We cannot understand the power of grace without connecting it with charity.  The selfishness of Babylon must give way to the selflessness of Zion in order that Zionlike attributes might be established in a covenant person. The spirit of charitable service cannot be mandated; that spirit is a condition of the heart that motivates a person to care for and lift another. No wonder, then, that Zion is described as having no poverty of any kind.

Zion people can neither tolerate lack nor endure poverty among them. They attack misery wherever they find it. They abolish every form of scarcity, hurt, impairment, injustice, illness, and sorrow. They think of their brethren like unto themselves, and they are familiar with all and free with their substance, that others might be rich like unto themselves.^[i] Therefore, they insist on having “all things common among them; therefore there [are] not rich and poor, bond and free, but they [are] all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift.” Consequently, there never could be a happier people.^[ii]

Zion people “love one another and serve one another.” They “succor those that stand in need of [their] succor,” and they “administer of [their] substance unto him that standeth in need.” They “will not suffer that the beggar [put] up his petition to [them] in vain, and turn him out to perish.”^[iii] Zion people “bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light,” and they “are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort.”^[iv]

King Benjamin pointed out that some blessings can only flow from charitable service. For example, as we have mentioned, charitable service allows us to retain “a remission of [our] sins from day to day, that [we] may walk guiltless before God.” Therefore, King Benjamin exhorted us, “I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants.”^[v] And of course, the astonishing statement regarding service: “When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.”^[vi]

In Doctrine and Covenants 42, “the law of the Church,” we read the following verse: “For inasmuch as ye do it unto the least of these, ye do it unto me.”^[vii] The implication is intriguing. Because God lacks for nothing and is in no need of our service to him, he passes on our desire to serve him to his children, who do need our help. As we transfer our service from him to his children, he does not forget our expression of love for him. He counts our service to his children as service to him, and he rewards us accordingly.

Now comes an interesting gospel phenomenon. God accepts our service as would a debtor, and, of course, God can be in debt to no one. Therefore, to arrest any hint of debt or imbalance in the checks and balances of heaven, God quickly erases any claim by immediately blessing us in excess of our service: “He doth immediately bless [us]; and therefore he hath paid [us]. And [we] are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever.”^[viii] On the subject of service alone, we live forever in his debt. We are always awarded more blessings than we expend in service, and for that reason we are gratefully “unprofitable servants.”^[ix]

Grace to Grace by Grace for Grace

It is upon the principle of giving charitable service that we progress toward perfection. According to John the Baptist’s testimony, Jesus progressed in this manner. John employed the word grace to explain this principle of progression: “And I, John, saw that he received not of the fulness at first, but received grace for grace. And he received not of the fulness at first, but continued from grace to grace, until he received a fulness.”^[x] In other words, Jesus grew in grace (light, truth, power, and perfection) by giving grace (service and blessings to others). Likewise, we progress from one grace to another by giving grace to others.

Progressing grace to grace by giving grace for grace!

Commenting, the Lord states: “For if you keep my commandments you shall receive of his fulness, and be glorified in me as I am in the Father; therefore, I say unto you, you shall receive grace for grace.”^[xi]

Lacking for Nothing

The above definitions of grace are in addition to the common definition: the Lord’s help, strength, or enabling power.^[xii] Jesus’ grace is ever evident in the unequalled service that he proffers. Here is a formula for receiving his help or grace: We come unto Christ in humility and faith, having done all we can do,^[xiii] and then he makes up the difference. Consequently, we will never lack while as charitably serve the Lord’s children. In this principle, we again hear overtones of Zion: no lack and divine help to accomplish the Lord’s work.

Pertaining to the concept of no lack, we recall again the Lord’s abundant grace to the wandering Israelites, as recorded by the prophet Nehemiah:

This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations; Yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light, and the way wherein they should go. Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst. Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, [so that] they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.^[xiv]

The Lord never forsook them. He was with them both day and night. He constantly instructed them. He provided manna and water to sustain them. For four decades of wandering, they lacked nothing! Amazingly, neither their clothing nor their shoes wore out. The Israelites experienced the Lord’s grace.

We see these two elements of grace—no lack and divine help—in an incident in the Savior’s life. Just before Jesus entered Gethsemane, he reminded his apostles of their early missions when he had purposely placed them in a condition of lack by sending them out with neither purse nor scrip. He had expected them to give grace (charitable service) by means of his grace, that is, by relying completely on him and on nothing else. Now he asked them, “When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing.”^[xv]

They needed to internalize this lesson in order to continue giving service throughout their lives. From that experience of intentional privation, they had learned that what had initially appeared to be a condition of lack was not one after all; the Lord had provided his grace (divine help) to sustain them in proportion to the grace (service) they proffered to the people.

The situation had been carefully orchestrated by the Lord to teach them to trust him while they served. The apostles needed to learn that the Lord could through his grace multiply the effects of their service and produce incredible blessings of sustenance for the people (think of feeding the five thousand and the four thousand), and they also needed to learn that by serving they would never lack. To accomplish their future missions, the apostles needed firsthand experience to see if the Lord would be true to his promise. Without his grace, they could neither survive nor gain the necessary power to fulfill their callings.

Similarly, we need experience with the Lord and the principles that govern charitable service. For example, we need to internalize the fact that the Lord’s way of resolving our lack is by our giving charitable service: as we give grace, we receive grace. That is the formula. When we experience a lack of something, we can go to the Lord and he will take care of us in proportion to how we take care of his children.

If Any of You Lack

James, the Lord’s brother, offered a solution for those of us who lack anything: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him.”^[xvi] Personalized, this scripture could read: “If I lack anything, I can ask of God, who will give to me abundantly, and he will never chastise me for having asked for his help. Instead, he will help me.” This is the promise of grace!

Grace allows our lack to be swallowed up in Christ’s abundance. We come unto him in humility and faith, we do all we can do, which must include offering charitable service, and then we have the assurance that he will make up the difference. By living this principle, we never need lack for anything. Our lack might include any physical, emotional, or spiritual deficit. Also, we might experience lack when we minister to the Lord’s children. In any of these situations, when we experience lack and attempt to remedy the situation, we almost certainly will come up short; that is the condition of mortality. But because we have a covenant relationship with the Lord, we can “ask of God” to draw upon his resources and power, and he promises to give to us liberally. If we employ this principle and promise as we minister to his children, neither they nor we will ever lack.

