Second Coming - How Will We Be Judged?

Matthew 24 tells of Jesus' explanation about the Second Coming. Matthew likely includes this detailed account to help answer the question, "If this is the Savior, why wasn't his coming as spectacular as we expected?" Matthew shares Jesus' message about the sign of His Second Coming in Matthew 24; this coming will be incredibly spectacular, and surely the world is becoming more and more technologically spectacular each day.

At the end of Matthew 24 and in Matthew 25, Jesus explains who will be prepared for his second coming. He essentially tells 4 stories.

1) His coming will be as a thief in the night, very unexpectedly. The good servant will continue doing good. The evil servant will:

48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord^adelayeth his coming;

49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;

He will be mean to those around him and hang out with those wasting their time; doing nothing positive (the drunken).

2) Some will not be prepared (parable of the 10 virgins)

3) Some will take the investment God's made in them and double it, others will do nothing. (parable of the talents)

4) Some will bless the lives of others, and Jesus will consider that those actions were done to him. Others will ignore those in physical, emotional, or spiritual need. (parable of the sheep and the goats)

It appears clearer to me than ever before that it is not enough to live an okay life in which you don't hurt others but don't really help them. We must live a life looking after those around them and helping them get through difficulties in life. It is not okay to be idle, and it's not okay to be mean to others. We must lift others and do positive works.

Occasionally I've spoken with people who say, "I'm living a good life. I don't hurt anyone." I've also heard someone who supposedly wants to get back into good standing in the church say, "I don't commit any sins of commission, only sins of omission." It's very clear to me, that not doing something or doing wrong things in the end will cause someone to be out of the kingdom of heaven, not living with God or the Savior. Therefore, the end result isn't significantly different. Living a good life and blessing others is critical and is a major way we'll be judged.

Let Every Man Esteem His Brother as Himself

I'm a big fan of D.C. 38:24 and 25. Here's those verses along with a couple following them.

24And let every man ^aesteem his brother as himself, and practise^bvirtue and holiness before me.

25And again I say unto you, let every man esteem his ^abrother as himself.

26For what man among you having twelve sons, and is no respecter of them, and they serve him obediently, and he saith unto the one: Be thou clothed in robes and sit thou here; and to the other: Be thou clothed in rags and sit thou there—and looketh upon his sons and saith I am ^ajust?

27Behold, this I have given unto you as a parable, and it is even as I am. I say unto you, be ^aone; and if ye are not one ye are not mine.

28And again, I say unto you that the enemy in the secret chambers seeketh your ^alives.

Clearly the Lord repeats, "Let every man esteem his brother as himself" because it's important. Continuing on in verse 26 and verse 27, the Lord says that if we're not united, we're not his. Then he says, "the enemy in the secret chambers seeketh your lives." I think He's emphasizing the importance of love and unity but then saying, "this isn't so easy. The evil one (Satan) wants to ruin you." He does this by causing contention (3 Nephi 11:28,29). Consider how much damage is caused by a divorce (the opposite of unity). Anger also proceeds so many poor decisions. Love, on the other hand, overshadows a lot of poor things. I think if we did a better job greeting visitors to our meetings, it would be tough for them not to come back. Certainly it's true in my job. When my boss and co-workers show love and appreciation for me and when we have a common goal (difficult for the most powerful and least powerful person in a company to have a common goal, but when they do, that's a powerful company), I love being there and do good work.

Here's another few verses emphasizing the need for being good to one's brother. In the end, that's what we'll be judged on. A few examples: Marvin Ashton said roughly, "the quickest and best way to tell how one is coming unto Christ is by the way he treats other people."

Further, please consider Matthew 25. It contains 3 parables: the parable of the ten virgins, the parable of the talents, and the parable of the sheep and the goats. Quickly, the parable of the ten virgins teaches that church members will not all be prepared when Christ comes. It's vital for members to fill their lamps with oil in order to be prepared for Christ's coming. The parable of the talents teaches that God makes investments in us (talents - probably should be translated coins as to avoid confusion with the English word "talent" i.e., a skill, which is different) and expects a return on his investment. Some people have bigger investments in them (i.e., more talents), but they also must have a much bigger return. So taken together we've learned that members need to fill their lamps (i.e., do things) and not everyone needs to fill their lamp the same (so don't compare yourselves to one another). Finally, the sheep and the goats parable says that those who feed, clothe, visit, and care for the needy are going to end up on the right hand of God. Those who don't will be cast out of his presence. I think this last parable is teaching us how we fill our lamps and pay back the investment God makes in us. We help others. We are kind to others. We teach others. That's how we fill our lamps and pay back the investment God makes in us. (Unfortunately these parables many times are not looked at together. I have heard the following idea at least twice in the last 6 months: "so make sure you sure your talents with others by doing things like singing in the ward choir." Generally speaking, God doesn't care that much if we sing in the ward choir; certainly not nearly as much as caring for another.)

We can add that we must take care of people both spiritually and temporally - see Mosiah 4:26 (26And now, for the sake of these things which I have spoken unto you—that is, for the sake of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye may ^awalk guiltless before God—I would that ye should ^bimpart of your substance to the ^cpoor, every man according to that which he hath, such as ^dfeeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants.)

So to conclude, we fill our lamps and pay back our investments God makes in us by caring about other people. Now that's interesting. I have a lot to learn about there. This makes me think of a great verse on how we show faith, but I'll leave that for tomorrow.

Have a great night.

LaDon