READ JST Matthew 24:4-6
What
two events are the Apostles asking Christ about?
The destruction of Jerusalem and its
temple.
The Second Coming of Christ.
While it’s possible that the Apostles
expected the Second Coming and the destruction of the Temple to happen
simultaneously, or at least both in their lifetime, Christ knew it wouldn’t.
This prophesy seems to be split into two
parts: Jerusalem during the lives of the Apostles (v5-20) and the Second Coming
(v21-55)
What
does it mean when “many” shall come in MY name saying “I am Christ”?
“Christ” meaning “the anointed one” or
the one who will save you – the Messiah.
They come as the Messiah saying “I am He”
and Jesus of Nazareth was false because he died.
OR they come in the name of Jesus Christ
but saying that THEY will save you, in His name, of course.
OR they are any other person or “system”
(political, economic, social, religious, or spiritual) that claims to be able
to save you, either physically and/or spiritually.
They save you by following them instead
of, or as a proxy for, following Christ.
READ JST Matthew 24:7-10
What
will happen to the Church or the followers of Christ?
All will be persecuted because the world
hates the Lord (darkness can’t abide light).
The true followers and witnesses will be
killed.
Many in the Church will then become
offended at the persecution – there will be contentions, disputations and
fights among them; they will want to adopt doctrine and practices that are
popular with the world to stop the persecution (i.e. the Greek Hellenistic
philosophy).
They will turn on each other to save
themselves or because they have come to hate each other.
False prophets will arise within the
Church and deceive many because the members do not have their own direct
relationships with God and are taken in by the wolves in sheep’s clothing who
are attempting to lead.
The Church members will follow these
false prophets or leaders and fall into iniquity and hatred.
READ JST Matthew 24:11-20
What
might they be overcome by?
Fear and doubt.
What
is an abomination of desolation?
An abomination is a loathsome, detestable
religious taboo – a rite or holy place that has been corrupted or desecrated;
many times it denotes idolatry, illicit sex, or murder/human sacrifice.
Desolation implies something has no life
– a state of complete emptiness or wasteland or destruction.
Romans entered the Holy of Holies (63 BC)
and the Roman standards were worshipped on the Temple Mount under Titus in 70 AD
and the temple was destroyed – completely razed to the ground.
When
were the followers of Christ to drop everything and immediately flee?
When they see the abomination of
desolation.
Where
are they supposed to stand when they see this abomination of desolation?
In the Holy Place.
How
can they stand in the Holy Place when it is the Temple that is being desecrated
and destroyed?
The Holy Place in the Temple was
desecrated – they needed to flee to the Mountains (which can act as substitutes
for Temples under some circumstances) and create a new “Holy Place”.
A place is “holy” where those that are
holy (hold the High Priesthood After the Order of the Son of God) stand.
How
did the death and destruction of Jerusalem compare to the Holocaust?
Similar in death count as a percentage
(1.1 million out of 3 million Jews at the time of Christ vs. 6 million out of
15 million during WW2).
Brutality at the time of Christ was even
worse than the concentration camps, mass firing squads and gas chambers – the
Nazi’s were more systematic and efficient while the Romans were torturous and
absolutely savage; although the Nazi’s were attempting to exterminate an entire
race while the Romans were “just” making an example out of a “wayward” province
to anyone else who might have similar ideas.
READ JST Matthew 24:21-22 and 24-25
What
is a false Christ?
A mortal person, spiritual personage,
earthly organization or system of beliefs that claims to be able to save you if
you follow it but cannot (because Christ, directly, is the only one who can
save us).
What
is a false prophet?
A person who claims or insinuates to have
received the testimony of Jesus, which is the spirit of prophesy (Christ’s
testimony to the Father that the prophet/ess is exalted, see D&C 88:74-75)
but has not.
A person who claims or insinuates to have
received the Second Comforter and has not.
A person who claims or insinuates to have
received a message directly from God or Christ and has not.
All with the purpose of appearing to be
something they are not (i.e. God’s messenger) so as to deceive people into
following the will of the false prophet.
Who
are the “very elect” according to the covenant who will be deceived by false
Christs and false prophets in the last days?
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints.
Members of the Church of the Firstborn
(see D&C 76:50-70).
