6/25/2017 - Section 45:57-75

June 25, 2017

Section 45:57-75

Last Days, Second Coming, Lord’s Promises,

After describing the tumultuous times that will precede and accompany the second coming, Christ gives His assurance in v’s 57-59: “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 [truly] I say unto you, they shall… abide the day….and they shall multiply and wax strong, and their children shall grow up without sin unto salvation.   For the Lord shall be in their midst, and his glory shall be upon them, and he will be their king and their lawgiver. ” While I have prayed to be able to do well my part in preparing the world for Christ’s second coming, I believe I have always quietly hoped to be ‘safely dead’ by that time. And yet this beautiful promise of the Lord of having our children wax strong and grow up unto salvation—makes me wish my time on earth might have been a little later than it was—but that – for me - would be fiddling with the Lord’s plan, and He does know, and always has, and always will know best. I still have time in ‘my turn on earth’ and how I pray that my children who have found reason to put the church and the gospel out of their lives, might still be prompted to reinstate regular prayers with Heavenly Father, and regular sessions where they immerse themselves in His scriptures, and once again find and enjoy His spirit and once again abide by the promptings of the Holy Ghost –and I also pray that I might be found in that same pathway no matter what comes into my life.

In D&C 29:7-8 the Lord instructed to ‘gather the elect so their hearts could be prepared for the day of tribulation’. In D&C 115:5-6 He explains that the gathering of stakes was to be for ‘defense and refuge from the coming storm that will be poured out on the earth’. The plan is in place. I am in place. My job is to stay close (and each day closer) to Heavenly Father, to continue to do those things that will make my heart a more inviting place for the Holy Ghost to dwell, to work to see others as Heavenly Father sees them. If I can be successful in moving forward each day, He promises that I will be able to inch my way back into His presence. That was the purpose for this earthly experience. He knew it was doable—so my part is simply to go forward in faith with the goal to someday be fully pure in heart.

4/29/2021 – D&C 45:63-75

I love the way Emily Belle Freeman writes about this section—she speaks about the fact that the Lord so wants us to receive truth AND the Holy Spirit, and the fact that this section gives one more piece of counsel, which is that “we have to work at not being deceived. It is a strong admonition for the world we live in today, because Satan is intent on deceiving us and will use any means to keep us from being wise. He does not want us to gather truth or Spirit because he knows it will help anchor us to Christ. Embracing truth and the Spirit is how we increase the oil we have been entrusted with during this waiting period.”

So today I’ll pick up where I ended yesterday, because I love to repeat that verset again and again: “For verily [truly] I say unto you, that great things await you.” (V 62)

The Lord speaks of the things that will happen after his second coming: a new city will be built “called a New Jerusalem, a land of peace, a city of refuge, a place of safety …and the glory of the Lord shall be there, and the terror of the Lord also shall be there, insomuch that the wicked will not come unto it, and it shall be called Zion.” (v’s 66-67) V 69 further explains: “And there shall be gathered unto it out of every nation under heaven; and it shall be the only people that shall not be at war one with another.” V 71: “And it shall come to pass that the righteous shall be gathered out from among all nations, and shall come to Zion, singing with songs of everlasting joy.” 

I know that during the most difficult periods of my life, I have asked for, and have felt the uplifting power of my Heavenly Father. And so, in the world turmoil that He tells us WILL occur, I have no trouble believing that once again my Heavenly Father will come to our aid.  He tells us he will do this by establishing a city that will lift us, and comfort us, and lead us ever forward. What a wonderful thing to have in our sights, and hopefully, to help to build.

Elder David A. Bednar explained that every member of the Church has the opportunity to take the Holy Ghost as a guide: “Taking ‘the Holy Spirit for [our] guide’ (D&C 45:57) is possible and is essential for our spiritual growth and survival in an increasingly wicked world. Sometimes as Latter-day Saints we talk and act as though recognizing the influence of the Holy Ghost in our lives is the rare or exceptional event. We should remember, however, that the covenant promise is that we may always have His Spirit to be with us. This supernal blessing applies to every single member of the Church who has been baptized, confirmed, and instructed to ‘receive the Holy Ghost’” (“That We May Always Have His Spirit to Be with Us, April 2006 Gen Conf”

And Joseph Smith told us that we don’t have to wait for the Second Coming, we can go to work on this NOW:

“The building up of Zion is a cause that has interested the people of God in every age; it is a theme upon which prophets, priests and kings have dwelt with peculiar delight; they have looked forward with joyful anticipation to the day in which we live; and fired with heavenly and joyful anticipations they have sung and written and prophesied of this our day; but they died without the sight; we are the favored people that God has made choice of to bring about the Latter-day glory; it is left for us to see, participate in and help to roll forward the Latter-day glory. Any place where the Saints gather is Zion, which every righteous man will build up for a place of safety for his children. There will be here and there a Stake [of Zion] for the gathering of the Saints. … There your children shall be blessed, and you in the midst of friends where you may be blessed. The Gospel net gathers of every kind. “… We ought to have the building up of Zion as our greatest object.” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church; Joseph Smith [2007], 186.)