By Frank M. Keele

Today’s topic is something that all of us could benefit from knowing more about, however, there’s a sub-set among our membership who will be more personally affected as we move towards the coming of the Bridegroom. The Lord calls them “the remainder”.

If you’ve not read “The power of God in great glory” post, you might want to do so because what we are going to discuss today relates closely to the Lord’s appearance at Adam Ondi Ahman.

I’ve posted above, a video of President Nelson talking about the continuation of the restoration, says he, “if you think the church has been fully restored, you’re just seeing the beginning”. Couple that with what he said in April of 2018… “Our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, will perform some of His mightiest works between now and when He comes again. We will see miraculous indications that God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, preside over this Church in majesty and glory”, and I think we start to get an idea of what the continuing restoration is all about. Shades of AOA, in my humble opinion…

President Nelson also says in the video, “wait till next year and then the next year… it’s going to be exciting”. And just what is “going to be exciting” about 2020? Hmmm, I wonder…

Now, let us move ahead and find out what the “Angels descending and gathering the remainder unto them” is all about, we quote Elder Bruce R. McConkie who said:

“Before the Lord Jesus descends openly and publicly in the clouds of glory, attended by all the hosts of heaven; before the great and dreadful day of the Lord sends terror and destruction from one end of the earth to the other; before he… sets his feet on Olivet, or utters his voice from… a Jewish Jerusalem… He will come in private to his prophet and to the apostles then living. Those who have held keys and powers and authorities in all ages from Adam to the present will also be present. And further, all the faithful members of the Church then living and all the faithful saints of all the ages past will be present. It will be the greatest congregation of faithful saints ever assembled on planet earth. It will be a sacrament meeting. It will be a day of judgment for the faithful of all the ages. And it will take place in Daviess County, Missouri, at a place called Adam-ondi-Ahman.” (The Millennial Messiah: The Second Coming of the Son of Man, p.578)

We note that Elder McConkie says above, “And further, all the faithful members of the Church then living… will be present.” Hmmm… so how is this possible, how exactly is this going to be accomplished? Well, to get our answer we’re going to do what we always do, we’re going to delve into the scriptures… we go to Joseph Smith Matthew and read:

27 And now I show unto you a parable. Behold, wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together; so likewise shall mine elect be gathered from the four quarters of the earth…

37 And whoso treasureth up my word, shall not be deceived, for the Son of Man shall come, and he shall send his angels before him with the great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together the remainder of his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other…

44 Then shall be fulfilled that which is written, that in the last days, two shall be in the field, the one shall be taken, and the other left;

45 Two shall be grinding at the mill, the one shall be taken, and the other left;

In order to save a heap of words and at the same time render the meaning of the above more clearly, we go to JST Luke 17 where we read:

“Jesus tells the parable of the eagles to explain the gathering of His Saints in the last days.”

36 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord, shall they be taken?

37 And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is gathered; or, in other words, whithersoever the saints are gathered, thither will the eagles be gathered together; or, thither will the remainder be gathered together.

38 This he spake, signifying the gathering of his saints; (at AOA?) and of angels descending and gathering the remainder unto them; the one from the bed, the other from the grinding, and the other from the field, whithersoever he listeth.

So the day will soon come when the main body of the church, having trekked over the summer months will arrive at Adam Ondi Ahman which is “whithersoever the saints are gathered” and “angels descending” are going to be “gathering the remainder unto them”! And who is “the remainder”, you ask? Well, it’s the faithful saints from around the globe who are not able to trek in order to get to AOA, right?

Do you know someone who qualifies as one of “the remainder”? They just might be interested in reading this post, don’t ya think?

Ok, so now we’re going to drill down and find out what the scriptures have to say about the circumstances, the sequence and the timing of this event. We return once again to Joseph Smith Matthew:

32 And again shall the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, be fulfilled.

33 And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be shaken…

36 And, as I said before, after the tribulation of those days, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken, then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn; and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory;

From the above passage, we conclude that the event of which we’ve been speaking will occur “immediately” after “the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet” and that “the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven”…

So, it’s going to follow shortly after “the abomination of desolation” and the earth is going to be in darkness, right? And so the inhabitants of the earth are going to see a light, even “the sign of the Son of Man in heaven” contrasted against a darkened sky. How’s that for dramatic? And the wicked are going to “mourn” and be shaking in their boots as we might suppose. And what is “the sign of the Son of Man”… it is nothing less than “the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory”.

So in other words, this event is “the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory” to His saints who are gathered at the appointed destination, even Adam Ondi Ahman. However, the rest of the world shall also witness this event but to them, it is only “the sign of the Son of Man in heaven”, because they shall not be privileged to be in His presence as the righteous saints shall be. We go to Mark 13 for yet another view of this same event and read:

24 ¶ But in those days, after that tribulation, (abomination of desolation?) the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,

25 And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.

26 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.

27 And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.

Here we see the same events and sequence as in JST Matthew… It occurs “after the tribulation” and “the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, And the stars of heaven shall fall”. And that is when “they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.” Joseph Smith said:

“As the lighting up of the morning or the dawning of the morning cometh from the east and shineth unto the west—So also is the comeing of the Son of Man. The dawning of the morning makes its appearance in the east and moves along gradualy so also will the comeing of the Son of Man be. it will be small at its first appearance and gradually becomes larger untill every eye shall see it.” (Joseph Smith, General Conference, April 6, 1843)

And so it appears that “the sign of the Son of Man” will last for a minimum of 24 hours or until all the inhabitants of the earth have seen it and “then… shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven” and deliver them in time for the appearance of the Bridegroom!

So, if you live in Australia, Hawaii, the UK, etc, etc, etc and can therefore be defined as part of “the remainder”… there’s your sign! You know what to look for, right? Now, can I give you just one more indicator that may prove very helpful? If the answer’s yes, keep on reading… we go to Rev. 21 and read:

2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

This passage is obviously about Adam Ondi Ahman because as it says, “God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.” But we also learn that John saw “the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven” and he says “the tabernacle of God is with men”.

What we have here is an account of the returning of the city of Enoch and one of the titles it is given is “the tabernacle of God”. Hmmm… do you think it’s a stretch to say that “the tabernacle of God” would likely return on the Feast of Tabernacles? Personally, I don’t think it’s a stretch at all but you’ll have to decide for yourself…

At any rate, understanding the signs and the sequence of the Lord’s first appearance is important to all of us but if you are of “the remainder”, your experience will differ from those who trek with the main body of the church.

May it be said of us, “Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.” (1 Thessalonians 5:5-6)

I hope you have found this post to be both enlightening and edifying. Please take a minute to share or send a link to others… especially if you think they may be of “the remainder”. You can share this or any of my posts by going here.

Also, I’ve started The Bridegroom Cometh Facebook group and would like to invite any who would be interested to join. Please be sure to answer the three questions in order to gain admission.

May the Lord’s blessings abide with us as we prepare for an amazing future! You are invited to download and share the free pdf version of The Bridegroom Cometh, just click on the image of the book below.