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SPIRIT CEASING TO STRIVE WITH WICKED. -- That spirit which enlightens every person born into the world, which is poured out in abundant measure to guide in bringing about latter-day progress and advancements, is now ceasing to strive with the wicked. "I, the Lord, am angry with the wicked; I am holding my Spirit from the inhabitants of the earth", "for my Spirit shall not always strive with man, saith the Lord of Hosts."
Wickedness begets wickedness just as righteousness leads to an increase in righteousness. When men rebel, the spirit ceases to strive with them; finally they are left entirely to their own devices and to the influence of the devil, and then they are ripe for destruction. This is the course that worldly people are now following; the day of destruction will come at the Second Coming, for then the cup of iniquity of the wicked will be full.
Righteous nations of the past, turning from the Lord to iniquity, have followed this same course. Of the Jaredites it is written: "The Spirit of the Lord had ceased striving with them, and Satan had full power over the hearts of the people; for they were given up unto the hardness of their hearts, and the blindness of their minds that they might be destroyed." A similar condition came upon the Nephites. In this day the spirit will continue to be withdrawn until the whole vineyard will be burned, and the righteous only will escape destruction.
PEACE TAKEN FROM EARTH. -- On November 1, 1831, the Lord said: "The hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand, when peace shall be taken from the earth, and the devil shall have power over his own dominion." Later Elder George A. Smith left us this apt statement: "Peace is taken from the earth, and wrath and indignation among the people is the result; they care not for anything but to quarrel and destroy each other. The same spirit that dwelt in the breasts of the Nephites during the last battles that were fought by them on this continent, when they continued to fight until they were exterminated, is again on earth and is increasing." Never again will there be peace on earth until the Prince of Peace (returning in power and glory to destroy the warring nations) comes to bring it.
ANGELS NOW REAPING THE EARTH. -- In a revelation given January 2, 1831, the Lord announced: "The angels are waiting the great command to reap down the earth, to gather the tares that they may be burned; and, behold, the enemy is combined." A similar announcement was repeated on December 6, 1832.
These angels have now begun their work. This we learn through the spirit of inspiration that rested upon President Wilford Woodruff. June 24, 1894, he said: "God has held the angels of destruction for many years, lest they should reap down the wheat with the tares. But I want to tell you now, that those angels have left the portals of heaven, and they stand over this people and this nation now, and are hovering over the earth waiting to pour out the judgments. And from this very day they shall be poured out. Calamities and troubles are increasing in the earth, and there is a meaning to these things. ... Great changes are at our doors. The next 20 years will see mighty changes among the nations of the Earth." It is interesting to note that almost 20 years later to the day, June 28, 1914, the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated, thus initiating the first World War.
WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS. -- "I have sworn in my wrath, and decreed wars upon the face of the earth," the Lord has said as pertaining to our day, "and the wicked shall slay the wicked, and fear shall come upon every man." Again: "For behold, and lo, vengeance cometh speedily upon the ungodly as the whirlwind; and who shall escape it? The Lord's scourge shall pass over by night and by day, and the report thereof shall vex all people; yea, it shall not be stayed until the Lord come; For the indignation of the Lord is kindled against their abominations and all their wicked works."
On Christmas day, 1832, the Lord said that beginning with the rebellion of South Carolina, war would be poured out and would roll forth until it had "made a full end of all nations." Warfare as we know it, modern warfare, commenced with the Civil War. Probably there has not been a day since April 12, 1861, when the first shots were fired on Fort Sumpter, in which there has not been both war and preparation for war going on at some place on earth. When a shaky peace comes in one place, blood begins to flow in another, which condition will continue until it is climaxed by the great war when the Lord will have gathered all nations together in the Valley of Decision, and he himself will come to fight the battles of the righteous.
FAMINES, DEPRESSIONS, AND ECONOMIC TURMOIL. -- Because of iniquity and greed in the hearts of men, there will be depressions, famines, and a frantic search for temporal security -- a security sought without turning to the Lord or obeying his precepts. We may expect to see the insatiable desire to get something for nothing result in further class legislation and more socialistic experiments by governments. Economic inequalities will certainly give rise to further class warfare and bickering. There will be riots, bloodshed, hunger, commotion, turmoil, and panics. These are all signs of the times.
APOSTATE DARKNESS COVERS EARTH. -- With all their vaunted claims of being religious and with all their veneer of piety, the generality of men in the last days are to be in apostate darkness and subject to every form of evil. Any show of godliness is to be in form only, not in substance. As Paul wrote to Timothy: "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof." Also: "The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."