On two remarkable occasions, the apostles experienced the Lord’s grace when they came up short in attempting to minister to people who lacked something. These occasions were when Jesus fed the five thousand and later the four thousand.^[xvii] In each case, hungry people were in immediate need of help, and the apostles could manage only scant resources. Jesus’ response was identical in both cases:

Bring all that you have or your best effort to me; I will bless it; and you will have enough to feed the people until they are filled. Then, when it is your turn to eat, you will also have enough. In fact, you will have more than you started with. Your responsibility is to feed my sheep, not to worry about having enough. Just go forth and minister, and I will multiply your efforts so that you never lack.

When we go to the Savior for his grace, we will not encounter someone who is lacking in grace. The Savior is full of grace.^[xviii] We can also obtain a fulness of grace the same way the Savior did: by extending grace to others. We grow in our capacity to give grace by covenanting to consecrate all that we are and have, taking our best offering to the Lord for his blessing, then going forth in faith to feed the Lord’s sheep. In return, he multiplies our efforts and resources, and thus provides us more grace to give away. It is a formula that applies to other gospel principles: “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.”^[xix] We could say, “Blessed are those who extend grace, for they shall obtain more grace.”

For instance, if we were given a kernel of corn and ate it, the kernel would be gone forever. But if we were to plant the kernel and nourish it, the kernel would soon grow into a stalk with several ears and many kernels. Then, if we were to eat just a few of the kernels and plant the rest, the kernels would become a field of corn and a huge harvest. And it all began with a single kernel!

As we humbly seek and receive the Lord’s grace, then extend that grace to others, the Lord will give us more grace, and the cycle of receiving and giving will continue until we are filled with grace. If we do not stop the cycle by hoarding the Lord’s blessings, we will grow from grace to grace by giving grace for the grace until we are perfected by grace. Elder Boyd K. Packer said, “As you give what you have, there is a replacement, with increase!”^[xx] Of charitable service, President Gordon B. Hinckley promised that we cannot extend merciful blessings to God’s children and not experience a harvest of merciful blessings in return.^[xxi] We can readily see how giving and receiving grace provides for the condition of no poor among us.

Author’s Note

This article was adapted from my new book, The Three Pillars of Zion. Click here to receive a free sample.

[ii] 4 Nephi 1:3, 16.

[iii] Mosiah 4:15–16.

[iv] Mosiah 18:8–9.

[v] Mosiah 4:26.

[vi] Mosiah 2:17.

[vii] D&C 42:38.

[viii] Mosiah 2:24.

[ix] Mosiah 2:21.

[x] D&C 93:12–13; emphasis added.

[xi] D&C 93:20; emphasis added.

[xii] LDS Bible Dictionary, s.v. “Grace,” 697.

[xiii] 2 Nephi 25:23: “for we know that it is by grace that we are saved [helped], after all we can do.”

[xiv] Nehemiah 9:18–21; emphasis added.

[xv] Luke 22:35.

[xvi] James 1:5; emphasis added.

[xvii] Mark 6:35–44; 1–9.

[xviii] D&C 93:11.

[xix] Matthew 5:7.

[xx] Packer, “The Candle of the Lord,” January 1983, 54–55.

[xxi] Hinckley, “Blessed Are the Merciful,” May 1990, 68.

The Book of Mormon contains several Zion accounts. The most obvious is found in Third Nephi. There we are introduced to people who initially were unprepared for the Lord’s presence and his Zion. Nevertheless, after a period of diligent preparation, these people managed to change their lives so that the Lord could come and establish Zion among them.

But there is another account that begs our attention: the account of the people of King Benjamin. These people were prepared for the establishment of Zion; they had been diligently keeping the commandments of the Lord,[ii] and they were ready to ascend to a higher level of spirituality. King Benjamin employed his priesthood to facilitate a spiritual experience that took his people to that higher level. This level is where the ideal of Zion becomes possible in a person’s life; it is this level where preparations are finally complete so that we can come into the presence of the Lord. This level is marked by fully taking upon us the name of Jesus Christ.

To fully take upon us the name of Christ requires at least three things: (1) intervention by the priesthood, (2) receiving all of the covenants and ordinances, including those administered in the temple, and (3) living worthily of all that we have received.

Intervention by the Priesthood

Elder David B. Haight taught us of the responsibility and the opportunity of a priesthood holder to bring those of his stewardship to a point where they can fully take upon them the name of Jesus Christ. Referring to “a sacred experience in which he viewed the Savior’s ministry and came to a greater understanding of the power of the priesthood,”[iii] he said, “During those days of unconsciousness [brought on by illness] I was given, by the gift of the Holy Ghost, a more perfect knowledge of His mission. I was also given a more complete understanding of what it means to exercise, in His name, the authority to unlock the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven for the salvation of all who are faithful.”[iv]

King Benjamin understood his priesthood role to act as an advocate for the people and “to unlock the mysteries of the kingdom for [their] salvation.” By the authority of the priesthood, he facilitated a spiritual experience whereby his people received a greater endowment of the Spirit in a temple setting. We must remember that the responsibility of the priesthood is to bring people to the Holy Ghost, whose responsibility is to bring people to Jesus Christ—whose responsibility is to bring people to the Father.

King Benjamin sanctified himself, thus changing his purpose from being king and protector to becoming a savior to his people. The priesthood is the power to facilitate a conversion opportunity for those of one’s stewardship, to bring people to Christ so that they might more fully take upon themselves his name, and to unlock the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven that can be learned only by revelation. This astounding idea links priesthood authority, the name of Christ, and unlocking blessings for those whom we serve.

Receiving the Covenants and Ordinances

The process of taking upon ourselves the name of Christ begins at baptism,[v] and it continues by our subsequently partaking of the sacrament, in which we indicate our willingness to take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ.[vi] In both cases, however, our ability to fully take upon ourselves the name of Christ, which is sometimes termed as being born again or being born of God, is usually something that happens later. Elder Bruce R. McConkie explained:

Mere compliance with the formality of the ordinance of baptism does not mean that a person has been born again. No one can be born again without baptism, but the immersion in water and the laying on of hands to confer the Holy Ghost do not of themselves guarantee that a person has been or will be born again. The new birth takes place only for those who actually enjoy the gift or companionship of the Holy Ghost, only for those who are fully converted, who have given themselves without restraint to the Lord. Thus Alma addressed himself to his “brethren of the church,” and pointedly asked them if they had “spiritually been born of God,” received the Lord’s image in their countenances, and had the “mighty change” in their hearts which always attends the birth of the Spirit. (Alma 5:14, 31.)[vii]

Baptism and the sacrament point us toward making other covenants and receiving their associated ordinances. To the degree that we make and receive these covenants and ordinances, and live worthily of them, we take upon us the name of Jesus Christ.

