The Lord Will Return to Earth in Glory

All that we do in the Church—missionary work, family history and temple work, teaching the gospel, living Christlike lives—prepares us and others for eternal life and for the Lord’s Second Coming.¹

His first coming—His mortal life—was witnessed by relatively few people. When He returns “with power and great glory,” all humankind will witness it (D&C 29:11). The Second Coming will usher in the Millennium, when the Savior will “dwell in righteousness with men on earth a thousand years” (D&C 29:11).

The scriptures describe many events that will occur before the Second Coming. Some of them include:

The Great Apostasy, a falling away from the truth (see 2 Thessalonians 2:1–3; 2 Timothy 4:3–4).
The Restoration of the gospel and of the priesthood, as well as the coming forth of the Book of Mormon (see Isaiah 29:4–18; Acts 3:19–21).
The gospel being preached across the world (see Matthew 24:14).
A time of war, wickedness, and natural disasters (see Matthew 24:6–7; 2 Timothy 3:1–7).
“Wonders in the heavens and in the earth” (Joel 2:30; see also Matthew 24:29–30; D&C 29:14–16; 49:23).

Although we can see signs that His Second Coming is near, no one knows exactly when the Lord will return: “The hour and the day no man knoweth, neither the angels in heaven, nor shall they know until he comes” (D&C 49:7).

Some will not be prepared for the Savior’s return. It will be a fearful time for the wicked but a time of peace and triumph for the righteous. Thus, the scriptures and latter-day prophets have taught us to live so we will be prepared to meet our Savior whenever He comes again. The Lord taught:

“At that day, when I shall come in my glory, shall the parable be fulfilled which I spake concerning the ten virgins.

“For they that are wise and have received the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived—verily I say unto you, they shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire, but shall abide the day” (D&C 45:56–57; see also Matthew 25:1–13).

Before the Second Coming, there will be earthquakes, tempests, and thunder and lightning storms, and the waves of the sea will heave themselves “beyond their bounds” (see D&C 88:89–90).
“The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come” (Joel 2:31).
The Savior will return in glory: “So great shall be the glory of his presence that the sun shall hide his face in shame” (D&C 133:49).
The righteous will be resurrected and caught up to meet the Savior in the clouds (see D&C 88:95–97).
The Savior will stand on the Mount of Olives, and the Jews will ask, “What are these wounds in thine hands and in thy feet?” He will answer, “These wounds are the wounds with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. … I am Jesus that was crucified.” (See D&C 45:48–52.)

From left: detail from Christ at Emmaus, by Carl Heinrich Bloch; detail from The Second Coming, by Harry Anderson © IRI; photograph of flood © Getty Images; photograph of sun © Corbis; detail from That Ye May Know, by Gary L. Kapp