7 A final word

We live in a crazy world. There is worldwide crisis in the financial markets. People are starting to lose their jobs. Many people still fear how the political future of our own country will unfold when Barack Obama assumes the presidency in January. There is a full-scale cultural war raging that seeks to redefine Christian morals and values that are the bedrock on which our country was founded. There has been a stunning outpouring of intolerance and hatred (in at least California and Utah) in reaction to the passage of Proposition 8 in California. I could go on and on. As Mom used to say, and she has been gone for more than 25 years, these are the last days after all.

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity of teaching a priesthood lesson from the Joseph Smith manual on “The Second Coming and the Millennium.” It was a marvelous lesson, and the Spirit of the Lord was abundantly present. And so I share a thought or two from that lesson that may bear on the situation in which we find ourselves.

A passage in the Book of Mormon gives us the clearest, most succinct explanation in all the scriptures of why the Lord gives us signs of the times. Samuel the Lamanite was prophesying of the first coming of the Savior. In a situation remarkably similar to our own, since we live just before the second coming of the Savior, he gives a reason for revealing such signs:

“And also that ye might know of the coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and of earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and that ye might know of the signs of his coming, to the intent that ye might believe on his name.

“And if ye believe on his name ye will repent of all your sins, that thereby ye might have a remission of them through his merits” (Helaman 14:12–13; emphasis added).

And so our clear safety lies in coming unto Christ by believing in Him, having faith in His name, repenting of our sins, and binding ourselves to Him by making and keeping sacred covenants.

One other thought from the lesson, one thought from among many: The Lord will not come until all things are fulfilled in preparation for His coming. “It is not the design of the Almighty,” Joseph taught in 1843, “to come upon the earth and crush it and grind it to powder, but he will reveal it to His servants the prophets” (History of the Church, 5:336–37).

The lesson for us? Keep our eye on the Prophet. Listen to and do what President Monson tells us to do. He will bear witness of Christ and will teach us the things we need to know and do to stay safely bound to the Savior. That will be our only sure pathway to safety.