Common Ways of Taking upon Ourselves the Name of Christ

There are several ways we commonly take upon ourselves the name of Christ.One way that we take upon ourselves his name is to accept him as the father or head of the earthly church to which we belong, the Church that bears his name: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[viii] Our acceptance of him in this role transcends this world, for it is in the next world that we, having taken upon ourselves his name, will more fully see and accept him as the “Mighty God, the Everlasting Father,”[ix] the eternal head of the heavenly church to which we will belong: The Church of the Firstborn.[x]

Another way that we take upon ourselves his name is by taking upon ourselves his priesthood. The Lord said to Abraham, “Behold, I will lead thee by my hand, and I will take thee, to put upon thee my name, even the Priesthood of thy father, and my power shall be over thee.”[xi]

Moreover, we take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ when we bear testimony of him. Testimony bearing and taking upon ourselves Christ’s name are linked in the latter-day commandment: “Take upon you the name of Christ, and speak the truth in soberness.”[xii] Peter said, “Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you.”[xiii] Bearing witness of the Lord is to commend him to others and to testify of his reality, his ability, and his works.[xiv] This recommendation and witness qualify as a form of taking upon us the name of Christ.

We also take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ by assuming his work. Significantly, the Twelve Apostles are “special witnesses of the name of Christ in all the world.”[xv] By delegation, we take our part in the work of the Twelve, and thus we take upon us the work and name of Christ.

Born of God—the Mystery of Spiritual Rebirth

But there is another way of taking upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ. This way speaks of a future event that is foreshadowed each time we partake of the sacrament and witness our willingness to take upon ourselves his name in this ultimate way. M. Catherine Thomas refers to this future event as “the mystery of spiritual rebirth.”[xvi]

The idea of spiritual rebirth was introduced to Nicodemus by Jesus: “Ye must be born again.”[xvii] The concept of birth invokes the image of parents or progenitors. When we are born again by baptism, we agree to accept Jesus as our spiritual father and give ourselves to being adopted into his family, which is his Church. Hence, forevermore, we are called by the name of our adopted father—Jesus Christ—which is also the name of our new family. We accept Jesus as our adopted father in the sense that he becomes the father or the progenitor of our salvation; that is, our salvation is born of him. King Benjamin said, “Because of the covenant ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons and daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you.”[xviii] Elder McConkie wrote:

Those who are born again not only live a new life, but they also have a new father. Their new life is one of righteousness, and their new father is God. They become the sons of God; or, more particularly, they become the sons and daughters of Jesus Christ. They bear, ever thereafter, the name of their new parent; that is, they take upon themselves the name of Christ and become Christians, not only in word but in very deed. They become by adoption the seed or offspring of Christ, the children in his family, the members of his household which is the perfect household of perfect faith.[xix]

That is not to say that we abandon our Heavenly Father, who is the Progenitor of our spirit bodies, in favor of Jesus Christ, who is our elder brother. Conversely, Heavenly Father initiates the mandate that we take upon us the name of his son, Jesus Christ, by our entering in the waters of baptism. Moreover, as we have said, each time we partake of the sacrament, we witness unto the Father our willingness to take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ, that is, to prepare ourselves and look forward to the day when we fully take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ.

It should be clear by now that taking upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ is the central issue and objective of the gospel. Possibly nothing is more important to our salvation and eventual exaltation than taking upon ourselves this holy name.

Fully Taking upon Us the Name of Jesus Christ

This brings us to the account of King Benjamin and how he used his priesthood to facilitate a spiritual experience by which his people could fully take upon themselves the name of Jesus Christ—“the mystery of spiritual rebirth.”

We recall that the prophet-king sanctified himself and thus fully took upon himself the name of Christ. Now he was in a position to help others. Jesus set the example for this process. In his great intercessory prayer, he said to the Father, “And for their sakes [the apostles] I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified.”[xx] That is to say, he was about to magnify or increase his purpose through his atoning sacrifice so that he could fully become the Savior. He said that he was going to do this so that he could facilitate a sanctifying opportunity for his apostles, “that they also might be sanctified.” Likewise, King Benjamin sanctified himself, fully took upon himself the name of Christ, and then prayed earnestly for priesthood power to bring his people into the presence of the Lord. The process moved him from being a great king and protector to being a great prophet and priest, or more specifically, a savior to his people.

In response to King Benjamin’s prayer, an angel appeared, granting him permission to gather the people for the purpose of giving them an endowment that would cause them to “rejoice with exceedingly great joy”[xxi] and be “filled with joy.”[xxii] These terms are connected with being born again.[xxiii] The central message of the angel involved King Benjamin’s giving the people “a name, that thereby they may be distinguished above all the people which the Lord God hath brought out of the land of Jerusalem.” Without a doubt, these people were righteous and highly favored. But what had they done to deserve the honor of being granted this “name”? King Benjamin explained that it was because “they have been a diligent people in keeping the commandments of the Lord.” For that reason, they would be blessed with “a name that never shall be blotted out, except it be through transgression.”[xxiv]

From that point forward, the king’s entire effort—gathering them to the temple, administering to them a sermon that was structured like the temple endowment,[xxv] making references to their being “sealed” to Christ in order to receive eternal life[xxvi]—focused on helping his people fully take upon themselves the name of Jesus Christ.

