NEW TESTAMENT - LESSON 21
Matthew 24 / Joseph Smith--Matthew
Scriptural Highlights
A study of this lesson will help us recognize the signs that will precede the Savior's Second Coming and encourage us to prepare for this great event.
The Impending Destruction of Jerusalem
The Dispensation of Persecution & Martyrdom
Signs To Precede The Second Coming
The Second Coming
Summary
As I conclude preparation for this lesson,
it is a warm spring Northwest morning. It is easy on such a day to forget
that here in the Pacific Northwest, the rain will return. Inhabitants of
this region need to pay attention to the weather forcast and keep an eye
on the sky or they may be caught in the rain unprepared.
A few years ago, I took my daughter and a
friend on a planned bicycle ride of about 50 miles in preparation for riding
in the Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic. When we left home, the sky
was overcast, not untypical for late spring and early summer. These overcast
days do not necessarily mean rain. We left home without preparing sufficiently
for rainy weather. Less than halfway into the ride it started to drizzle.
We continued on and so did the rain. Eventually, we became so cold that
we had to call home for a ride.
Another time, my son and I were preparing
for a cross-country bicycle ride and set out for a 100 miler. It had been
raining, but it had stopped and the sky was starting to clear. The forcast
was for improvement. What we failed to check was the weather for the entire
route. We ended up riding into a cold spring rain woefully unprepared.
We thought we could ride through it. Again, we became so cold that we dared
not continue further. In fact, we were so cold that we didn't dare wait
for a ride from home (at least a couple hours) so we returned to the nearest
town and checked into a motel for the night. Fortunately, the weather did
clear and we continued our ride the following day.
Most of us have had experiences of getting
caught in inclement weather unprepared because we either failed to check
the forecast or we failed to heed it. In the Olivet Discourse, the Savior
has given us the forecast. We need to, from time to time, compare the forecast
to current conditions and make adjustments in our preparation. It is one
thing to get caught unprepared in the rain, it will be quite another if
we are caught unprepared as the events of the last days continue to unfold.
While making the above bicycle trips we were seeking out dry places to
give us shelter from the storm. The great storm described by the Master
has started and we need to seek out "holy places" to give us
refuge from latter-day conditions.
It is frustrating to me, as I have prepared this lesson, to go through Matthew 24 (Joseph Smith-Matthew) and spend so little time. And yet this is already the longest outline I have prepared in over a year. There is so much information contained in this chapter. It would be interesting to gather more statistics regarding the events of the last days. I we could certainly discuss in greater detail how to prepare for these events. It behooves each of us to go beyond these brief lessons and do more in individual and family study.
One final note, in summary. Over the past year, I have become a student of the year 2000 computer problem. The potential consequences of the Y2K bug have persuaded my wife and I to renew our effort in bringing our family food storage program in compliance with the teaching of the Brethren. We are not "caught up in extreme preparations" as Elder Ballard described it. But the signs of a potential problem have persuaded us to redouble our efforts in temporal preparation. The Master has provided us with a forecast for the Last Days. As we see these events begin to accelerate, we need to redouble our efforts in filing our spiritual storerooms. It temporal preparation is important, then spiritual preparation is vital.
Next Week
Lesson 22: Matthew 25
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Changes last made on: Sun May 23 1999