Second Coming of Jesus Christ

            The Second Coming of Jesus Christ draws nearer every day. Those with “eyes to see” and “ears to hear” are aware that the world is spinning into destruction just as Isaiah and many other prophets have foretold. Here are just a few of the words in Isaiah 24 prophesying of the conditions in the world in the last days as shared by Brent L. Top.

·         The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled (v. 3).

·         The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away (v. 4).

·         The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinances, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left (vv. 5-6).

·         All joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone (v. 11).

·         The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly (v. 19).

·         The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again (v. 20).

·         Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed (v. 23).

            There are other scriptures in the Bible as well as in the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants prophesizing about the Last Days. We are told that there will be wars and rumors of wars. People will be “weeping” and “wailing.” There will be flies and maggots. Flesh will be falling from bones, and eyeballs will fall from their sockets.

            These prophecies and others tell of terrible times ahead for us, and we have the right to be anxious. However, we need not fear if our faith in Jesus Christ is strong enough. After Top shares the above prophecies, he states the following.

As we see many of the signs of the times fulfilled right before our eyes – “wars and rumors of wars,” “the whole earth … in commotion,” “men’s hearts shall fail them,” “iniquity shall abound” (Doctrine and Covenants 45:26-27) –  it would be easy to become discouraged, even fearful. Yet the Savior has assured us, “Be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you” (Doctrine and Covenants 68:6). Despite the deterioration of society, with the rapid decline of long-held moral and ethical values, the full-scale assault on religion and religious people, and the many ways in which family solidarity and happiness are being eroded, we can be optimistic – even joyous.

            If the Lord wants us to be optimistic about the future, why would He inspire His prophets to tell us that there are frightening events ahead? The simple truth is that He gives us these warnings in order that we might be prepared to face them. The prophet Amos explains that “the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7). God wants us to be aware of what is coming, and He sends the messages to us through His prophets, both ancient and modern day. He has prophets and apostles on earth today through whom He gives us His words. Elder Neil L. Anderson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is one of them, and he gave the following counsel while speaking at a devotional at Brigham Young University on August 18, 2015. 

As we find our way in a world less attentive to the commandments of God, we will certainly be prayerful, but we need not be overly alarmed. The Lord will bless His Saints with the added spiritual power necessary to meet the challenges of our day.

Here is my major theme this morning: As evil increases in the world, there is a compensatory spiritual power for the righteous. As the world slides from its spiritual moorings, the Lord prepares the way for those who seek Him, offering them greater assurance, greater confirmation, and greater confidence in the spiritual direction they are traveling. The gift of the Holy Ghost becomes a brighter light in the emerging twilight.

To understand better, think of these comparisons: If the world were growing more physically dark, He could give us enhanced night vision. If loud noises were constantly in our ears, He could give us a filtering mechanism to block the unwanted sound. If the race we were running was extended, He could give us increased lung and muscle capacity. If the exam we were taking was more difficult, He could quicken our minds….

My brothers and sisters, as evil increases in the world, there is a compensatory power, an additional spiritual endowment, a revelatory gift for the righteous.

This added blessing of spiritual power does not settle upon us just because we are part of this generation. It is willingly offered to us; it is eagerly put before us. But as with all spiritual gifts, it requires our desiring it, pursuing it, and living worthy of receiving it….

Faith is the muscle of spiritual knowledge and power. Faith is a spiritual gift of God, but it is developed and magnified as we eagerly pursue our journey of embracing and following the Savior….

I emphasize once again: As evil increases in the world, the Lord does not leave us on the same footing. In a world that would diminish or discard or impair belief, there is an added spiritual power for those who are willing to set their course on increasing their faith in Jesus Christ.

            As shared by Elder Andersen, there are great blessings in store for those who love the Lord enough to keep His commandments and to prepare for His Second Coming. The only thing that we need to do is to follow Him and watch for Him. As an Apostle of the Lord, Elder Andersen promised that we will receive “added spiritual power” if we will stay on the gospel path and increase our faith in Jesus Christ.

            My thoughts keep going back to the words of the current Prophet of the Lord, even President Russell M. Nelson, in the April 2019 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. These are the words with which he closed his remarks. 

My dear brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ invites us to take the covenant path back home to our Heavenly Parents and be with those we love. He invites us to “come, follow me.”

Now, as President of His Church, I plead with you who have distanced yourselves from the Church and with you who have not yet really sought to know that the Savior’s Church has been restored. Do the spiritual work to find out for yourselves, and please do it now. Time is running out.

            We have the words of many prophets and numerous signs telling us that the Savior will be returning soon. We can be like the foolish virgins who ran out of oil just as they needed it, or we can be like the wise virgins who took extra oil for their lamps. (See Matthew 25:1-13.) The choice is ours, but His return is coming sooner rather than later according to the signs of the times. 

Parables of the Second Coming

            I continued my studies about the last week of the life of Jesus Christ. It seems that He spent much of His last week teaching the people and His Apostles, and He taught a lot about His return to earth as the resurrected Savior. Matthew 25 discusses three parables that are applicable to His Second Coming: the parable of the ten virgins, the parable of the talents, and the parable of the sheep and the goats. All of them pertain to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

            The main message from the parable of the ten virgins is that we must prepare spiritually for the Second Coming. This parable is about ten virgins who were invited to a wedding. In Jewish tradition, the bridegroom and a few of his friends go to the bride’s home where the marriage ceremony takes place. After the ceremony the entire wedding party proceeds to the groom’s home for a wedding feast. As they travel between the two homes, invited guests join the procession and are expected to carry their own lamps or torches to light their way in the darkness of midnight.