It is worth emphasizing that these people were righteous people who had been diligent in keeping the commandments, which we may assume would mean that they had received baptism and so had already taken upon themselves the name of Christ. Now King Benjamin, through his priesthood, served as an advocate with God to provide these good people a new and fuller experience with the name of Christ. Obviously, they had never before taken upon themselves the name of Christ to this degree. What happened when they did so? Catherine Thomas said they attained to “a higher spiritual plain in their quest to return to God. . . . The people tasted of the glory of God and came to a personal knowledge of him; through the power of the Holy Spirit they experienced the mighty change of heart and the mystery of spiritual rebirth.”[xxvii]

This astonishing experience resulted in a “profound transformation from basic goodness to something that exceeded their ability to even describe. This much did they say, ‘The Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent . . . has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually’ (Mosiah 5:2).”[xxviii]

President Joseph F. Smith explained the result of taking upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ and experiencing the mighty change of heart:

If our hearts are fixed with proper intent upon serving God and keeping His commandments, what will be the fruits of it? What will be the result? . . . Men will be full of the spirit of forgiveness, of charity, of mercy, of love unfeigned. They will not seek occasion against each other; nor will they take advantage of the weak, the unwary, or the ignorant; but they will regard the rights of the ignorant, of the weak, of those who are dependent and at their mercy, as they do their very own; they will hold the liberties of their fellow-men as sacred as their own liberties; they will prize the virtue, honor and integrity of their neighbors and brothers just as they would appreciate and prize and hold sacred their own.[xxix]

Zion indeed!

The Temple and the Name of Christ

The key to understanding “the mystery of spiritual rebirth” lies in the fact that King Benjamin’s people fully took upon themselves the name of Christ in a temple setting. We cannot overstate the significance of this fact. The temple is a house dedicated to “the name” of the Lord.[xxx] The Lord’s “name shall be put upon this house.”[xxxi] When we partake of the sacrament, we implicitly indicate our willingness to go to the temple to fully take upon ourselves the name of Christ and receive the blessings of exaltation.[xxxii] Expounding on our receiving the fulness of the name of Christ, Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote, “God’s name is God. To have his name written on a person is to identify that person as a god. How can it be said more plainly? Those who gain eternal life become gods!”[xxxiii] Thus, it is in the temple that we fully receive the name of Jesus Christ through the covenants and ordinances of salvation.

In the temple we are purified, sanctified, and anointed to become kings and priests, queens and priestesses, in the similitude of Jesus Christ.[xxxiv] It is in the temple that we receive the keys of his knowledge and power. It is in the temple that we make successive covenants that define a Christlike lifestyle.[xxxv] It is in the temple that we are transformed into saviors on Mount Zion, with his “name written always in [our] hearts,”[xxxvi] and it is there that the price he paid for each of us becomes very real.

We recall that the Nephites had something like a temple experience when the Savior invited them, one by one, to step forward and touch his wounds and thus come in contact with the reality of the Atonement on an individual basis.[xxxvii] As they effectively received the marks of the Atonement, they were transformed into saviors in the similitude of the Savior; that is, their ability to perform a saving service in behalf of others greatly increased, as evidenced in the beginning verses of Fourth Nephi. In that encounter with the resurrected Savior, in a very literal way, they took upon themselves the name of Christ, whereas previously they had received his name symbolically.

It is in the temple that we are bound to Jesus with a seal that cannot be broken—except by our own sin. There we symbolically ascend to where he is, to become what he is, and to achieve oneness with him as he is one with the Father. It is in the temple that we receive by marriage a kingdom within his Kingdom. Everything about the temple experience points to fully taking upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ.

The Name of Christ and Coronation

Moreover, everything about the temple experience points to our coronation in God’s kingdom.[xxxviii] What we do in the temple symbolically, we will one day do literally.[xxxix] We recall that the kings of the Nephites typically received a new name when they ascended to the throne. At first, that name was Nephi.[xl] Just so, when we ascend to our throne we are given a new name—a coronation name. That royal name is Jesus Christ; we become joint heirs with him. Thus, to fully take upon us the name of Jesus Christ opens the door to be nominated a candidate for a throne and exaltation.

The prophet Jeremiah rejoiced when he read, understood, and internalized the import of the word of the Lord as it applied to taking upon himself the name of Jesus Christ: “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.”[xli] Elder McConkie taught,

We have the ability and the capacity and the power to attain unto that status [sons and daughters of God] after we accept the Lord with all our hearts (see D&C 39:1–6). Now the ordinances that are performed in the temples are the ordinances of exaltation; they open the door to us to an inheritance of sonship; they open the door to us so that we may become sons and daughters, members of the household of God in eternity . . . if we thereafter continue faithful, to receive eventually the fullness of the Father. The temple ordinances open the door to gaining all power and all wisdom and all knowledge. Temple ordinances open up the way to membership in the Church of the Firstborn. They open the door to becoming kings and priests and inheriting all things.[xlii]

Catherine Thomas concluded, “King Benjamin’s people received an endowment of spiritual knowledge and power which took them from being good people to Christlike people—all in a temple setting. What they experienced through the power of the priesthood was a revelation of Christ’s nature and the power to be assimilated to his image.”[xliii] Plainly, those who fully take upon themselves the name of Jesus Christ qualify to come into his presence, receive their exaltation, and become gods. This is “the mystery of spiritual rebirth.”[xliv]

And this, we would conclude, is the essence of Zion, which is made possible by fully taking upon us the name of Jesus Christ.

Author’s Note:

This article was adapted from my new book, The Three Pillars of Zion. Click here to receive a free sample.

[ii] Mosiah 1:11.

[iii] Thomas, “Benjamin and the Mysteries of God,” 281.

[iv] Haight, “The Sacrament—and the Sacrifice,” 59; emphasis added.

[v] 2 Nephi 31:13.

[vi] Moroni 4:3; D&C 20:37.

[vii] McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 101.

[viii] D&C 115:4; 3 Nephi 27:7–8.

[ix] Isaiah 9:6; 2 Nephi 19:6.

[x] D&C 76:54, 71, 76, 94; 93:22; 107:19.

[xi] Abraham 1:18.

[xii] Oaks, “Taking Upon Us the Name of Jesus Christ,” 80; quoting D&C 18:21.

[xiii] 1 Peter 3:15.

[xiv] Ether 12:41.

[xv] D&C 107:23.

[xvi] Thomas, “Benjamin and the Mysteries of God,” 277.

[xvii] John 3:7.

[xviii] Mosiah 5:7; see also Alma 5:14; 36:23–26.

[xix] McConkie, A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, 284.

[xx] John 17:19.

[xxi] Mosiah 3:13.

[xxii] Mosiah 4:3.

