She had heard of His wonderous works
As His fame spread throughout the land.
With fear and shame she approached,
Afraid to ask for a miracle at His hand.
If she could just touch, not having to beg,
His power would make her whole
And a clean woman she would again be.
He speaks: “Daughter, thy faith hath
Made thee whole, come, follow me.”
- CATHRYEN ALLEN
(Art: Divine Healing by Ron DiCianni)
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)
I saw You
today in my heart
and I wept knowing
as more believe, the tree that bore
Your weight keeps growing.
I saw the love
flow from
the deepest well
within Your soul –
Your salvation
for us all.
My heart was
rent knowing Your pain
And the tears
You spilt on that day remain.
They are the
gems I treasure in my heart…
I am one of Your
many children of light.
-
CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art: Sands of Serenity by Ivan Guaderrama)
“Joseph Smith continued visiting me and others up to a
certain time and then stopped. The last time I saw him was in heaven. He came
and spoke to me. He said that he could not stop to talk to me because he was in
a hurry.
“The next man I met was Father Smith; he couldn’t talk
to me because he was in a hurry. I met half a dozen brethren who held high
positions on earth, and none of them could stop to talk to me because they were
in a hurry. I was much astonished.
“By and by I saw the Prophet again, and I got a
privilege to ask him a question: “Now”, said I, “I want to know why you are in
a hurry? I have been in a hurry my whole life, but I expected my hurry would be
over when I get into the kingdom of heaven, if I ever did.”
“Joseph said: “I will tell you Brother Woodruff, every
dispensation that has had the priesthood on earth and has gone into celestial
kingdom, has had a certain amount of work to do to prepare to go to the earth
with the Saviour when He goes to reign on earth. Each dispensation has had
ample time to do this work. We have not. We are the last dispensation and so
much work has to be done and we need to be in a hurry in order to accomplish
it.
“Of course, that was satisfactory with me, but it was
new doctrine to me.”
-
Wilford
Woodruff, Discourses Delivered at Weber Stake Conference, Ogden, 19
October 1896; as published in Deseret News Weekly, Volume 53, #21)
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art: Time Is At Hand by Danny Hahlbohm)
a
-
I
stood at the veil
As
You were about to leave
Sorrowing
that not all would believe.
I
prayed for the Father’s power
To
protect Your gentle heart
From
the blow that might tear You apart.
I
knew my soul You would save
And
all Your promises You would fulfil.
I
stood at the veil, unable to leave,
Holding
Your crown for You to receive.
I
stood and waited that fateful day
In
awe of what You did to pave the way.
I
could scarcely comprehend
Your
godly enduring might
I
stood at the veil and gave You my heart.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Artist Unknown)
Perhaps one of the saddest events in the history of Israel was the time they requested the cessation of judges and asked Samuel to appoint a king over them (1 Samuel 8:5). Samuel warned them that kings will among other things, evoke heavy tax burdens on them; conscript their children into his service and seize private lands (vs 11-17). Ancient Israel would not listen because they had become weak and sinful and were envious of surrounding kingdoms, even though their governments were wicked and oppressive.
And here is another example, like the sons of Eli, of how we can cause people to sin. Samuel had two sons who he appointed as judges in Beersheba. They too did not walk in their father’s footsteps but exploited their position with bribes and perverted judgment (1 Samuel 8:3). This is all the elders needed to use as a reason why Israel should be ruled by a king like the other nations (v 4).
Samuel was not pleased to say the least since all the evils and misfortunes which Israel suffered always resulted from their apostasy from their God. Their request for a king therefore was an outright rejection of the sovereignty of Jehovah, who had always proclaimed himself as their God and King and the House of Israel as His special people, above all people upon the face of the earth (Det 7:6; Exodus 6:7; 19:5; 33:16; Leviticus 20:26; Jeremiah 10:4).
Perhaps the most heart breaking words that came out of the Saviour’s mouth was His response to Samuel who had prayed about the matter: “Hearken unto the voice of the people…for they have not rejected thee but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them” (1 Samuel 8:7). Imagine the heaviness of heart with which the Saviour would have uttered these words.
But as ancient Israel tragically sought to follow other nations, they became like other nations. We all know the ending to that. The downfall began with the very first king….Saul. Be careful what you want, for you will surely get it.
There was not among all Israel a goodlier person than Saul. He was honest, reliable, considerate of his parents and physically a potential hero and man of valour all Israel sought yet he too, like Samson became another tragedy. He was the lesson that Jehovan wanted to teach Israel about kings:
“Though Saul, had at first, a great regard for the law of Moses, and for God, yet ‘ the consciousness of his own power, coupled with the energy of his character, led him astray into an incautious disregard of the commands of God; his zeal in the prosecution of his plans hurried him on to reckless and violent measures; and success in his undertakings heightened his ambition into a haughty rebellion against the Lord, the God-king of Israel.” (Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary, 2:2:79; see also The Old Testament Student Manual Book 1, p 272)
Samuel anointed Saul to be ‘captain’ and not a king, even though he was later called such (1 Samuel 10:1). This should have served as a reminder that the Lord was still king…..only it didn’t.
The
Lord knows us intensely and intimately. He has known us from the beginning and
He knows who will fail him and who will serve Him to the end. Make no mistake
about that. It should motivate us to follow closely our life’s plan so that in
the end we won’t hear Him say: “You chose your own importance over Me, your God
and your King”
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art: King of Kings by Danny Hahlbohm)
“I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven
over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons,
which need no repentance.” (Luke 15:7)
“There is no justification for the inference that a
repentant sinner is to be given precedence over a righteous soul who had
resisted sin; were such the way of God, then Christ, the one sinless Man, would
be surpassed in the Father’s esteem by regenerate offenders.
“Unqualifiedly offensive as is sin, the sinner is yet
precious in the Father’s eyes, because of the possibility of his repentance and
return to righteousness. The loss of a soul is very real and a very great loss
to God. He is pained and grieved thereby, for it is His will that not one
should perish (Matthew 18:14; Moses 1:39)”
-
James
Talmage, Jesus The Christ, p 461
I stand all amazed
That You would offer Your sinless heart
For every sinful soul.
That You would deem us worthy
And suffer for us so.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art by Ivan Guaderrama)
