Joseph Smith - Matthew

In yesterday's blog, I referenced the disciples two questions to the Savior. The second being -

"...what is the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world, or the destruction of the wicked, which is the end of the world?" (Pearl of Great Price JS-Matthew 1:4)

The Lord answered -

"...in those days there shall also arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch, that, if possible, they shall deceive the very elect, who are the elect according to the covenant.
23 Behold, I speak these things unto you for the elect's sake; and you also shall hear of wars, and rumors of wars..." (Pearl of Great Price JS-Matthew 1:22 - 23)

"...they shall hear of wars, and rumors of wars.
29 Behold I speak for mine elect's sake; for nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places." (Pearl of Great Price JS-Matthew 1:28 - 29)

"...iniquity shall abound, the love of men shall wax cold; but he that shall not be overcome, the same shall be saved." (Pearl of Great Price JS-Matthew 1:30)

this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come, or the destruction of the wicked..." (Pearl of Great Price JS-Matthew 1:31)

But even with these signs, the Savior made it clear -

"But of that day, and hour, no one knoweth; no, not the angels of God in heaven, but my Father only." (Pearl of Great Price JS-Matthew 1:40)

Therefore, He taught -

"...see that ye be not troubled, for all I have told you must come to pass..." (Pearl of Great Price JS-Matthew 1:23)

And because that -

"...the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night..." (New Testament 2 Peter 3:10)

The Lord warns -

"...watch, therefore, for you know not at what hour your Lord doth come.
47 But know this, if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to have been broken up, but would have been ready." (Pearl of Great Price JS-Matthew 1:46 - 47)

Elder Neal A. Maxwell wrote -

"As in the days of Noah, people will also be preoccupied with the cares and the pleasures of the world (see Matthew 24:37). Ironically, most therefore will even miss such signs as God gives pertaining to Jesus’ glorious second coming" (Sermons Not Spoken [1985], 62)

He also said -

"It is no accident that the scriptures have preserved for us certain precious insights about the times in which Noah lived. Those were times, we read, that were ‘filled with violence’ (Genesis 6:11), and corruption abounded. There was apparently a sense of self-sufficiency, a condition to which Jesus called attention. (Matthew 24:36–41.) Jesus said this condition would be repeated in the last days. The people of Noah’s time were desensitized to real dangers. So we may become in our time. Noah and those with him had to let go of their world or perish with it!"(Wherefore, Ye Must Press Forward, 13)