[xxiii] Thomas, “Benjamin and the Mysteries of God,” 285–86.

[xxiv] Mosiah 1:11–12.

[xxv] Thomas, “Benjamin and the Mysteries of God,” 292.

[xxvi] Mosiah 5:15.

[xxvii] Thomas, “Benjamin and the Mysteries of God,” 293.

[xxviii] Thomas, “Benjamin and the Mysteries of God,” 290.

[xxix] Smith, Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith, 425.

[xxx] 1 Kings 3:2; 5:5; 8:16–20, 29, 44, 48; 1 Chronicles 22:8–10, 19; 29:16; 2 Chronicles 2:4; 6:5–10, 20, 34, 38.

[xxxi] D&C 109:26.

[xxxii] Oaks, “Taking Upon Us the Name of Jesus Christ,” 80.

[xxxiii] McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3:459.

[xxxiv] Smith, Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, 22.

[xxxv] Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 454–56.

[xxxvi] Mosiah 5:12.

[xxxvii] 3 Nephi 11:14–17.

[xxxviii] Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1464; McConkie, Conference Report, Oct. 1955, 13.

[xxxix] D&C 76:55–58.

[xl] Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 191.

[xli] Jeremiah 15:16.

[xlii] McConkie, Conference Report, Oct. 1955, 13.

[xliii] Thomas, “Benjamin and the Mysteries of God,” 292.

[xliv] Thomas, “Benjamin and the Mysteries of God,” 277.

H. Wallace Goddard observed that charity has three meanings: Love from Christ, Love for Christ, Love like Christ. The process of loving begins when we feel Jesus reaching after us (Love from Christ).

Somewhere along the path the miracle of His love breaks down our resistance. As we begin to understand His goodness and redemptiveness, we are changed. We are filled with a profound awe and gratitude for Him. We experience the stirrings of hope. Without this conversion, we are nothing spiritually (1 Cor. 13:2; 2 Ne. 26:30; Moro. 7:44, 46; D&C 18:19). As the amazing truth of His unrelenting love pierces our hearts, we are led to the second kind of charity, love for Christ. “We love him, because he first loved us” (1 Jn. 1:19). . . . As soon as we glimpse His love for us we instinctively love Him in return. We fall at His feet and bathe them with tears of gratitude. Why would He do all He has done to love and rescue my flawed soul? Why??? The answer is charity. As we feel the love from Him and for Him, we naturally love like Him. We become saviors on Mount Zion with Him.

True Love in Marriage and Family

Interestingly, a temple marriage-especially one that is built upon the foundation of charity-is called a saving ordinance. Temple marriage saves a man and woman. Marriage is one of the greatest evidences of God’s salvation. In an act of unequalled charity, He snatches two individuals from their fallen condition, introduces them to each other as his beloved son and daughter, and invites them to experience His exalted meaning of love and thus partake of the fullness of His glory. Through marriage God saves the couple, they save each other, and others are saved in the process. Amazingly, by means of the couple’s saving marriage, their progenitors now experience a higher manifestation of salvation, for “they without us cannot be made perfect.”

Likewise, future generations are saved by the couple’s marriage. As children are born into this union, they are saved by the love and the covenants of their parents. Therefore, by the couple’s entering into the saving relationship of marriage, the children become the focal point of eternity for untold generations past and future.

“The Family: A Proclamation to the World” states that husbands and wives, by virtue of their marriage vows, have a solemn obligation to love and care for one another. As couples continue to court and care for one another, they ensure their love will never die. Likewise, to keep their love vibrant, husbands and wives might try applying two keys of courting: anticipate the needs of their companion, then surprise and delight with constant acts of love. It has been said that children can receive no greater gift than being reared by parents who love each other.

Surely there can be nothing greater than the love that Heavenly Father has for our Heavenly Mother. A husband wrote about his contemplation of this idea and how it helped him to be a better partner:

After three and a half decades of marriage, I was one day distressed by the realization that, as much as I loved my wife, my level of love for her paled in comparison to the love that Heavenly Father has for His wife. His love is perfect love; mine is not. Therefore, I realized that I had a ways to go. Because charity is a spiritual gift, I began to pray that I could learn to love my wife as Heavenly Father loves his wife. Every time I prayed, I received the same answer, Do more for your wife. Love, I learned, is a feeling that has expression and grows by loving actions. If I wanted to love more, I needed to do more, and I needed to do all this for no selfish expectation, and only for the pure purpose of expressing love. Whereas worldly love often diminishes with time, charitable love increases until it becomes perfect and becomes like the love shared by our Heavenly Parents. Do I love my wife more now than when we married in 1972? Much more. Why? Because over the years we have shared so many loving experiences. My love for her is not perfect, but I am determined that it will be, and that is sure to be a wonderful journey.

To Love First

How does love grow? It grows as we love someone first. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us . . . We love him, because he first loved us.” We love first, and then love is returned. As we discussed in chapter seven, it is an oft-repeated scriptural formula that has many applications: “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.”

Elder Boyd K. Packer said it this way: “As you give what you have, there is a replacement, with increase!” Love is returned by someone’s loving first; love increases by being loving; love cleaveth unto love like “light cleaveth unto light.” This love, a saving love, is charity, which never faileth. John Greenleaf Whittier wrote, “I’ll lift you, and you lift me, and we’ll both ascend together.” Of course, loving first is fraught with risk. Love shown might not be returned immediately. Sometimes it may seem like it will never come.

Elder Maxwell explained that parents often extend love that is not reciprocated. He quoted Edith Hamilton as saying, ‘”When love meets no return the result is suffering and the greater the love the greater the suffering. There can be no greater suffering than to love purely and perfectly one who is bent upon evil and self-destruction. That was what God endured at the hands of men’ (Spokesman for God, 1936, 112).” Elder Maxwell explained that the pain that we feel provides us an appreciation for the Savior, which appreciation we might not otherwise gain.

Nevertheless, love we must, for only love unfeigned has the power to rescue a wayward soul. If we want to love our wayward children back, we must start by better loving God and our spouse, which increases our capacity to love. Then we are in a position to better love the “unlovable” child. Often, we will need to show love for the child before he shows love to us, and we must persist in that love until love breaks down every barrier between us, melts the child’s heart, embraces him in an unbreakable bond, and finally leads him home. Professor Rex A. Skidmore has said, “Parents need to remember that a youth is never so much in need of understanding as when he is non-approachable and never so much in need of love as when he is unlovable.”

