Here are the Second Coming Notes continued...
I wish to present to you some thoughts about the times in which you live and about the quality of faith you will need to survive some of the difficulties yet to be experienced. I speak as one who loves you and has been given a responsibility, with my Brethren, “to testify and warn” about the impending crises facing mankind.
“The Lord shall be red in his apparel, and his garments like him that treadeth in the wine-vat.
“And so great shall be the glory of his presence that the sun shall hide his face in shame, and the moon shall withhold its light, and the stars shall be hurled from their places.” (D&C 133:48–49.)
All nations will see Him “in the clouds of heaven, clothed with power and great glory; with all the holy angels.” …
You will live in the midst of economic, political and spiritual instability. When you see these signs—unmistakable evidences that His coming is nigh—be not troubled, but, “stand … in holy places, and be not moved, until the day of the Lord come” (D&C 87:8). Holy men stand in holy places and these holy places include our temples, our chapels, our homes, and the stakes of Zion, which are, as the Lord declares, “for a defense, and for a refuge from the storm, and from wrath when it shall be poured out without mixture upon the whole earth” (D&C 115:6).
This preparation must consist of more than just casual membership in the Church. You must learn to be guided by personal revelation and the counsel of the living prophet so you will not be deceived.
Will you be among those who are faithful to the end? Will you endure? Are you prepared? Can you live in the world and not partake of the sins of the world? Will you “arise and shine forth” as the Lord has commanded? Will you be a light and “standard for the nations”? We know you can. We pray you will. We have every confidence that you, “the rising generation,” will not falter. I repeat: You were valiant spirits reserved for this exceptional time. Make the choice. Rise to the task of this momentous hour!
Ezra Taft Benson: Prepare Yourself for the Great Day of the Lord
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Remember, too, that your faith covers all portions of life’s trail. You can have clear faith in the ultimate outcomes at the end of the trail but still find vexing uncertainties in the steps immediately ahead. The Lord knows the end from the beginning and everything in between. You, however, function in the muddled, mortal middle. Both the help and comfort of the Holy Ghost are thus much needed for the short run too!
Prophetically, President Gordon B. Hinckley said to us at a recent general conference that current events in the world did not constitute the “all-consuming calamity.” President Hinckley also cautioned: “Peace may be denied for a season. … We may even be called on to suffer in one way or another. … Our safety lies in repentance. Our strength comes of obedience to the commandments of God. … This is the crux of the entire matter—obedience to the commandments of God.”
Pay heed, therefore, to your inborn spiritual reflexes. Use, even more, the gifts of the Holy Ghost, who can fill you with “hope and perfect love” (Moro. 8:26). He can “enlighten your mind, … [and] shall fill your soul with joy” (D&C 11:13). How precious and relevant these gifts of hope, love, and joy are in any age, but certainly in yours, when so many feel unloved, hopeless, and sad!
God has a timetable for this planet and for each person: “But all things must come to pass in their time” (D&C 64:32). Within all of the drama cited are many individual dramas, making it imperative for you to allow the Lord to tutor you amid your discipleship.
Elder Neal A. Maxwell: These Are Your Days
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Even during His adult life, Jesus indicated that He did not have a regular home. One day a man approached Him and said, “Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.” The Savior answered, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head” (Luke 9:57, 58).
My brothers and sisters, each time I hear the story of the Savior’s birth and earthly ministry, I think of our personal responsibility to prepare welcoming places for Him for the day He returns. What can we do?
First, let us be prepared to receive Him in His own house—the temple. Who among us has not dreamed of visiting the places where the Savior was born, lived, and carried out His earthly ministry? Many, with considerable sacrifice, have journeyed to the Holy Land. But how important it is that we visit the places to which He might one day return…Second, we can make our homes places where the Lord would want to stay.
Bishop Gérald Caussé: Preparing a Place for the Lord
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