By Frank M. Keele
I’ve been writing and blogging about the sequence and timing of the Lord’s second coming for ten years now. As a result of my decade long search, I’ve come to the conclusion that the majority of what we need to know on this topic can be found in the standard works of the church and in select statements of the prophets.
If you’ve read my book, you know that I believe that we are in a countdown of sorts that will take us to the brink and over the edge of the abomination of desolation on the Gentiles and which will lead us rather directly thereafter to the coming of the Bridegroom. For four or five years now, I have believed that these great changes would descend upon us in the spring of 2020.
There have been times in the past when I’ve felt a bit like a lone wolf “crying in the wilderness“ if you will, but that’s not the case anymore, not since Russell M. Nelson became president of the church.
Have you noticed how second coming centered he is, are you paying close attention to the clues and hints he keeps dropping? Are you praying for the spirit of understanding? Just earlier today President Russell M. Nelson spoke at a BYU devotional and said:
“Truth number one: You are sons and daughters of God. You already know this. You have sung about it ever since you were toddlers. But let me clarify a distinguishing characteristic about your identity. You are the children whom God chose to be part of His battalion during this great climax in the longstanding battle between good and evil—between truth and error. I would not be surprised if, when the veil is lifted in the next life, we learn that you actually pled with our Heavenly Father to be reserved for now. I would not be surprised to learn that premortally, you loved the Lord so much that you promised to defend His name and gospel during this world’s tumultuous winding-up scenes. One thing is certain: You are of the House of Israel and you have been sent here to help gather God’s elect.”
Said President Nelson “You are the children whom God chose to be part of His battalion during this great climax”. He says “this great climax”, so it appears that from President Nelson’s perspective we are already turning the corner! This kind of language reminds us of what he said while in Rome:
“This is a hinge point in the history of the Church. Things are going to move forward at an accelerated pace of which this is a part. We think the Church is an old Church. It’s 189 years old. But it’s only the beginning. Just project out what the next future will be and the Church is going to have an unprecedented future. Unparalleled. We’re just building up to what’s ahead now.”
What President Nelson told BYU students today is reminiscent of what he said to the youth just last year when he said:
“My dear extraordinary youth, you were sent to earth at this precise time, the most crucial time in the history of the world, to help gather Israel. There is nothing happening on this earth right now that is more important than that. There is nothing of greater consequence. Absolutely nothing…
My beloved younger brothers and sisters, you are among the best the Lord has ever sent to this world. You have the capacity to be smarter and wiser and have more impact on the world than any previous generation!”
Returning to President Nelson’s remarks earlier today, he also said: “you promised to defend His name and gospel during this world’s tumultuous winding-up scenes.” What? These youth are to perform their mission “during this world’s tumultuous winding-up scenes”? Wow, that’s what I call dropping a very big clue, can you sense the nearness of these events? These young people are going to “have more impact on the world than any previous generation!”
Now, if you’re no spring chicken, it doesn’t mean that you are going to miss out on these transitional events. Forty years ago, in a BYU devotional given by Ezra Taft Benson, he said:
“For nearly six thousand years, God has held you in reserve to make your appearance in the final days before the Second Coming of the Lord. Every previous gospel dispensation has drifted into apostasy, but ours will not. True, there will be some individuals who will fall away; but the kingdom of God will remain intact to welcome the return of its head—even Jesus Christ. While our generation will be comparable in wickedness to the days of Noah, when the Lord cleansed the earth by flood, there is a major difference this time. It is that God has saved for the final inning some of his strongest children, who will help bear off the Kingdom triumphantly. And that is where you come in, for you are the generation that must be prepared to meet your God.”
So those of us, whom we might refer to as seniors have been given very similar promises, we too will play a part “during this world’s tumultuous winding-up scenes”, though the various parts may differ.
In 2011, President Thomas S. Monson made reference to a very similar pronouncement by then-President Ezra Taft Benson, here presented in video format:
How close are these exciting and transitional events? We close with one last quote from President Nelson, given just last year:
“Wait till next year. And then the next year. Eat your vitamin pills. Get your rest. It’s going to be exciting.”
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