Love Perfected

Being loving to our spouse is not only an expansive principle, it is a perfecting one that draws God near. “If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.” Moreover, by loving acts we are endowed with an added measure of the Holy Ghost: “Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.” As we abide in this cycle of loving and receiving love, our love eventually becomes perfect: “God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect.”

Significantly, the only other person besides God whom a man is commanded to love with all his heart is his wife: “Thou shalt love thy wife with all thy heart, and shalt cleave unto her and none else.” Our model is Christ, who frequently refers to Himself as the Bridegroom, and we, being part of His church, are symbolically His bride. In Hosea, He is the forgiving, compassionate, nurturing Husband, and elsewhere He is the Good Shepherd, who gives His life for those whom He loves.

This quality of love is that which yokes us to Him, an important principle considering the fact that He, by covenant, is an important third partner in our marriage; He is as essential to us as we are to each other. Our marriage simply cannot be sanctified, and we cannot grow in the principle of love, without Him. In the case where we are in a struggling marriage where our spouse does not seem willing to work with us in increasing love, or where a spouse does not believe in gospel principles, we still may rely on the amazing power of love-freely given by us-to powerfully affect the relationship and us individually. This is one reason why we do not need to fear one-sided love.

No Fear in Love

Perhaps one of the greatest benefits of loving is ceasing to be afraid: “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear.” If our circumstance is causing us fear, we might consider reexamining the foundation upon which our love is built, “because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” We must regroup by being loving, and love will be returned with increase. As love grows, we will feel our level of fear decrease. This love is the love of God, giving us peace and ameliorating the risks of unreturned mortal love.

Love-The Greatest Power

Love–perfect love–is the greatest power in the universe. Love motivates God to do all that He does. The greatest expression of His love is to give and redeem life. He invites His children to experience His type of life, for therein is His joy made full. By following His example-giving life and redeeming life-our joy is also made full. Therein is the perfection of and hope for our love. Therein are children given and therein are children saved.

Author’s Note

This article was adapted from my book, Rescuing Wayward Children. Follow this link to learn more.)

Also, get a sample of my new 5-book series on Zion: The Three Pillars of Zion. Click here.

Note: Although this article speaks of the power available in the marriage sealing, many principles apply to singles, single parents, those working for eternal union with less-active spouses, and to children who are praying for their wayward parents. Faith and grace allow us to act as if we were in possession of that which we lack. The Lord assures us that when we do all we can do, He will make up the difference.

H. Wallace Goddard, Drawing Heaven into Your Marriage, 111.

See Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, “Celestial Marriage,” 117-118.

D&C 128:15.

See “The Family: A Proclamation to the World.“

1 John 4:10, 19.

Matthew 5:7.

Boyd K. Packer, “The Candle of the Lord,” Ensign, January 1983.

D&C 88:40.

Edith Hamilton quoted, also Elder Maxwell, in Neal A. Maxwell’s “Enduring Well,” Ensign, April 1997.

Rex A. Skidmore, “What Part Should the Teen-ager Play in the Family?” Improvement Era, January 1952.

1 John 4:12.

1 John 4:13.

1 John 4:16-17.

D&C 42:22.

See Matthew 9:15.

See Isaiah 62:5.

See John 10:11.

1 John 4:18.

See 3 Nephi 17:20.

See Alma 26:11.

As we have learned, Abraham desired to become like God and to receive greater revelations and privileges. Therefore, to that end he sought for the higher commandments, which are associated with the Melchizedek Priesthood and which yield those results. These greater commandments helped to conduct Abraham, a “follower of righteousness,” into the Lord’s presence. Likewise, when the Nephites stood in the presence of the Lord, they received greater commandments that had to do with celestial living. Their account becomes our model.

The Greater Commandment to Pray Always

Of the many commandments that the Lord gave to the Nephites on the occasion of his appearance, we will single out three that directly produce a Zionlike life. The first is the commandment to pray always. Jesus ”commanded them that they should not cease to pray in their hearts.”

At a minimum, praying always would mean that we should assume a reverent, prayerful attitude while we go about our daily activities. This would include continual communication, worship, awareness, gratitude, accountability to God for our actions, and recognizing our total dependence on the Lord. This prayerful attitude is the engine that drives humility and the purification of the heart; this attitude raises the antenna of revelation and flags opportunities to serve.

Continual prayer forms a shield of protection against the adversary, whose attacks are as persistent as should be our prayers. To the Nephites, Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always, lest ye be tempted by the devil, and ye be led away captive by him. . . . Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always lest ye enter into temptation; for Satan desireth to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. Therefore ye must always pray unto the Father in my name.”

Then Jesus raised the issue of light as a reason to pray. As much as he was the Light and had set a bright example, so his disciples must become lights themselves, for the purpose of drawing people to the Light by means of their prayers and actions:

Behold I am the light; I have set an example for you. . . . Therefore, hold up your light that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up-that which ye have seen me do. Behold ye see that I have prayed unto the Father, and ye all have witnessed. And ye see that I have commanded that none of you should go away, but rather have commanded that ye should come unto me, that ye might feel and see; even so shall ye do unto the world.

We must personalize and live this commandment; but if we neglect to live it, we will lose the protection of prayer and become vulnerable to the attacks of Satan: “And whosoever breaketh this commandment suffereth himself to be led into temptation.”

Constant prayer helps us to retain light. As we know, light is synonymous with truth, spirit, intelligence, power, law, life, agency , and glory, to name a few things. Whereas a celestially resurrected body “shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in [it],” a telestial body must receive ongoing transfusions of light in order to progress spiritually: That which is of God is light; and that light growth brighter and brighter until the perfect day.”

The Lord has told us how we can infuse light into our systems. A few transfusion methods are participating in scripture study, partaking of the sacrament, being anointed with oil, performing charitable service, participating in temple worship, and, of course, praying. The more our bodies are filled with light, the more we can comprehend all things. Therefore, we should pray always.

Continual prayer facilitates the creation of Zion people by offering them an avenue of communication with God. But there is more. Continual prayer provides Zion people access to God’s protection and power of discernment. Continual prayer gives them a way to infuse light into their beings, thus increasing their capacity to assimilate or enjoy truth, spirit, intelligence, power, celestial law, spiritual life, and glory, and agency. Once lighted through constant prayer, a Zion person is commanded to light other people and bring them to the Light, even Jesus Christ.

