Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord

One of the great blessings of the Restoration is the Doctrine and Covenants brought forth by the revelations given to the Prophet Joseph.  We rightly focus on reading the Book of Mormon in the Church, but we must not overlook the great revelations that compose the Doctrine and Covenants and their testimony of the Savior.  It is the only book of scripture that is largely in the first person perspective from the Savior Himself.  The other books of scripture give us the words of the prophets who testified of Jesus; the Doctrine and Covenants gives us the voice of the Savior Himself to all men and women.  He made this clear in the preface to the book: “For verily the voice of the Lord is unto all men, and there is none to escape; and there is no eye that shall not see, neither ear that shall not hear, neither heart that shall not be penetrated…. And the voice of warning shall be unto all people, by the mouths of my disciples, whom I have chosen in these last days…. Wherefore the voice of the Lord is unto the ends of the earth, that all that will hear may hear” (Doctrine and Covenants 1:2, 4, 11).  The Doctrine and Covenants gives us the direct voice of Jesus Christ that is meant to be heard by all the earth. 

               So what does the voice of the Lord tell us and the whole world in the Doctrine and Covenants?  One of the most important messages it gives us is the need to prepare for His Second Coming and for our encounter with Him some time in the future.  Jesus declared in the preface, “Prepare ye, prepare ye for that which is to come, for the Lord is nigh” (Doctrine and Covenants 1:12).  In the appendix to the book He similarly emphasized the need to prepare in numerous passages: “Wherefore, prepare ye, prepare ye, O my people; sanctify yourselves…. Prepare yourselves for the great day of the Lord…. Let all things be prepared before you… Prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make his paths straight, for the hour of his coming is nigh…. prepare ye for the coming of the Bridegroom; go ye, go ye out to meet him” (Doctrine and Covenants 133).  His message for all of us in the latter days is that the Second Coming approaches and we must be spiritually prepared.  Whether that day is in our lifetime or still hundreds of years hence, the message of the Savior for us is the same: prepare to meet Him.  And how do we prepare?  He gave us a succinct answer in another revelation: “For if you will that I give unto you a place in the celestial world, you must prepare yourselves by doing the things which I have commanded you and required of you” (Doctrine and Covenants 78:7).  We prepare by keeping the commandments He has given us, and we find those in the revelations He has given through the prophet in this last dispensation.  His invitation for all the world is to so prepare and ultimately be purified by Him: “Organize yourselves, and prepare yourselves, and sanctify yourselves; yea, purify your hearts, and cleanse your hands and your feet before me, that I may make you clean” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:74).  How blessed we are to have His words directly to us in the Doctrine and Covenants to help us so prepare for that great day when we will all kneel before Him!