            The bridegroom in the parable is detained, and the lamps of the ten virgins begin to go out. The five wise virgins brought extra oil and were able to refill their lamps, but the five foolish virgins did not. They wanted to borrow oil from the wise virgins, but the wise virgins did not have any extra oil to share. While the foolish virgins went to buy oil, the bridegroom came. The wise virgins went with him to his home, and the door was shut. The foolish virgins came later and pounded on the door, but they were not allowed inside.

            The bridegroom in the parable represents Jesus Christ. He comes at midnight, the darkest part of the night, and the bride represents the Church of Jesus Christ. The virgins represent the members of the Church of Jesus Christ according to then-Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelves Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: “The ten virgins obviously represent members of Christ’s Church, for all were invited to the wedding feast and all knew what was required to be admitted when the bridegroom came. But only half were ready when he came.”

            In this parable the oil for the lamps represents spiritual preparation. Members of the Lord’s Church are taught how to add “oil” to their lamps in order to be spiritually ready for the Bridegroom. The Lord revealed the following information to the Prophet Joseph Smith.

And at that day, when I shall come in my glory, shall the parable be fulfilled which I spake concerning the ten virgins.

For they that are wise and have received the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived – verily I say unto you, they shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire, but shall abide the day.

And the earth shall be given unto them for an inheritance (Doctrine and Covenants 45:56-58; see also Doctrine and Covenants 63:54).

            President Spencer W. Kimball (1899-1985) gave a memorable explanation of this parable in his book title Faith Precedes the Miracle. He explains what the oil symbolizes and why the wise virgins could not share their oil.

The kind of oil that is needed to illuminate the way and light up the darkness is not shareable. How can one share obedience to the principle of tithing; a mind at peace from righteous living; an accumulation of knowledge? How can one share faith or testimony? How can one share attitudes or chastity, or the experience of a mission? How can one share temple privileges? Each must obtain that kind of oil for himself….

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 our 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], 255-56).

            This parable shows the dangers presented by procrastination of our spiritual preparation. If we procrastinate too long, we will not have enough oil in our lamps and will be unprepared to join the wedding procession. We could eventually be locked out of the wedding.

            The main message for the parable of the talents is that God will hold us accountable for what we do with our spiritual gifts. He will reward us for our efforts in developing our gifts, or He may take them away and give them to someone else if we do not develop them. A talent in the Savior’s day was a unit of weight and a large amount of money. In our day the word also means spiritual gift, skill, or ability.

            In the parable the master gives five talents to one servant, two talents to a second servant, and one talent to a third servant. The servant with five talents and the servant with two talents each doubled the number of talents, but the third servant buried his talent. When the master returned from his journey, he praised the two who had doubled their talents, but he rejected the third servant and gave his one talent to the servant who now had ten. President James E. Faust (1920-2007) of the First Presidency taught that the Lord will hold each of us accountable for what we do with our gifts and talents.

Some of us are too content with what we may already be doing. We stand back in the “eat, drink, and be merry’ mode when opportunities for growth and development abound. We miss opportunities to build up the kingdom of God because we have the passive notion that someone else will take care of it. The Lord tells us that He will give more to those who are willing. They will be magnified in their efforts…. But to those who say, ‘We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have’ [2 Nephi 28:30].

The Lord entrusts all of His servants, including every priesthood holder, with spiritual talents…. While we are not all equal in experience, aptitude, and strength, we have different opportunities to employ these spiritual gifts, and we will all be accountable for the use of the gifts and opportunities given to us.” 

            This parable teaches the importance of not being lazy or fearful in our spiritual preparation. It also teaches us that we must use our gifts, talents, and abilities in helping other people to prepare themselves for the Second Coming. In other words, Heavenly Father did not send us to earth to party. He sent us away to school for a few years to gain the knowledge and experience that we need in order to become what He wants us to be.

            The main message of the parable of the sheep and the goats is to warn us. The Lord will judge us for we have done as well as for what we have become. The sheep represent those people who faithfully serve God and their neighbors. They will be on the right hand of God, while the people represented by the goats will be on the left hand of God.

            In the time of Christ sheep and goats grazed together during the day, but they were separated at night. This parable explains the separation of judgment that will occur at the time of the Savior’s Second Coming. Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught the following.

At the final day the Savior will not ask about the nature of our callings. He will not inquire about our material possessions or fame. He will ask if we ministered to the sick, gave food and drink to the hungry, visited those in prison, or gave succor to the weak [see Matthew 25:31-40]. When we reach out to assist the least of heavenly Father’s children, we do it unto Him [see Matthew 24:40]. That is the essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

            This parable tells us that we must be concerned about other people and care for them as God would have us do. We are particularly commanded to care for those people who are needy. Taken together, the three parables teach us three ways that we can prepare for the Second Coming of the Savior. The parable of the ten virgins teaches of the importance of inviting the Holy Spirit into our lives in order to have sufficient oil in our lamps. The parable of the talents teaches of the importance of doing good with the gifts, talents, and abilities that God has given to us. The parable of the sheep and the goats teaches the importance of caring for the people around us, particularly those in need. In the final days of His mortal life, Jesus Christ taught the people how to prepare for his return to earth.