98. The righteous will be taken up to meet the coming of the Lord

          Both celestial living beings on the earth and the celestial deceased awaiting their resurrections will be caught up to meet him and descend with him. They are members of the Church of the Firstborn who are “they whom he shall bring with him, when he shall come in the clouds of heaven to reign on earth over his people.” (D&C 76:54) The Church of the Firstborn dwell in the Father’s presence, become like him, and receive “all things” from him. (D&C 76:55, 94). Enoch belonged to the Church of the Firstborn. (D&C 76:67)

          “And the saints that are upon the earth, who are alive, shall be quickened and be caught up to meet him … and they who have slept in their graves shall come forth… and caught up to meet him.. They are the first fruits (celestial), they who shall descend with him first… (D&C 88:96-98) (Note: the word “quickened” can mean resurrection or a change that allows a person to be in the presence of God; I assumed the use of “quickened” in D&C 76:54 referred to resurrection however I’m not sure whether those caught up to meet the Savior will be Resurrected or quickened or translated. Sometimes the two resurrected and quickened mean the same, but sometimes “quickened is used to refer to an individual who is changed to be able to be in the presence of the Lord but not resurrected.  If all the “celestial” were “resurrected,” especially very young couples and youth, then when they returned to earth they couldn’t have mortal children. This needs further clarification)

          The righteous are gathered up before the wicked are burned. “Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the time of harvest, I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the wheat into my barn; and the tares are bound in bundles to be burned.” (JST Matthew 13:29)

          It appears that the unwise virgins (50% of church membership – Spencer W Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness; Dallin H Oaks, Ensign, May 2004, p7) will not be caught up to meet the Lord but will be burned at his coming. “And until that hour (second coming) there will be foolish virgins among the wise; and at that hour cometh an entire separation of the righteous and the wicked (D&C 63:53-54). The Doctrine and Covenants further explains that “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). However D&C 76:79 describes those who obtain a terrestrial glory are those who are “not valiant in the testimony of Jesus,” which would seem to describe the 50% of the LDS church membership who are less active (except for aggressive apostates who may qualify for the telestial) so this matter is unclear at the present time.

          Those who are burned/consumed at his coming are telestial souls (D&C 88:96-102). They “will not be gathered with the saints to be caught up unto the church of the Firstborn, and received into the cloud.” (D&C 76:102)

          But what of the myriads of terrestrial (goodly but not godly) souls living when he comes?

          Notice Elder Joseph Fielding Smith’s description of those who will continue living on earth after the Second Coming as the Millennium commences: There will be millions of people, Catholics, Protestants, agnostics, Mohammedans, people of all classes and all beliefs, still permitted to remain upon the face of the earth, but they will be those who have lived clean lives, those who have been free from wickedness and corruption. All who belong, by virtue of their good lives, to [at least] the terrestrial order … will remain upon the face of the earth during the millennium. (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, Bookcraft, 1954, Vol. 1:86-87)

          We have no explanation about how these goodly terrestrial souls are not consumed by the fire at the Savior’s Second Coming and await further understanding on the matter.

99. The wicked will be burned

          Those who are burned/consumed at his coming are telestial souls (D&C 76:103, 88:96-102). They “will not be gathered with the saints to be caught up unto the church of the Firstborn, and received into the cloud.” (D&C 76:102) “… the day that cometh shall burn them up,” (Malachi 4:1)

The wicked are “utterly destroyed by the brightness of my coming.” (D&C 5:19, 2 Thess. 2:8)

          The righteous are gathered up before the wicked are burned. “Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the time of harvest, I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the wheat into my barn; and the tares are bound in bundles to be burned.” (JST Matthew 13:29)

          Animals will revert to the peaceful creatures they were before the fall (Isaiah 11:6-9) so it appears they will not be destroyed at the second coming.