Nephi spoke similarly in these words: "Behold, in the last days, or in the days of the Gentiles -- yea, behold all the nations of the Gentiles and also the Jews, both those who shall come upon this land [America] and those who shall be upon other lands, yea, even upon all the lands of the earth, behold, they will be drunken with iniquity and all manner of abominations -- And when that day shall come they shall be visited of the Lord of Hosts, with thunder and with earthquake, and with a great noise, and with storm, and with tempest, and with the flame of devouring fire."
By modern revelation we are told: "Darkness covereth the earth, and gross darkness the minds of the people, and all flesh has become corrupt before my face. Behold, vengeance cometh speedily upon the inhabitants of the earth, a day of wrath, a day of burning, a day of desolation, of weeping, of mourning, and of lamentation; and as a whirlwind it shall come upon all the face of the earth, saith the Lord."
Every observant person sees abundant present day evidence that these promised latter-day conditions now prevail. Men are blind to spiritual things because their deeds are evil. The philosophies of men (as, for example, evolution) find followers, while the revealed truths of the gospel are shunned. Who can claim that the "form of godliness" now prevailing has brought men near to that righteousness which is of him who said: "Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy"?
MANY FALSE CHURCHES IN LATTER-DAYS. -- This is the great day of Satan's power. It is the day of false Christs, false prophets, false miracles, false religions, false doctrines, false philosophies. It is a day when fables take precedence over facts, when all but the very elect are deceived. Of this day our Lord said: "There shall also arise false Christ, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch, that, if possible, they shall deceive the very elect, who are the elect according to the covenant."
Moroni, writing with fervor and in power, described conditions that would exist when the Book of Mormon should come forth. Among other things he said: "It shall come in a day when it shall be said that miracles are done away; and it shall come even as if one should speak from the dead. And it shall come in a day when the blood of saints shall cry unto the Lord, because of secret combinations and the works of darkness."
"Yea, it shall come in a day when the power of God shall be denied, and churches become defiled and be lifted up in the pride of their hearts; yea, even in a day when leaders of churches and teachers shall rise in the pride of their hearts, even to the envying of them who belong to their churches."
"Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be heard of fires, and tempests, and vapors of smoke in foreign lands; And there shall also be heard of wars, rumors of wars, and earthquakes in divers places."
"Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be great pollutions upon the face of the earth; there shall be murders, and robbing, and lying, and deceivings, and whoredoms, and all manner of abominations; when there shall be many who will say, Do this, or do that, and it mattereth not, for the Lord will uphold such at the last day. But wo unto such for they are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity."
"Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be churches built up that shall say: Come unto me, and for your money you shall be forgiven of your sins."
REFUSAL OF MEN TO BELIEVE SIGNS OF TIMES. -- The very fact that men refuse to believe the many signs of the times is itself one of the signs promised to precede the advent of our Lord. Peter prophesied of this, saying: "There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." That is, in effect, these scoffers are saying, "Why be so gullible as to believe that earthquakes, floods, famines, pestilence, wars, iniquity, and all similar conditions are signs of the last days? Have not these same conditions existed from the beginning of time?"
And how many there are, like the Jews of old, who fail to discern the signs of the times! "Christ delayeth his coming," they say. Men eat and drink, marry and are given in marriage, the common affairs of day to day living continue, until suddenly ("as it was in the days of Noah, so it shall be also at the coming of the Son of Man") he is here! "For in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh."
SIGNS ON EARTH AND IN HEAVENS. -- "And it shall come to pass that he that feareth me shall be looking forth for the great day of the Lord to come, even for the signs of the coming of the Son of Man. And they shall see signs and wonders, for they shall be shown forth in the heavens above, and in the earth beneath. And they shall behold blood, and fire, and vapors of smoke. And before the day of the Lord shall come, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon be turned into blood, and the stars fall from heaven."
Perhaps atomic and hydrogen bombs are a prelude to a yet greater fulfilment of this revelation. Certainly modern wonders as now seen in the heavens and on earth -- even those created by man's hands without (from the standpoint of the world) divine interposition -- had no counterpart either in kind or degree in days of old.
LAMANITES TO BLOSSOM AS THE ROSE. -- As part of the Lord's covenant people, a part on whom a curse fell because of the iniquity of their fathers, the Lamanites are yet to stand as a sign that the end is near. In March, 1831, the Lord revealed: "Before the great day of the Lord shall come, Jacob shall flourish in the wilderness, and the Lamanites shall blossom as the rose. Zion shall flourish upon the hills and rejoice upon the mountains, and shall be assembled together unto the place which I have appointed."
