This past week for the Come, Follow Me study guide I read Doctrine and Covenants section 45. In Sunday School class in Zoom yesterday the teachers asked us what we are supposed to do with those truths given in section 45. I had never thought about that before. Section 45 is all about the signs of Christ’s Second Coming, some of it quite frightening at surface level understanding, like the moon turning to blood and the stars falling from heaven. We, meaning people I know in my circle of friends in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, talk about the signs of the times all the time. But what’s the point? Why does God give them and why should we know about them? The teachers sent us into different breakout rooms to discuss the answer. So I started looking in the section to find the answer. Here’s what I came up with:

1. So that we are not troubled. (See Doctrine and Covenants 45:35)
2. So that we know that God is so incredibly amazing, because He fulfills his Word. He tells us these signs and as we watch them come true we can increase our reverence for Him. He controls all things with His power, which is all power. So seeing His prophecies come true increases our wonder and awe of Him. (Again, verse 35 relates to this as well.)
3. So that we will look forward to the Second Coming of Jesus with great anticipation. Think of waiting for Christmas, or the anticipation of having a new baby born into your family or you or a family member getting married, and times that by infinity. That’s how exciting the coming of Jesus Christ is. We can increase our testimony that He is coming. If we are following Him, then this is exciting! It is not a dreadful thing! It is a wonderful thing to share with our neighbors so we can all prepare. We can each repent every day and help our neighbors repent. Repent just means to turn to Jesus and think, act, and feel like He does.

“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.” D&C 45:39

Jesus is coming again! As it says in The Living Christ proclamation, “We testify that He will someday return to earth. ‘And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together’ (Isaiah 40:5). He will rule as King of Kings and reign as Lord of Lords, and every knee shall bend and every tongue shall speak in worship before Him. Each of us will stand to be judged of Him according to our works and the desires of our hearts.”