The 2Nd Coming Is Soon At Hand

[HappyJackWagon]

There was a discussion recently in church that became a bit heated. The instructor suggested that Christ will return very soon and he is concerned that many of the younger generation don't feel the urgency of this.

 

He cited the usual D&C quotes about signs of the times in the last days, wars, rumors of wars, plagues, earthquakes, mens hearts shall fail them, restoration of the gospel, redemption of Israel etc, etc.

 

A classmember made the counterclaim that there really are no new signs in the past 60 years that didn't exist previously, the last major sign being the creation of Israel as a nation state in the 1940's. So the plagues, wars etc that we experience now are repeats of history. There were plagues and wars in JSmiths day too. He also claimed that since the resurrection of Christ the believers have been looking for His imminent return. His apostles were looking for it. The saints in JS day expected the 2nd coming to happen almost immediately. In fact every generation has always believed they were living in the last days.

 

This is not to say that we shouldn't be concerned with our spiritual preparation but it is quite different to claim that the 2nd coming will happen in the next 1,5,10,20 years when no one can really know that.

 

What say you? are there any new signs that would lead us to believe things are different now and that the 2nd coming is truly at hand or is this believe just a continuation of the belief held in every other generation since Christ's resurrection?

Edited November 24, 2014 by HappyJackWagon

[thesometimesaint]

The name of this Church. Though I have no idea as to when it will actually happen. The important thing to me is to live my life in such a way that whether I go to him, or he come to me the results are still the same.

[LinuxGal]

 

A classmember made the counterclaim that there really are no new signs in the past 60 years that didn't exist previously, the last major sign being the creation of Israel as a nation state in the 1940's

 

Is the creation of a nation of Israel even a sign of the end?   It seems to me that the redemption of the Jews is quite apart from the act of forming a political entity. 

[omni]

In my experience, the election of president Obama has caused a dramatic increase in brief among conservative members that the Second Coming is imminent.

[bluebell]

I've noticed that this trend if believing you are living in the last days isn't even reserved for only Christians anymore.

Disaster prepping has become the next big thing and more and more people are absolutely convinced we are one zombie apocalypse or super volcano away from spending the next 1000 years living like cavemen.

It would be interesting to know what is leading this new obsession. Too many disaster movies?

Is it a new obsession? I have no idea. Did people thousands of years ago worry that a natural disaster was going to wipe out all if civilization?

[stemelbow]

We, the Mormons, are cute sometimes. There are so many of us who think we know more than we know and we often get, as I've seen and as seems evident in the story of the OP, upset/defensive/proud about our particular opinions.

In a sense it's probably good because we all want to be prophets. In another sense, it's silly because we're spitting out that which we don't know as absolute truth.

With that all said I like it when discussions get a little tense at Church. It's so boring otherwise. And it often suggests to me something--that some people are trying to make sense of all of this.

[ELF1024]

I figure there is a few hundred years between now and then. If Joseph Smith opened the last dispensation, I figure it's 1000 years between 1830 and the return of Christ.

 

I'm likely wrong...

[HappyJackWagon]

Is the creation of a nation of Israel even a sign of the end?   It seems to me that the redemption of the Jews is quite apart from the act of forming a political entity. 

I agree but it is often cited as a sign of the times.

[CV75]

What say you? are there any new signs that would lead us to believe things are different now and that the 2nd coming is truly at hand or is this believe just a continuation of the belief held in every other generation since Christ's resurrection?

Just as every moment moves us closer to the hour and the day of the Lord's coming, so does each sign. I don't think every sign has to be a unique or a new one. I find it interesting that in D&C 39:21, the phrase "the time is at hand" seems to mean "it surely shall come."

 

Things are different now in that time has passed and more signs have come and gone. Things are the same in that "the time is [still] at hand."

 

I've always liked President Kimball's thought that: “When Satan is bound in a single home—when Satan is bound in a single life—the Millennium has already begun in that home, in that life” (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball [1982], 172). This tells me that the second coming is a process we can experience and help initiate as well as a specific event that we can anticipate happening sometime in the future.

[LinuxGal]

In my experience, the election of president Obama has caused a dramatic increase in brief among conservative members that the Second Coming is imminent.

 

When I was a wee lass, they said Jimmy Carter was the anti-Christ.   Later they said Bill Clinton was the anti-Christ.   Now they say Barack Obama is the anti-Christ.  I see a trend.  All Democratic Party presidents are the anti-Christ.

[The Nehor]

My friend and I have an open offer to be the two witnesses in Jerusalem. Just let us know when to go.

[ERayR]

There was a discussion recently in church that became a bit heated. The instructor suggested that Christ will return very soon and he is concerned that many of the younger generation don't feel the urgency of this.

 

He cited the usual D&C quotes about signs of the times in the last days, wars, rumors of wars, plagues, earthquakes, mens hearts shall fail them, restoration of the gospel, redemption of Israel etc, etc.

 

A classmember made the counterclaim that there really are no new signs in the past 60 years that didn't exist previously, the last major sign being the creation of Israel as a nation state in the 1940's. So the plagues, wars etc that we experience now are repeats of history. There were plagues and wars in JSmiths day too. He also claimed that since the resurrection of Christ the believers have been looking for His imminent return. His apostles were looking for it. The saints in JS day expected the 2nd coming to happen almost immediately. In fact every generation has always believed they were living in the last days.

 

 

I think it is a misunderstanding that there needs be any new signs.  Things will pretty much be chugging along as usual when it happens.

