);

When He comes –

-          We will dwell in New Jerusalem, the city of our God, and Christ will be our light by day and the whole city will be lighted up by the glory of His presence (Isaiah 60:19-22);

-          Because of His presence there will be perpetual peace; there will be no illness, no tears, no suffering and no death.

It’s a time worth waiting for….and preparing for. In Section 105 of Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord spoke of the importance of preparation for the establishment of Zion which must be ‘redeemed’ before He comes:

1.      He wants His leaders to be prepared (vv 9-10);

2.      He wants the Saints to be taught more perfectly what He requires of them (v 10);;

3.      He wants the Saints to gain experience in knowing their duty and doctrine of God (v 10; John 7:17);

4.      He wants His Saints to be endowed with power from on high (v 11);

5.      He wants the Saints to be faithful, enduring in humility to the end (v 12).

It is clear by the very first requirement that the Church is built on leadership which will extend into the Millenium. I often wonder about the Church members who criticize the Church leaders and do not support them as prophets, seers and revelators. How will they be prepared to live a Zion life under leadership they are not trained to follow? Make no mistake, The Saviour will delegate the administration of His kingdom. If we are not prepared to take instruction now, we will not be able to accept it then.

The scriptures teach us that there will appear one grand sign of the Son of Man in heaven as the Saviour arrives (D&C 88:93; Matt 24:30). Joseph Smith has said that the people of the world will not recognize it and will say it is a planet or a comet etc…..”but the Son of man will come as the sign of the coming of the Son of Man, which will be as the light of the morning, cometh out of the east.” (History of the Church, 5:336-37; see also D&C 43:20-27).

 

When in clouds of glory You appear,

We the faithful will know Your name.

We will know Your angels and the host

Of heaven coming to testify of Your fame.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Parting the Veil by John McNaughton)

HOPE OF HAPPINESS

 

I CAME INTO THE WORLD:

To give peace to the suffering

To give hope to the down-trodden

To strenghten the weak

To lighten your burdens

To lift the downtrodden

To give sight to the blind

To give power to the faint

To give might to the weary

To comfort those who mourn

To bind up the broken-hearted

To show mercy to the penitent

To give you living water

To free the captive

To be a refuge from the storm

And a shadow from the heat

To give you rest from sorrow and fear

To break the bands of bondage

To empower the powerless

To conquer the sting of death

To be a light unto the world

To establish truth

To atone for you

To love you 

To help you

To save you.

 

I WILL RETURN: 

To conquer the enemy

To destroy the wicked

To govern in righteousness

To unite the nations

To gather my people Israel

To establish peace

To take away the sorrow

To make all things known

To flood the earth with truth

To resurrect you

To judge in righteousness

To give mercy to the penitent

To take you to the Father

To give you eternal life

To exalt you.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Jesus the Symbol of Hope by Ivan Guaderrama)

BEFORE HE COMES

 

It has been over 2,000 years since the Lord’s first advent. Many of us are eager to see Him return. I have heard a lot of anxious members of the Church speak of it as if it could happen within months. I understand. We are all tired of the wickedness of this world, however, He will not come until all the prophecies of His return are fulfilled, “…nor until everything for the Bridegroom is ready (“History of the Church” Volume V, p 291).

The readiness of the Kingdom is very much dependent on the readiness of its members : “He told his disciples that the day would come when men were unawares, as the thief in the night. For this reason we should watch and pray, “For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth” (Luke 21:34-35). There is no excuse for any of us, then, not to be prepared, for we have been fully and frequently warned.” (President Joseph Fielding Smith, “Church History and Modern Revelation”, 1:157)

And here is something very important: “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night…..But ye, brethren, are NOT in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are children of light, and the children of the day: we are NOT of the night, nor of darkness” (1 Thessalonians 5:2-5).

This is our advantage…. We as members of His Church, are not the ones that are unaware…..we live in the light as opposed to many in the world who do not have that advantage and live in darkness. Our advantage is the Holy Ghost, the scriptures, continuous revelation and the living prophets.

 I am always amazed when I hear a teacher at Church ask this pointless question: “If you knew that the Saviour was coming tomorrow, what would you do to prepare?” I am equally amazed by some answers such as, missionary work. I ask, how much missionary work could you do in one day to make up for years of not doing it? My answer is, you could do nothing in one day to prepare for His coming. The time to start preparing is yesterday.