Prayer fulfills the law of asking and receiving. The simple act of praying is a powerful agent to access God and draw upon his goodness, abilities, and resources. Asking the Father in the name of Jesus Christ for those things that we need is central to the law of consecration. Once we have covenanted to live that law-and indeed are striving to live it-we are forevermore entitled to ask for those things that we need and want from the higher kingdom so that we might build ours.

And what is the eternal kingdom that we are striving to build by asking and receiving? Our families. Therefore, the Lord instructed, “Pray in your families unto the Father, always in my name, that your wives and your children may be blessed.” Continual prayer is the vehicle to ask and receive, and sincere prayer carries the Lord’s absolute promise: “And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you.”

From all indications, it seems that once the Nephites, in their interaction with the resurrected Lord, had experienced the power of prayer, they never returned to offering casual prayers. Surely they recognized prayer’s inherent power to make them Zion people, and obviously they employed it. If we wish to become Zion people with the ability to ask for and receive blessings, we must follow this same pattern.

The Greater Commandment to Have All Things in Common

Almost as an aside, Mormon noted that after the Savior’s visit, the Nephites experienced a cultural transformation that was as extraordinary as the mighty change that they had experienced in their hearts. Mormon wrote: “And they taught, and did minister one to another; and they had all things common among them, every man dealing justly, one with another.”

It is difficult to overstate the significance of this occurrence. The cultural change that had happened among the converted Nephites was the polar opposite to life as they had known it. Once they had made a covenant to assume this new way of life, they determined to live that new way without external legislation. That is, they managed to live a new way by individual choice.

Because of the new condition of their hearts, they determined to become stewards who were accountable to God; no longer would they see themselves as owners of the Lord’s property. Forevermore, they would labor to build up the Church and their Zion instead of selfishly pursuing individual wealth-building enterprises. They would fully embrace the Royal Law of the gospel: “Thou shalt the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” The result of their transformation was that they became one and had all things in common.

Their faith in living this new cultural experiment paid off with unbelievable and unanticipated blessings. Mormon recorded that contentions and disputations ceased; “and every man did deal justly one with another;” poverty, servitude, and social stratification were eradicated; the people became equal; peace prevailed; and great and marvelous miracles became the norm. Moreover, the people experienced unequalled prosperity. Now unified, they built great cities, and “did wax strong, and did multiply exceedingly fast, and became an exceedingly fair and delightsome people.”

Continuing, we read that they married within the Covenant, “and were blessed according to the multitude of the promises which the Lord had made unto them.” They became strictly obedient and “did walk after the commandments which they had received from their Lord and their God, continuing in fasting and prayer, and in meeting together oft both to pray and to hear the word of the Lord.” The love of God dwelt in the hearts of the people. “And there were no envyings, nor strifes, nor tumults, nor whoredoms, nor lyings, nor murders, nor any manner of lasciviousness; and surely there could not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God. There were no robbers, nor murderers, neither were there Lamanites, nor any manner of -ites; but they were in one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God. And how blessed were they! For the Lord did bless them in all their doings.”

We might expect that our initial attempts to implement the law of Zion so that commonality could prevail would feel like a temporary cultural shock, causing us to rethink our priorities. But if we can summon courage and push through the learning curve, incredible blessings await us, which will more than compensate for the effort.

The Greater Commandment to Be “Even As the Lord Is”

For the commandments to pray always and have all things in common, Jesus is our Exemplar. When he prayed for the Nephites he focused their attention on his example: “Behold ye see that I have prayed unto the Father, and ye have all witnessed.” Jesus is our model of a celestial lifestyle: “I have set an example for you.” Pertaining to the law of consecration, which produces commonality among all people, the Lord said that this law is “even as I am.” If we were to choose one word to describe Jesus’ with the Father and the relationship to which we must aspire if we hope to become even as he is, that word would be oneness: “I say unto you, be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine.”

If we are commanded to become like him, we might ask ourselves, What are the Father and the Son like? Perhaps Joseph Smith offered the best description: “God is the only supreme governor and independent being in whom all fullness and perfection dwell; who is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient; without beginning of days or end of life; and that in him every good gift and every good principle dwell; and that he is the Father of lights; in him the principle of faith dwells independently.”

Of course, at this stage of our existence, we can only appreciate these divine traits; for now, these traits are beyond our reach. Therefore, our efforts should be centered on developing these divine traits. As we continue to progress, we rely on the Lord’s promise that our journey will lead us to inheriting all that God has and become all that he is.

As we strive to become even as the Father and the Son are, we remember that we have in common with them our co-eternalness; that is, our origin is the same; likewise, because we are literal children of God, our potential destiny can be the same. Our challenge, therefore, is to become co-equal with the Father and the Son, and that is accomplished by following their example and developing their traits and their level of oneness.

To become like God is to internalize his lifestyle so completely that we will not depart from it. Describing God, Joseph Smith said that he was the same before the creation as he is today: “He changes not, neither is there variableness with him; but that he is the same from everlasting to everlasting, being the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever; and that his course is one eternal round, without variation.” For us to become even as the Father and the Son are, we must strive for a consistency of righteousness.

The Prophet continued to list a set of characteristics and attributes that the Father and the Son possess in perfection. We must develop these traits if we are to become like them. The Prophet began with the characteristics of mercy and graciousness (“indulgent, generous, displaying divine grace and compassion”). Continuing, the Prophet said that God is “slow to anger” and “abundant in goodness.” Moreover, “He is a God of truth and cannot lie”; “He is no respecter of persons”; that is, if we work righteousness, he is obliged to accept and bless us, just as he accepted and blessed Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Joseph Smith, and all who sought his face-and if we do wickedly, he is obliged to send consequences, regardless of our previous favor. Finally, “he is love.”