[ERayR]

I figure there is a few hundred years between now and then. If Joseph Smith opened the last dispensation, I figure it's 1000 years between 1830 and the return of Christ.

 

I'm likely wrong...

 

Likely but

[mnn727]

One of my pet peeves is when discussions (heated arguments) get started about 'signs of the times" and the 2nd coming.

 

We should be living our lives so that it doesn't matter when Christ comes - who knows - we may get hit by a bus or have a heart attack and die today - then what will signs of the times mean to us.

[HappyJackWagon]

I think it is a misunderstanding that there needs be any new signs.  Things will pretty much be chugging along as usual when it happens.

I agree, but some use the signs (which aren't new) as evidence that the 2nd coming will be here in 5-10 years.

[The Nehor]

I agree, but some use the signs (which aren't new) as evidence that the 2nd coming will be here in 5-10 years.

 

And they have been doing that since the dawn of time. I have some sympathy with them as I used to be one of them. Leave them to update their Second Coming timetables and are wrong yet again. On the bright side for them one day it will be in 5-10 years.

[ERayR]

I agree, but some use the signs (which aren't new) as evidence that the 2nd coming will be here in 5-10 years.

 

It may well be but - no man knoweth the day or the hour.  However some of the old signs seem to be progressing rapidly.

[LinuxGal]

It may well be but - no man knoweth the day or the hour.  However some of the old signs seem to be progressing rapidly.

 

"An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas."

 

Maybe Jesus said that because people who look for signs betray a wobbly faith.

[boblloyd91]

I myself haven't heard of any recent discussions of the Second Coming in LDS circles since Harold Camping in 2011, and then it was to talk about the danger of false prophets, not any imminent fears.

[HappyJackWagon]

It may well be but - no man knoweth the day or the hour.  However some of the old signs seem to be progressing rapidly.

Which ones? Can you elaborate?

[Ahab]

There was a discussion recently in church that became a bit heated. The instructor suggested that Christ will return very soon and he is concerned that many of the younger generation don't feel the urgency of this.

True, Christ will return very soon and many of the younger generation don't feel the urgency of it.

The fact that we don't know exactly how soon doesn't alter the fact that he will come very soon however long of a time that will be, and many of the younger generation, in every generation, don't usually think a whole lot about when.

[Scott Lloyd]

I agree with those who have said it is best always to be circumspect in one's personal behavior, obeying the commandments, maintaining personal purity, etc., but at the same time not to live in a state of panic, spread unfounded rumors, go beyond what is openly taught by the Brethren, etc.

 

The longstanding folklore about Church members needing to be ready to load up their handcarts to walk en masse to Jackson County, Mo., stems directly from the mistaken belief of pioneer-era Mormons that the Second Coming would transpire within their lifetimes. Even today, I see old-timers in the Church promoting that folk doctrine, even though I don't remember such a thing ever being taught in general conference or in authoritative Church manuals or periodicals in my lifetime. I get annoyed when I see or hear such things, because they tend to be disquieting to good but rather gullible people.

Edited November 24, 2014 by Scott Lloyd

[cinepro]

 

The longstanding folklore about Church members needing to be ready to load up their handcarts to walk en masse to Jackson County, Mo., stems directly from the mistaken belief of pioneer-era Mormons that the Second Coming would transpire within their lifetimes. Even today, I see old-timers in the Church promoting that folk doctrine, even though I don't remember such a thing ever being taught in general conference or in authoritative Church manuals or periodicals in my lifetime. I get annoyed when I see or hear such things, because they tend to be disquieting to good but rather gullible people.

 

Sounds like you know some old timers that let their Ensign subscriptions expire in the late 1970s.

[HappyJackWagon]

True, Christ will return very soon and many of the younger generation don't feel the urgency of it.

The fact that we don't know exactly how soon doesn't alter the fact that he will come very soon however long of a time that will be, and many of the younger generation, in every generation, don't usually think a whole lot about when.

From God's perspective it may be soon even though it is well beyond our lifetime but the claims by some members are much more precise than that. They are talking in man's perspective as though it really will be soon by the reckoning of our time. Is it possible? Sure. But it isn't know so creating a sense of panic as if they know may actually be counterproductive because it may actually turn the younger generation off.

 

In any case, it seems clear to me that we do not know when it will come, yet we should always be prepared. My gripe is when people act like they know when it will be and expect everyone else to follow their speculations.

[Boanerges]

I've lived in my current ward for a little over 25 years. (Maybe 26, but who is counting? It's a lot like a few months short of 15.) Anyway, when I first moved here there was an older guy who constantly talked about the signs of the times and we were going to see the second coming in his lifetime. The guy is still here, he's in his 80s and walks with a cane. He has numerous health problems, including prostate cancer. His days are clearly numbered. It's been at least 4 or 5 years since he has brought up the subject at church. I think he finally realized that his was not the only "chosen generation."

 

Addressing the OP more directly, I agree with those who have said "no man knoweth" and that we should live our lives accordingly. I don't know if I'm going to get crushed by the log truck on the way to work tomorrow, either. I also agree that there are no new signs, contrary to my friend's beliefs that the many natural disasters we see are becoming more profound and more frequent (he doesn't believe in global warming, BTW). The GAs have backed off any rhetoric of late about which of us might be alive when it happens - probably because they, too have realized they were not the only "chosen generation." It will happen when it happens - which I believe is not likely in my lifetime or that of my children or not-yet-born grandchildren.