The signs of His coming are too numerous to mention here. It is the responsibility of each of us to search them in the prophecies that we might know them and recognize them as they come. We are the chosen for this time and this place to usher in the greatest event of the history of mankind. The winding up scenes will not be easy, they will not be pleasant, but they will be worth the sacrifice, the perseverance, the wait…..and when He comes, the tears of the faithful….

 

When in clouds of glory I see you come,

I will run….

I will run to meet You with hope of

Everlasting life.

I will bend the knee and offer You my heart,

Lived these many years in Your glorious light.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Behold He Comes by Danny Hahlbohm)

COME TO ZION PART 1

 

Would it surprise you to know that the prophets, priests and kings of old ‘have looked forward with joyful anticipation to the day in which we live’? Not only did they look forward to it but they have sung, written and prophesied of it considering us a ‘favoured people’ because God had chosen us to bring about the Latter-day glory. (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 4:609-10)

As early as 1829, a year before the Church was organized in our dispensation, the Lord issued a mandate to the saints to ‘seek to bring forth and establish the cause of Zion’ (D&C 6:6). This is the Latter-day glory. We are favoured not because we are perfect but because we have a certain work to do and the Father trusted that we would do it.

I spoke to Elder Bruce C. Hafen one day when he was here in Australia in his capacity as the Area President, and he told me that the Church leaders had been given a directive to prepare the members to become a Zion people. That was 30 years ago. Why this preparation? Because without Zion we are not prepared to meet the Bridegroom, who is at the door….

When we think of Zion, the city of Enoch comes to mind more often than not and so it should because this city is the blueprint of what we can become. So glorious was Enoch’s city that it came to be known as the City of Holiness (Moses 7:19). It could only have been called that because the people living in it were holy.

According to ancient writings, both Melchizedek and Abraham sought to join the city of Enoch, as indeed many of the righteous who were ‘caught up by the powers of heaven into Zion’ (Moses 7:27; E. Douglas Clark, “The Blessings of Abraham”, p 152)

This is the definition of Zion: “Zion is a spiritual condition; Zion is people, Zion is the saints of God; Zion is those who have been baptized; Zion is those who have received the Holy Ghost; Zion is those who keep the commandments; Zion is the righteous, or in other words, as our revelation recites: “This is Zion – the pure in heart”(D&C 97:21) (Bruce R. McConkie, “Come: Let Israel Build Zion”, Ensign May 1977, p 117)

Elder McConkie went on to say that it was people only who were taken up into heaven and not brick and mortar and stone, because there are better homes already in heaven. The people constitute a city and Zion is the state of the heart.

Our next question should be, what does it mean to be pure in heart? We are told that Enoch’s citizens were called Zion because they were ‘of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness, and there was no poor among them’ (Moses 7:18). This condition can indeed only come through a pure heart. The operative word here is ‘pure’. Does it remind you of something else being pure?

The citizens of Enoch's City of Holiness not only achieved the blessed state of being of one heart and one mind but they maintained this state of righteousness for 365 years before they were translated (Moses 7:18, 68). Imagine living in a state of brotherhood and love for that long…..without criticism, judgment and intolerance of one another.

This was doable, this was possible, this was achievable only because ‘Enoch and all his people walked with God’ (v 69) in whose heart was the ‘pure’ love of Christ.

Since the people of this city ‘walked’ with God (Moses 7:69), they were ‘true’ followers of Jesus Christ and there is something very important that happens to true followers of Jesus Christ……they become endowed with this ‘pure’ love (Moroni 7:48).

This is a love that we cannot develop on our own. Moroni tells us that we must seek and pray for this love so that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him (Moroni 7:49)….and here’s the reason why: When the Saviour returns, Enoch’s city will return with Him to live with Zion, the New Jerusalem (Moses 7:62). This is us. They will meet us there and “we will fall upon their necks, and they shall fall upon our necks, and we will kiss each other” (Moses 7:63)….it will be a meeting of hearts knit together with the pure love of Christ. The Saviour is at the door….the Millennium imminent. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Divine Companion by Yongsung Kim)

HE WILL COME

 

The prophecies of Christ portray the expected Messiah in a dualistic manner. At His first coming, He was to be the ‘suffering servant’ as prophesied in Isaiah 53 who would be a ‘man of sorrows’ (v3); one who stands ‘as a sheep before her shearers’ (v7); and one who takes our transgressions upon Himself. The other picture of the Messiah paints Him as the “King of Glory”. This title promises deliverance, political power, and the destruction of Israel’s enemies. Of course, the “suffering servant” foretells His mortal life and spiritual deliverance of His people. The “King of Glory” prophecies foretell His second coming when He will subdue all Israel’s enemies under His feet; put down all kingdoms; will sit on the throne of David; and ‘the government shall be upon his shoulder’ (Isaiah 9:6).

