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)

PREPARING FOR ZION

 

I was working at the Church Office in Sydney when Elder Bruce C. Hafen was the Area President here in Australia. He was generous enough to share some knowledge with me which I valued highly. He told me that the directive of the Church at the time given to the leaders was to prepare the members for Zion. That was some 25 years ago.

This made me see how important the Church is as an organisation because of its leaders who are implementing this preparation. We are told certain conditions need to be met before Zion can be established as ‘the bridge between the world as it is and the world as God designed it and meant it to be’ (Hugh Nibley, “Approaching Zion” p 4).

Section 105 of the Doctrine and Covenants speaks in detail of the needed preparation of the saints before the Lord can ‘redeem Zion’ but the very first requirement is relative to the elders of the Church which are to be endowed with power from on high so that we, the members, might be taught more perfectly what God requires of us (D&C 105:10,11). The structure of the Church is based on leadership. The leaders are to be taught and trained as much as the members below them. The leaders are meant to learn to lead and we are meant to learn to follow.

There are some who believe they can be inactive in the Church and in the end show up at New Jerusalem’s gate expecting to live a Zion life. Imagine arriving to Zion without any experience behind you that would have taught you to be obedient to the leaders’ instructions and to be united with other members of the Church community. I have wondered how they could become obedient to the leaders overnight when they didn’t value their leadership beforehand. I know some wonderful and good members of the Church who are inactive and are highly critical of the leaders. There are some who do not support the general authorities of the Church and tend to believe they are ‘nice old men’ but not prophets, seers and revelators.

The leaders might not be perfect but the Lord values their leadership of His saints. This is how important it is to honour the administration of the Church in preparation for the Second Coming:

“The coming of the Son of Man never will be – never can be till the judgments spoken of for this hour are poured out: which judgments are commenced. Paul says, “Ye are the children of the light, and not of the darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief in the night.” It is not the design of the Almighty to come upon the earth and crush it and grind it to powder, BUT HE WILL REVEAL IT TO HIS SERVANTS THE PROPHETS (Amos 3:7)” (Teachings of Joseph Smith, p 286)

The leaders of the Church might not know the exact day and the hour but the proximity of it will be very real to the Church because of the preparation that the leaders will have put into place for the readiness of the Kingdom. The New Jerusalem for one will have to be ready and peopled to receive our King.

We, the children of light, have more information regarding the Second Coming than the rest of the world. The signs of the times are clear in modern day revelation as contained in Doctrine and Covenants. We know the sequence of events that are to take place. We are not dumb sheep without knowledge and without untrained shepherds. The Lord has not left us unawares and clueless. He wants His people to be ready and He wants us all in Zion to welcome Him.

There will be no excuse if we are not there on that auspicious day….

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Second Coming by Ron DiCianni)