          But what of the myriads of terrestrial (goodly but not godly) souls living when he comes

(need proof) the wicked are defined as those of a telestial order. We have no explanation about how these goodly terrestrial souls are not consumed by the fire at the Savior’s Second Coming but we know they will be alive during the millennium. “There will be millions of people, Catholics, Protestants, agnostics, Mohammedans, people of all classes and all beliefs, still permitted to remain upon the face of the earth, but they will be those who have lived clean lives, those who have been free from wickedness and corruption. All who belong, by virtue of their good lives, to [at least] the terrestrial order … will remain upon the face of the earth during the millennium.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, Bookcraft, 1954, Vol. 1:86-87)

(Authors note: It appears from the scriptures below that inactive members might be burned at the second coming but I’ve never heard that explanation, therefore these ideas are given here but need verification from some apostolic source before they can be accepted as correct. Note the following info: 

          It appears that the unwise virgins (50% of church membership – Spencer W Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness; Dallin H Oaks, Ensign, May 2004, p7) will not be caught up to meet the Lord but may be burned at his coming. “And until that hour (second coming) there will be foolish virgins among the wise; and at that hour cometh an entire separation of the righteous and the wicked (D&C 63:53-54). The Doctrine and Covenants further explains that “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). – inferring that those who did not take the Holy Spirit as their guide will be hewn down and cast into the fire. Whether this fire is the fire of the wicked spirit in the spirit world or it is the fire that accompanies the Savior at this coming is not clear.)

100. Everyone will see Christ when he comes

          “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him…” (Rev. 1:7) The wicked will wish for the “mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hid us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne…” (Rev 6:15) But the righteous will “Fear not, little flock the kingdom is yours until I come. Behold, I come quickly.” (D&C 35:27). They “shall multiply and wax strong and their children shall grow up without sin unto salvation.” (D&C 45:58)

(101.) my addition: the earth’s land will come back together as one land mass “when Christ comes”

          “And he shall utter his voice . . . and his voice shall be heard among all people; And it shall be a voice as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder, which shall break down the mountains, and the valleys shall not be found. He shall command the great deep, and it shall be driven back into the north countries, and the islands shall become one land; And the land of Jerusalem and the land of Zion shall be turned back into their own place, and the earth shall be like as it was in the days before it was divided.” (D&C 133:33-34)

          John Taylor said “… after the flood, in the days of Peleg, the earth was divided. — See Genesis 10:25, — a short history, to be sure, of so great an event; but still it will account for the mighty revolution, which rolled the sea from its own place in the north, and brought it to interpose between different portions of the earth, which were thus parted asunder, and moved into something near their present form . . (Ref: John Taylor, The Government of God [Liverpool: S. W. Richards, 1852], 110)

          Joseph Smith said ” . . . the Eternal God hath declared that the great deep shall roll back into the north countries and that the land of Zion and the land of Jerusalem shall be joined together, as they were before they were divided in the days of Peleg. No wonder the mind starts at the sound of the last days!” (Ref: Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation,3 vols., edited by Bruce R. McConkie [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1954-1956], 1: 85

          Joseph Fielding Smith, when referring to Joseph Smith’s comment above, said, ” Here the Prophet tells us that the dividing of the earth was in the days of Peleg. When Christ comes, it will be brought back again as it was before it was divided.” (Ref: Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 3 vols., edited by Bruce R. McConkie [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1954-1956], 1: 85)

          Bruce R McConkie summarizes these events:

          “Three natural changes in the earth—all apparently growing out of one transcendent happening—are here named [Revelation 16:17–21] as attending our Lord’s Second Coming. They are:

          “1. Earth’s land masses shall unite; islands and continents shall become one land.

          “2. Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain shall be made low; the rugged terrain of today shall level out into a millennial garden.

          “3. Such an earthquake as has never been known since man’s foot was planted on this planet shall attend these changes in the earth’s surface and appearance.

          “And, fourthly, as recorded elsewhere, the great deep—presumably the Atlantic ocean—shall return to its place in the north, ‘and the earth shall be like as it was in the days before it was divided.’ (D. & C. 133:21–24.)” (Bruce R McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3:543.)

(author’s note: The earth’s land mass is about 30% and water is 70% of the earth’s surface. A commonly accepted theory of scientists is that 180 million years ago the land was Pangaea, or originally one land mass and then began it’s separation into the continents that we see today. But the scriptures say it happened in the lifetime of one individual, Peleg.  It’s interesting that the west side of Africa and the east side of Central and South America fit quite nicely together, with Europe linking nicely onto eastern Canada)