All of us, regardless of any premortal
glory or mortal foreordination, are in jeopardy every hour we are here on earth
(see 1 Cor 15:30).
Why
is Christ telling the Apostles these things?
For OUR sakes today (the “elect according
to the covenant” at the time He comes in His glory) see v23.
READ JST Matthew 24:26 and D&C
101:22-25
What
is the revelation which is to come that we are to prepare for, by standing in
holy places?
The Second Coming of Christ.
Which all will see together.
It is the removal of the “veil” which
separates the telestial earth from the realms of heaven and Christ himself.
How
do you prepare to receive THAT revelation?
Call on Christ’s name and worship Him
according to the truths revealed in the everlasting gospel (the fullness
of the gospel, which includes entering into His presence and being sealed up to
Eternal Life by the Father – gaining firsthand knowledge of God).
That you might not be a “corruptible
thing” and be consumed, but are able to abide the presence of God and the
fervent heat which is the nature of His presence because you have also received
of that glory and have been quickened yourself.
So,
should we disbelieve any account of a visit of Christ to the earth to visit an
individual or smaller group because it is not this coming in great glory?
No, as that would mean we must disbelieve
Joseph Smith.
But there is a difference between
Christ’s coming to minister to the individual (see again D&C 88:74-75)
which we must receive in the flesh (see D&C 76:51 and 74), and His coming
in glory to destroy the wicked, judge the earth and personally reign as King of
Kings upon the earth.
READ JST Matthew 24:27
What
does a carcass cause to happen in nature?
Animals smell it from far off, are
attracted to it, and gather to it for food.
What
is the context within which Christ tells this short parable?
He is teaching about conditions shortly
before His second coming in glory.
As a way to know that it is at the very
doors – it is about to happen.
What
might the “body” that is the focal point of the gathering be?
It could be the restoration of the
fullness of the gospel of Christ.
It is the body or group of true believers
(a Zion) who have lived that gospel and know God personally, as a result.
What
might the “eagles” represent?
If the “body” is the gospel, then the
eagles are those seekers that are attracted to it from the four corners of the
earth.
If the “body” is a “body of true
believers” then the eagles are the angels that are attracted to the light
demonstrated within this Zion group.
Many groups may claim to be the Lord’s
prior to the Second Coming, but the true body (Zion) will attract the
ministration of angels. This is one of
the great evidences that you have found God’s people (see also TPJS 101:1).
READ JST Matthew 24:23, 28-32
Why
must these wars, famines and pestilences occur?
Because the love of men shall wax cold –
we bring this upon ourselves through our sins.
The wicked are punished by the wicked
(see Mormon 4:5); they destroy each other.
War starts it and results in famine,
while pestilence is waiting to spread in the poor, unclean conditions and among
malnourished survivors.
Why
is the gospel preached unto all nations?
As a witness that they had been taught
the truth – but then they reject it and qualify themselves for destruction.
Not because there is much hope of repentance
and accepting the gospel.
Will
an abomination of desolation occur again in the last days in the Church?
Yes (see D&C 112:23-26).
Just prior to the end – it is a sign that
the end is in that generation.
READ JST Matthew 24:33; D&C 29:14 and
Genesis 1:14
What
does the Lord use the sun, moon and stars for and why?
For signs.
They are unalterable (unlike the
scriptures) in the case of apostasy, but they can be ignored or their meanings
forgotten.
They are His “witnesses” - that He prophesied
and taught what was required, for those with eyes to see.
Why
does God use signs?
To warn us that time is short.
To teach us eternal principles.
What
does it mean that the sun is darkened, the moon turned to blood and the stars
fall from heaven?
Sun darkened = solar eclipse.
Moon turned to blood = lunar eclipse or
“blood moon”.
Stars fall = comets, satellites, and
asteroids (“shooting stars”).
READ JST Matthew 24:34-37
Why
do the tribes of the earth mourn when they see the Son of Man coming in glory?
They cannot abide His glory.
They are terrified.
They are about to be incinerated.
Why
should the elect not fear?
They will be gathered by angels (not a
“call-out” from a man) before Christ comes in glory – gathered together to Zion.
