The Second Coming

The second coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be much different than the first.  The first time Jesus came to earth, He was a helpless baby, born under humble circumstances, who had to be nurtured and learn and grow.  His ministry was meek, yet He managed to teach His gospel and many people followed Him.  Many people also mocked and rejected Him.  At the hands of His fellow men, He was scourged, spit upon and crucified.

Of course, the atonement was a necessary part of our Heavenly Father's plan.  Jesus knew before He came to earth that He would take upon Him the sins of the world and atone for each and every one of us who has ever and will ever come to earth.  This He agreed to in our pre-mortal existence.

Three days after He was laid in the tomb, He arose and was resurrected.  As a resurrected being, He appeared to His disciples in Jerusalem as recorded in the Bible.  Then He also appeared to the people in the Americas as recorded in The Book of Mormon.

We have been taught, as it is well-documented in Scripture, that Christ will come again.  He will again descend from heaven and come to earth.  This is known as the second coming.  But this time, He will come in power and glory.  When He comes again, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is the Christ.

Isaiah 45:23

"... That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear."

The Prophet Joseph F. Smith said:

"... the coming of the Savior to reign upon the earth, when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ." ¹

Doctrine and Covenants 88:104 

"And this shall be the sound of his trump, saying to all people, both in heaven and in earth, and that are under the earth—for every ear shall hear it, and every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess, while they hear the sound of the trump, saying: Fear God, and give glory to him who sitteth upon the throne, forever and ever; for the hour of his judgment is come."

Speaking of "the hour of his judgment", the following Scripture makes very clear the state of the wicked at the judgment bar of God.

Alma 12:12-15

12 And Amulek hath spoken plainly concerning death, and being raised from this mortality to a state of immortality, and being brought before the bar of God, to be judged according to our works.

13 Then if our hearts have been hardened, yea, if we have hardened our hearts against the word, insomuch that it has not been found in us, then will our state be awful, for then we shall be condemned.

14 For our words will condemn us, yea, all our works will condemn us; we shall not be found spotless; and our thoughts will also condemn us; and in this awful state we shall not dare to look up to our God; and we would fain be glad if we could command the rocks and the mountains to fall upon us to hide us from his presence.

15 But this cannot be; we must come forth and stand before him in his glory, and in his power, and in his might, majesty, and dominion, and acknowledge to our everlasting shame that all his judgments are just; that he is just in all his works, and that he is merciful unto the children of men, and that he has all power to save every man that believeth on his name and bringeth forth fruit meet for repentance.

Clarifying even further concerning the state of the wicked, and more specifically covenant breakers, at the Lord's second coming, President Joseph F. Smith warned:

"I … testify, that unless the Latter-day Saints will live their religion, keep their covenants with God and their brethren, honor the priesthood which they bear, and try faithfully to bring themselves into subjection to the laws of God, they will be the first to fall beneath the judgments of the Almighty, for his judgments will begin at his own house.

"Therefore, those who have made a covenant with the Lord by baptism, and have broken that covenant, who profess to be saints and are not, but are sinners, and covenant-breakers, and partakers of the sins of Babylon, most assuredly will “receive of her plagues,” for it is written that the righteous will barely escape [see Revelation 18:4; D&C 63:34]. This is my testimony in relation to these matters. We rely upon the word of the Lord in these things, and not upon the word of man, for not only have angels, but God Almighty has spoken from the heavens in this our own age of the world, and we know his word is true." ¹

That's a very strong warning from a prophet of God.  I strongly suggest that if you are not doing your best to keep the commandments and have broken covenants with God that you quickly change your ways and repent lest it becomes too late and the wrath of God comes upon you.

For those of you who subscribe to the eat, drink, and be merry philosophy that think you will be saved no matter what you do because a loving God wouldn't punish his children, think again.  Or for those of you who choose not to believe in God altogether, you may want to reconsider.

There certainly are consequences to breaking God's commandments -- whether you believe it or not, the consequences are the same.

Our Heavenly Father and His son, Jesus Christ, are all loving and merciful but they are certainly not pansies.  As evidenced by the following scriptures:

Doctrine and Covenants 63:6, 32-34

6 Wherefore, verily I say, let the wicked take heed, and let the rebellious fear and tremble; and let the unbelieving hold their lips, for the day of wrath shall come upon them as a whirlwind, and all flesh shall know that I am God.

32 I, the Lord, am angry with the wicked; I am holding my Spirit from the inhabitants of the earth.

33 I have sworn in my wrath, and decreed wars upon the face of the earth, and the wicked shall slay the wicked, and fear shall come upon every man;

34 And the saints also shall hardly escape; nevertheless, I, the Lord, am with them, and will come down in heaven from the presence of my Father and consume the wicked with unquenchable fire.

Whatever your philosophies in life are and whatever you choose to believe, it doesn't matter.  Truth is truth.  I'd much rather be on the Lord's side when He comes again, because whether you believe or not it will happen.

The question that all curious minds want to know is, "When will He come again?"  The answer is nobody knows.  Elder Ballard, one of the Lord's ordained apostles, said that he doesn't know and if he doesn't know, as one of the Lord's twelve apostles, then he submits that nobody knows.  So, anyone who claims to know when the second coming will be, is lying. The Scriptures make this very clear.

