Regarding the Second Coming...

Harold B. Lee

"Admonitions for the Priesthood of God"

General Conference - October 1972

...it never ceases to amaze me how gullible some of our Church members are in broadcasting these sensational stories, or dreams, or visions, some alleged to have been given to Church leaders, past or present, supposedly from some person’s private diary, without first verifying the report with proper Church authorities. 

...there are among us many loose writings predicting the calamities which are about to overtake us. Some of these have been publicized as though they were necessary to wake up the world to the horrors about to overtake us. Many of these are from sources upon which there cannot be unquestioned reliance.

Are you priesthood bearers aware of the fact that we need no such publications to be forewarned, if we were only conversant with what the scriptures have already spoken to us in plainness?

Let me give you the sure word of prophecy on which you should rely for your guide instead of these strange sources which may have great political implications.

Read the 24th chapter of Matthew—particularly that inspired version as contained in the Pearl of Great Price. (JS—M 1.)

Then read the 45th section of the Doctrine and Covenants where the Lord, not man, has documented the signs of the times. [D&C 45]

Now turn to section 101 and section 133 of the Doctrine and Covenants and hear the step-by-step recounting of events leading up to the coming of the Savior. [D&C 101; D&C 133]

Finally, turn to the promises the Lord makes to those who keep the commandments when these judgments descend upon the wicked, as set forth in the Doctrine and Covenants, section 38. [D&C 38]

Brethren, these are some of the writings with which you should concern yourselves, rather than commentaries that may come from those whose information may not be the most reliable and whose motives may be subject to question. And may I say, parenthetically, most of such writers are not handicapped by having any authentic information on their writings.

See the full talk HERE

The Sign of the Rainbow

The Lord hath set the bow in the cloud for a sign that while it shall be seen, seed time and harvest, summer and winter shall not fail; but when it shall disappear, woe to that generation, for behold the end cometh quickly. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:402)

I have asked of the Lord concerning His coming; and while asking the Lord, He gave a sign and said, "In the days of Noah I set a bow in the heavens as a sign and token that in any year that the bow should be seen the Lord would not come; but there should be seed time and harvest during that year: but whenever you see the bow withdrawn, it shall be a token that there shall be famine, pestilence, and great distress among the nations, and that the coming of the Messiah is not far distant." (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:254)

Bruce R. McConkie - 51 Signs of the Times

51 Signs of the Times from McConkie's "Mormon Doctrine".
View the pdf HERE.

City of Enoch and Others Resurrected

Bruce R. McConkie
The Millennial Messiah: The Second Coming of the Son of Man, p.647
 
Enoch and his city were all translated and taken up into heaven without tasting death. So also were Moses and Elijah and Alma and many others of whom we have no record. Indeed the whole focus of life among the worthy saints from the day of Enoch to the day of Abraham was so to live that they would be caught up and receive an inheritance in that city whose builder and maker was God. All these were with Christ in his resurrection; that is, they received their resurrected and immortal bodies at that time. John the Revelator and the Three Nephites and others whose identity is unknown have been translated since the day of Christ. They are all carrying on their ministries of preaching and prophesying and will do so until the Second Coming, when they will receive their resurrected and immortal bodies. The Lord, for instance, promised John: "Thou shalt tarry until I come in my glory, and shalt prophesy before nations, kindreds, tongues and people." This ministry is among mortals on earth, but John has great powers that mortals do not possess. "I will make him as flaming fire and a ministering angel," the Lord promised, and "he shall minister for those who shall be heirs of salvation who dwell on the earth." (D&C 7:3-6.)   

Land Masses Shall Unite

Bruce R. McConkie

The Millennial Messiah

P. 397-398 

7. War, Upheavals of Nature, and the Fall of Babylon.   

"And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great." This is the time when earth's land masses shall unite; when islands and continents shall become one land; when every valley shall be exalted and every mountain shall be made low; when the rugged terrain of today shall level out into a millennial garden; when the great deep shall be driven back into its own place in the north. It is no wonder that the earthquake shall exceed all others in the entire history of the world.   

"And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found." The cities of the world shall be destroyed. Babylon shall fall, of which we shall speak more particularly hereafter. The wicked shall taste the fulness of the wrath of God.   

"And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great." (Rev. 16:1-21.) We shall speak of this hail when we consider Ezekiel's prophecies about the battle of Armageddon. But we should here observe that Armageddon is a holy war. In it men will blaspheme God. They will be in rebellion against Jehovah. The armies that face each other will have opposing philosophies of life. It will be religious instincts that cause them to assemble to the battle. And the plagues poured out upon them will not cause them to repent.   

The Lord's Second Coming

More information related to our last class.  Two CES Symposium handouts.

How Christ's Coming to the Americas Parallels His Second Coming


The Book of Mormon - Preparing People for the Savior's Coming