In the words of Bruce R. McConkie: “He came once – born in a stable, cradled in a manger – to redeem his people; to restore his everlasting gospel; to work out the infinite and eternal atonement; to bring salvation.

He shall come again – with ten thousands of his saints, in all the glory of his Father’s kingdom – to slay the wicked by the breath of his lips; to cleanse the vineyard of corruption; to ransom those who love his appearing: to bring salvation.”  

(Bruce R. McConkie, The Promised Messiah, p 1)

We are now at the point in time when we are awaiting the King of Glory who shall come again to bring salvation. So close is the Second Coming, that the Saviour said in His revelation to the Church in 1831: “Behold, now it is called TODAY until the coming of the Son of Man…..” (D&C 64:23).  A reiteration of its closeness is expressed in the scriptures with a phrase “even at the doors” (D&C 110:16; Mark 13:29; Matthew 24:33; JST Matthew 1:39. We, of the twelfth hour, are witnessing the scriptures being fulfilled and await with eagerness.

When His apostles asked the Saviour, pre-resurrection, when He will return, He answered: “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only” (Matthew 24:36; Mark 13:32). But now, post-resurrection, one other knows…..the Saviour,  speaking on behalf of the Father, said this in modern day revelation: “For I am God, and have sent mine Only Begotten Son into the world for the redemption of the world……and [he] now reigneth in the heavens and will reign till he descends on the earth to put all enemies under his feet, which time is nigh at hand….I, the Lord God, have spoken it; but the hour and the day no man knoweth, neither the angels in heaven, nor shall they know until he comes” (D&C 49:5-7). There was no confirmation that the Father only knows, hence the proposition that the Son now knows also.

The Saviour knows when He will return. He knows everything, even as His Father knows. He will come as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He will come and rule and reign with righteousness and obliterate all oppression, sickness, death, misery and sorrow. He will come.

 

When amidst the clouds of glory

You appear on your trusted steed,

Our heads will bow,

Our knees will bend,

Our tongues be loosed to confess:

Your Sonship and Your Kingship,

Worlds without end.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: Second Coming by John McNaughton)

A WELCOME BY THE FAITHFUL

 

In his efforts to stay the tide of increasing floundering amongst the early Church members who had converted from Judaism to Christianity, Paul wrote the famous sermon that we now call the book of Hebrews. Throughout the entire sermon, his goal was to reinforce the members’ conversion by denouncing the law of Moses and emphasizing that the only way to salvation was through Christ. He reminded these converted Jews of the time they were illuminated, had accepted the truth and had endured afflictions because of it (Hebrews 10:32). He admonished them not to let all that growth and endurance go to waste by casting away their confidence in the truth they once accepted (v 35). In other words, if it was right when you prayed about it and received a witness of it, and trusted it, and lived for it, it is still right. It is right when the pressure mounts, when doubts set in, when fears rear their ugly heads, when the adversary steps in to destroy your reward if you remain faithful.

Following his admonition to confidence, Paul said something highly significant to us, the saints of this last dispensation who await the Second Coming of the Saviour: “For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry” (Hebrews 10:37). In other words, don’t give up especially now when the Lord is at the door….

It has been 2023 years since the Lord’s first advent. Many, like Nephites of old who awaited His first coming, are becoming incredulous about His return. Those who still believe are asking how much more wicked the world has to get before He appears. Elder Christofferson who was in Melbourne, Australia, conducting a leadership meeting was asked this very same question of a sister during a question and answer segment to which he replied: “The world is already wicked enough for His coming, the Father is waiting for more covenant keeping saints to welcome Him.” In his talk, “Preparing for the Lord’s Return” given in April 2019, Elder Christofferson elaborated: “First, and crucial for the Lord’s return, is the presence on the earth of a people prepared to receive Him at His coming.”  

Nephi saw us in our day and testified that the ‘power of the Lamb of God descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord…and we were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory’ (1 Nephi 14:14). It is time for us, the covenant people, to rise to that privilege. We are the chosen for this time and this place to usher in the greatest event of the history of mankind. The winding up scenes will not be easy, they will not be pleasant, but they will be worth the sacrifice, the perseverance, the wait…..and when He comes, the tears of the faithful….

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: His Return by Dan Wilson)