Doctrine and Covenants 49:7

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.

Matthew 24:36

But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. 

Granted, there are plenty of signs of the times given in Scripture to give us clues as to when He will come again.  A good analogy is a pregnant woman.  A pregnant woman knows she will give birth, but she doesn't know the exact date.  As her time to be delivered draws nigh, she knows it will be soon, but she still doesn't know exactly when.

As more signs of the times are fulfilled and prophecies come to fruition, we know we are drawing closer to the second coming. We know we are in the 11th hour, even at the very end of the 11th hour. But just like a woman in her ninth month of pregnancy, we don't know the exact time frame, only that it is soon, even imminent.  The second coming could be tomorrow, it could be many years from now.

But, it doesn't really matter.  As long as we are living righteously and doing our best to follow God's commandments and keep our covenants, then we are prepared.  It has been said that "if ye are prepared ye shall not fear." (Doctrine and Covenants 38:30)

If you're not prepared, I issue this warning, "therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end" (Alma 34:33).

Doctrine and Covenants 41:4

And I will be your ruler when I come; and behold, I come quickly, and ye shall see that my law is kept.

Several places in Scripture mention the Lord coming quickly.  This can be interpreted several different ways but either way it's best to be prepared.  Procrastinating your preparation will result in devastating eternal consequences.

Preparing for the Lord's second coming is a continuous process.  Whether you're already preparing by doing your best to keep the Lord's commandments and follow Him or if you need to change course and get back on the right path, we all need to work everyday at preparing to meet our Savior when He comes again.

If you're not on course, I admonish you to turn your life around and get on course. It is imperative that you do so, your eternal destiny is at stake. Time is of the essence, do not procrastinate or it may be too late.

For completeness sake,  I want to go back to the beginning and briefly mention a few of the things that will occur at the Lord's second coming.

1 -- He will come in power and glory and He will cleanse the earth of wickedness.

Speaking of the second coming, the Old Testament prophet Malachi said:

Malachi 4:1

For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

We know that the Lord will cleanse the earth with fire at his second coming.  The wicked will burn as stubble and be destroyed in the flesh and the righteous will be raised up to meet Him.

2 -- Jesus Christ will judge His people.  

We know there will be at least a partial judgment at the Lord's second coming.  The righteous and the wicked will be divided. The righteous will remain with Christ on earth.  The wicked will be destroyed and cleansed from the earth.

Revelation 20:4-5

4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. 

3 -- At His second coming, the Lord will usher in the Millennium.

The Millennium is the 1,000 years that the Lord will rule and reign on earth. At His second coming the righteous will be caught up to meet Him. His coming will begin the Millennium.

4 -- He will complete the first resurrection.

At the beginning of the Millennium, the righteous will be resurrected. Those who qualify for celestial glory will be resurrected at the beginning of the Millennium.(The morning of the first resurrection).  Those who qualify for terrestrial glory will be resurrected sometime later during the Millennium.  They will remain on earth with Christ during the Millennium.

"The wicked who are living at the time of the Second Coming of the Lord will be destroyed in the flesh. They, along with the wicked who are already dead, will have to wait until the last resurrection. All of the remaining dead will rise to meet God. They will either inherit the telestial kingdom or be cast into outer darkness with Satan (see D&C 76:32–33, 81–112)." ²

5 -- He will take his rightful place as King of heaven and earth.

"When Jesus comes, He will establish His government on the earth. The Church will become part of that kingdom. He will rule all the people of the earth in peace for 1,000 years." ²

"When Jesus Christ was born, very few people knew that the Savior of the world had come. When he comes again, there'll be no doubt who He is." ²

Make no mistake about it, Christ will come again.  He will come in power and glory.  We must be prepared to meet Him.  Because it is so important, I want to reiterate the best way to prepare to meet our Savior:

"The best way we can prepare for the Savior’s coming is to accept the teachings of the gospel and make them part of our lives. We should live each day the best we can, just as Jesus taught when He was on the earth. We can look to the prophet for guidance and follow his counsel. We can live worthy to have the Holy Ghost guide us. Then we will look forward to the Savior’s coming with happiness and not with fear. The Lord said: “Fear not, little flock, the kingdom is yours until I come. Behold, I come quickly. Even so. Amen” (D&C 35:27)." ²

As I mentioned before, preparation requires daily effort.  Yet it is very simple.  Live each day the best you can and strive to follow the gospel of Jesus Christ.  In doing so, we have no need to fear.

I'm very much looking forward to the second coming of my Savior, Jesus Christ.  The more quickly He comes, the better. But, until then I will live each day of my life trying to follow Him.

It is my hope and prayer that all of you will also live each day preparing to meet the Savior by living His gospel and keeping His Commandments to the best of your ability.

That's my two cents.

References:

1 -- Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith Chapter 44: Preparing for the Second Coming of Christ

2 -- Gospel Principles (2011) 257-62, Chapter 44: The Second Coming of Jesus Christ