Some Lamanites, gathered into the fold of Christ, have already blossomed forth with all the fruits of righteousness appertaining to the gospel; the scales of darkness have begun to drop from their eyes, according to the promises; and they will yet, as a people, become as white, delightsome, and desirable as their Nephite brethren ever were. Already Jacob (with Ephraim at the head) has flourished in the wilderness where Brigham Young led her, a wilderness which has since also begun to blossom as the rose. And already Zion has flourished upon the hills, rejoiced in the mountains, and commenced to assemble together in the appointed places.
THE GATHERING AT ADAM-ONDI-AHMAN. -- Before the great and dreadful day when the Lord is to return -- "In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" -- there is to be an appearance at a place called Adam-ondi-Ahman. There Adam, the Ancient of Days, will sit in council with his children; there Christ will come, and to him shall be given "dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." The place where this gathering will take place has been specified by revelation, and so imminent is its occurrence that the Prophet Joseph Smith was led to remark, "This may take place before some of us leave this stage of action."
FINAL GREAT WAR TO ATTEND SECOND COMING. -- Our Lord will come in the midst of the greatest war the world has ever known. All nations will be gathered together at Jerusalem. The armies of the earth will be assembled in the Valley of Decision. Apparently those engaged in the conflict (possibly counting those in direct support of the fighting forces, meaning those making the armaments as well as these using them) will total 200,000,000. This will be the day when again the abomination of desolation will be fulfilled. World conditions which point toward a time when the armies of the world shall wage war in the Holy Land are of great concern to the saints, for at the height of that conflict Christ will come and the great millennial era will be ushered in.
SORROW AND FEAR PRECEDE AND ACCOMPANY SECOND COMING. -- As the signs of the times unfold, as the plagues and desolations of the last days multiply, "There shall be weeping and wailing among the hosts of men." Fear of the future shall increase in the hearts of the wicked until they shall call on the rocks and the hills to fall on them and hide them "from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" After the Lord finally comes, the spirit of grace and supplication shall be poured out on the remaining Jews; they shall learn that they crucified their King; and then "they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn."
FALL OF THE GREAT AND ABOMINABLE CHURCH. -- One of the final great events of our age is to be the fall and utter destruction of that great church which is not the Lord's Church, that great church "which is most abominable above all other churches. " "That great church, the mother of abominations, that made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, that persecuteth the saints of God, that shed their blood -- she who sitteth upon many waters, and upon the islands of the sea -- behold, she is the tares of the earth; she is bound in bundles; her bands are made strong, no man can loose them; therefore, she is ready to be burned."
SPECIAL MISSION IN JERUSALEM OF TWO LATTER-DAY PROPHETS. -- There are to be "two witnesses, ... two prophets that are to be raised up to the Jewish nation in the last days, at the time of the restoration." They are "to prophesy to the Jews after they are gathered and have built the city of Jerusalem in the land of their fathers. And I will give power unto my two witnesses," the Lord says, "and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth."
"These have power to shut heaven," the record continues, "that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. And after three days and an half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them."
WICKED TO BE BURNED AS STUBBLE. -- As the final sign of the times, the final event incident to the ushering in of a new age, the vineyard (earth) is to be burned. The wicked shall be as stubble; every corruptible thing shall be consumed; the elements shall melt with fervent heat; only those living at least a terrestrial law will be permitted to remain on earth.
FINAL RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS TO BE COMPLETED. -- With the ushering of the millennial era, the final restitution of all things will be completed. We will have a new heaven and a new earth -- a paradisiacal earth, one in which the sea has returned to its place in the north, with the continents becoming one land again.
The New Jerusalem will be built up and Enoch's returning city will join with it, as the Lord said unto Enoch: "Then shalt thou and all thy city meet them there, and we will receive them into our bosom, and they shall see us; and we will fall upon their necks, and they shall fall upon our necks, and we will kiss each other; And there shall be mine abode, and it shall be Zion, which shall come forth out of all the creations which I have made; and for the space of a thousand years the earth shall rest."
CHRIST TO REIGN PERSONALLY UPON EARTH. -- "I will reveal myself from heaven with power and great glory, with all the hosts thereof, and dwell in righteousness with men on earth a thousand years, and the wicked shall not stand." This will be the final consummation of the age; the world (as now constituted) will end; for "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever."
Source: McConkie, Bruce R., Mormon Doctrine, 2nd ed. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1966. 716 - 721.