The Lord will protect them and fight
their battles for them if they have the faith to gather to Zion.
Who
are these elect who are gathered by angels?
Those who treasured up Christ’s word.
And as a result, were not deceived.
It is the treasuring of the word that enables
them not to be deceived by the false Christs and false prophets.
READ JST Matthew 24:38-48
What
does the Parable of the Fig Tree mean?
When the leaves came out on the fig tree,
it meant the figs were also there and ripe.
When these signs are seen, Christ is
telling us that the Second Coming is “near, even at the doors”.
Why
does Christ compare the times of the Second Coming with the time of the Flood?
With the exception of Noah’s immediate
descendants’ families who had created another Zion, see Moses 8:13 & 19
(the people of Enoch’s Zion had “fled” to heaven ~675 years before) the rest of
the people “knew not until the flood came and took them all away”.
Almost everyone, except those in Zion,
will be clueless of what is to happen, despite the preaching of the “Noah”
figures of the day.
But they had built a Zion; this suggests
that in the last days, a group or “Remnant” of Israel will separate themselves
from the world, as Enoch and his people did, and will build Zion preparatory to
the Second Coming of the Lord.
What
are the implications of the “two in the field” and one is taken and the other
left?
More than likely the two know each other
– maybe are related – maybe even discuss spiritual things as they work, but as
with the Parable of the 10 Virgins, the “oil” cannot be passed from one mortal
to another despite the moment of great alarm coming upon both of them.
The one taken may not be taken up in the “rapture”
but could be “taken” to their eternal reward (incinerated) because they could
not abide the day, while the other is “left” to greet his/her Savior.
So,
what can we say about when the Lord will come?
We will not be able to predict it, even
from the signs.
The only thing we can say is that it will
come when we aren’t expecting it.
Why
do we have the signs then?
To give us a general idea of when to
prepare.
And then we must stay prepared and
“ready”.
READ JST Matthew 24:49-55
What
should you not do if you find yourself in a position to prepare a people
for the Second Coming of Christ?
Take the opportunity given by a seemingly
missing, absentee, or tardy Lord to exercise control, dominion or compulsion in
any degree of unrighteousness, or to set yourself up as a light to the world to
get gain and grind the faces of the poor.
What
should you do?
First walk the Way yourself and find the
Lord.
Then “come back” to minister to all
others who will listen – telling them about the reality of Christ’s existence
and how to find Him themselves – you are a witness and a guide more than a
leader.
Keep “doing” – be found “fighting the
good fight” even against all odds; A great example of this is found in JRR
Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings: King Théoden at Helm’s Deep (from the book and
film: The Two Towers). King Théoden
and his warriors have been overcome, their fortress jeopardized and their
families are awaiting a brutal death at the hands of savage orcs. Rather than die one by one in the tunnels of
the castle, Théoden decides to ride out for one final attack – to “ride out and
meet them in the light of dawn”. As they
ride out, hopelessly outnumbered, the sun comes over the mountain pass to their
east and at the top appears a cavalry of fresh warriors to save them.
Is
the timing of the Second Coming determined by our righteousness?
All things are before God’s face (see
D&C 38:2, D&C 88:41, 2 Nephi 9:20), so He knows when He will send the
Son and what the conditions will be.
Given that, He’s warned us – given us
“signs” to tell if Christ’s coming is near and has instructed us in what we
need to do to stand in His presence when He comes in glory so that we might be
able to survive the day – He wants a people able to stand in His presence – He
does not want to come down to an empty earth with no “fruit” worth saving; but
He will not violate our agency and “make” us be righteous.
If
it is, what are the implications?
Then God will wait until we are ready and
have established Zion – one PERSON or FAMILY at a time.
We have so much to do – as we seem to be
no closer to being a Zion people than we were in 1833 – and we must start by
getting out from under the condemnation we’ve been under since 1832, and as
reiterated as recently as President Benson (see D&C 84:54-58).
If
it is not, what are the implications?
We will follow the Book of Mormon model
which required massive destruction to wake up the few that would survive to
build Zion AFTER the coming of the Lord to them.
This model still requires people who can
abide the presence of the Son when He comes in His glory but suggests that
there will be very few ready to receive Him and abide the day.
