President Nelson is Telling Us -Part I

 President Nelson Telling Us: Part I

As members of the church we believe the prophet is God’s mouthpiece and the one authorized to receive revelation for the church. We don’t hear the prophets/apostles talking often about visions or new prophecies though. I don’t think this means they don’t have them. However, I think they model their teaching after the Savior who taught in parables. I think they are teaching us what the Lord wants, but for some reason at this stage, they have to do so more in parable.

Elder Bednar taught, 

The intended meaning or message of a parable typically is not expressed explicitly. Rather, the story only conveys divine truth to a receiver in proportion to his or her faith in God, personal spiritual preparation, and willingness to learn. Thus, an individual must exercise moral agency and actively “ask, seek, and knock” to discover the truths embedded in a parable.

So here is a collection of gems that I believe show us how President Nelson is teaching us where we’re at in the timeline. First I’ll contrast with a speech from 1974.

Our duty is to raise up a generation of men and women worthy to receive the coming of the Lord. For he will come—to Jackson County, Missouri, to be sustained as King of Kings—and he will come also to Israel to be hailed as Lord of Lords. Then his millennial reign will be ushered in. 

RUSSELL M. NELSON, Sunday School General President,  May 14, 1974

(https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/russell-m-nelson/four-lessons-one-life/)

Wow that’s cool! Note how he says it is our duty to raise a generation that is worthy to receive Christ back in 1974. What does he say today?

As I have stated before, the gathering of Israel is the most important work taking place on earth today. One crucial element of this gathering is preparing a people who are able, ready, and worthy to receive the Lord when He comes again, a people who have already chosen Jesus Christ over this fallen world, a people who rejoice in their agency to live the higher, holier laws of Jesus Christ.

I call upon you, my dear brothers and sisters, to become this righteous people. Cherish and honor your covenants above all other commitments. As you let God prevail in your life, I promise you greater peace, confidence, joy, and yes, rest.

Notice the contrast between nearly 50 years ago and today. This idea of preparing a people that are able, ready and worthy falls under the “perfect the saints” mission of the gospel. I think we have heard that we’re a chosen generation so often that we take it for granted.

If President Nelson, a prophet of God, is calling upon us to be that people able, ready and worthy to greet Jesus, does that mean we (or at least our kids) will be here when Christ comes? I think so! So if that’s the case, shouldn’t we spend more time personally preparing both spiritually and temporally? We know there are things that are prophesied to happen first. We won’t know the day nor the hour so we need to be watching diligently lest that day come as a thief in the night.

Further evidence that President Nelson is signaling we are close to the day of peace can be seen when he stated that the gathering of Israel is occurring in every nation (see link to church newsroom). If the prophet of God considers that the gathering of Israel is occurring in every nation then that means the prophecy that says the gospel would be declared in every nation is fulfilled. Some think that China has to be opened to missionaries before we are close to the Second Coming. I don’t think that will happen before the tribulations. 

Doctrine and Covenants says “Therefore, go ye into all the world; and unto whatsoever place ye cannot go ye shall send, that the testimony may go from you into all the world unto every creature.” (D&C 84:62)

We cannot go into all parts of the world as an official missionary force, but the testimony is sent by members who live there, or online. I believe the statements of early church leaders indicate the 144,000 will also be sent forth to preach after they are commissioned with power and before the Great and Dreadful Day of the Lord. This will give every person the chance to accept. But Zion, the New Jerusalem will likely be established before the gospel is preached to that degree. And for the New Jerusalem to be built up there will first have to be a lot of destruction unfortunately, as that is what the prophecies foretell. 

So my warning to all is that we need to take President Nelson seriously when he tells us we need to be prepared both temporally and spiritually. I don’t anticipate that he’s going to get up and tell us exactly what to expect because that could cause panic. He didn’t do that with the Covid pandemic. He did tell us to take our vitamins though and he instituted the remarkable home centered, church supported curriculum. Not that we need to overanalyze everything he says of course. But we all know that he knows more than he tells us. Elder Bednar talked about how Christ taught in parables that allow for differing levels of interpretation according to the preparedness of the learner. I would anticipate Christ’s apostles would closely model his teaching methods also.

Nephi was going to record more of his vision of the last days, but then he said he was forbidden to because it was meant for John to write. For some reason John was meant to explain those things to us. Could this mean that even the modern leadership of the church won’t spell things out for us? Maybe they won’t spoon feed us everything we need to know, as this is contrary to the way God works. 

I believe that much of the knowledge of the coming events is meant to be searched out and understood through seeking, pondering and asking, and by receiving personal revelation. I do think there are a lot of great resources though to guide our thoughts and help us have more for the Spirit to work with in giving us revelation. Like President Nelson said, “Because I know that good inspiration is based upon good information…”  My own imperfect and personal opinion is that we should be seeking out and studying these things because either we, or our children will be here. If things were to accelerate in five or 10 years then I would like to start preparing now. If they were to occur in 30 years I likewise would want to start training my kids and teaching them good habits that will bless them for that day.

I don’t advocate excessive preparation, panic or neglecting normal life. The church has advised against this. I do however, pray that we live prepared and worthy to greet the Savior whenever it is that He comes. And remember that the New Jerusalem will be built well before the Savior’s coming in glory. So we are not only preparing for Him, but also the events that will occur leading up to that day. President Nelson stated he has seen the future and it is glorious! 

Agree? Disagree?  Leave a comment to let me know why! Can you find more hints from President Nelson? Add those too!