The Prophet went on to say that God’s character is a set of perfect attributes; that is, he possesses the following qualities in totality. These are:

• Knowledge-He knows all things past, present, and future.
• Faith or power-He is all powerful.
• Justice-He is completely fair and equitable.
• Judgment-He is perfect in both his reasoning and his rulings.
• Mercy-His grace, compassion, long-suffering, pity, clemency, forgiveness, kindness, sympathy, understanding, leniency, and benevolence are infinite and unending.
• Truth-Beyond being incapable of lying, he deals with things as they really are; he is accurate, genuine, precise; he is honest, loyal, devoted, and sincere; his integrity is impeccable; he deals with unimpeachable facts and certainties.

When the Lord commands us to become like him, he expects us to aim for these characteristics and attributes. Our eventual goal is to become like him: that is, celestial governors in our own right; independent beings in whom all fulness and perfection dwell; gods like the supreme God, who is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient, without beginning of days or end of life; beings who possess every good gift and in whom every good principle dwells; celestial fathers and mothers of lights, in whom the principles of faith dwell independently.

These are samples of greater commandments–to pray always, to have all things in common, and to be even as Jesus Christ is–that have power to help us become Zion, the pure in heart, and to qualify to someday stand in the presence of God.

Author’s Note

Click here to view a new video presentation called, “The Pure in Heart.”

This article was adapted from my new book, The Three Pillars of Zion. Click here to receive a free sample.

D&C 59:4.

Abraham 1:2, 15-19.

See, for example, 3 Nephi 12-14.

3 Nephi 20:1.

3 Nephi 18:15, 18-19.

3 Nephi 18:16, 24-25; emphasis added.

D&C 88:7-13.

1 John 5:6; D&C 84:45; 88:66.

D&C 84:45.

D&C 93:29.

D&C 88:7-10, 13.

D&C 88:13.

John 1:4.

D&C 93:30-31.

D&C 93:36.

D&C 88:67.

D&C 50:23-24.

D&C 88:67.

John 16:24; 3 Nephi 27:29; D&C 4:7; 49:26; 88:63; 103:31.

3 Nephi 18:21.

3 Nephi 18:20; emphasis added.

3 Nephi 26:19.

Matthew 22:37-39.

4 Nephi 1:3-18.

3 Nephi 18:24.

3 Nephi 18:16.

D&C 38:27.

Smith, Lectures on Faith, 2:2.

D&C 84:35-39; 132:19-24.

Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 395.

Smith, Lectures on Faith, 3:13-18.

Smith, Lectures on Faith, 4:5-10.

Smith, Lectures on Faith, 2:2.

Charity Defines Discipleship

Charity transforms a natural man into a sanctified Saint-a Zion person-someone who by nature seeks to comfort the downtrodden, redeem the oppressed, heal the sick and the afflicted, and console the brokenhearted.

If charity is the defining characteristic of Jesus Christ, it is also the defining characteristic of his people. When they, like their Master, encounter need, they confront it. They will not allow lack and suffering to exist in their presence. They are willing to consecrate all that they are and have to blessing the sufferings and underprivileged. For this reason, consecration, the foundational law of Zion, has no need to be legislated; consecration, like charity, is a condition of the heart.

Keeping and Feeding-the Two Tests of Charity

Jesus gave us two tests of  charity:

1. “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
2. “If ye love me feed my sheep.”

Clearly, charity–Christlike love, Zion love–is defined by action. For example, in a marriage a declaration of love is meaningless unless it is demonstrated by keeping one’s vows and proffering service to one’s companion: keeping and feeding. The spouse who professes love but is disloyal is a liar; the spouse who proclaims love but who is selfish and non-sacrificing is a hypocrite.

Conversely, charity keeps its vows and goes out to find and nourish others. Elder Marvin J. Ashton taught that the keeping element of charity centers on keeping the first and great commandment, the royal law, which is a foundational law of Zion: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy heart, and with all thy mind….Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”

Keeping and feeding are to stand proxy for the Lord and do as he would do if he were present. Therefore, to the extent that we keep the Lord’s commandments, we show our love for him; and to the proportion that we feed the Lord’s sheep, we keep the first and great commandment. This is Zion!

Charity–The Life Blood of Zion

Most certainly, charity is love in action, and that action always involves sacrifice. Without the action of charitable sacrifice, Zion could not be established in the life of an individual, a marriage, a family, or in a priesthood society. It is by consecrated sacrifice that we keep the commandments and hold true to our covenants. It is by sacrifice that we feed the Lord’s sheep. It is by sacrifice that we love God. Helping, giving, and loving always require selfless sacrifice. It is sacrifice, we sing, that “brings forth the blessings of heaven.”

Charitable service creates a positive imbalance that demands correcting. This is the hundredfold law, which President Thomas S. Monson described this way: “It is an immutable law that the more you give away, the more you receive.” Then, referencing a quote attributed to Winston Churchill, he said, “‘You make a living by what you get, but you make a life by what you give.’” The Lord always rewards us with more than we sacrifice.

This “immutable law”-the hundredfold law-drives Zion’s cycle of abundance and makes Zion people exceedingly prosperous. Of course, this law runs contrary to Babylon’s practices of grabbing, competing and hoarding. The hundredfold law, which flows from the law of consecration, stipulates that if we will give what we have and are, the Lord will reward us beyond our sacrifice: “an hundredfold.”

As long as we do not stop the cycle abundance by keeping what we receive, we will become vessels of help. Through us the Lord will pour down blessings to his needy children, and in the process our prosperity will increase until it approaches the infinite abundance of the kingdom of heaven. Thus, charity is the lifeblood of Zion, and consecrated sacrifice is the that propels Zion’s prosperity.

When charity, the love exemplified by Zion people, is planted in the hearts of a few, it acts as leaven “until the whole [of humanity is] leavened.” Others love because we love them, and soon Zion is anchored on the earth by love. Joseph Smith said, “A man filled with the love of God is not content with blessing his family alone, but ranges through the whole world, anxious to bless the whole human race.”

Charity Is Defined by Service

President Hinckley called love ”the lodestar of life.” Citing the Savior’s reference to the Final Judgment, President Hinckley reminded us that Jesus will say to those on his right hand that they shall inherit his kingdom because they effectively “fed, clothed, and visited Him” by blessing his children.

President Hinckley wrote: “One of the greatest challenges we face in our hurried, self-centered lives is to follow this counsel of the Master, to take the time and make the effort to care for others, to develop and exercise the one quality that would enable us to change the lives of others-what the scriptures call charity. . . . Best defined, charity is that pure love exemplified by Jesus Christ. It embraces kindness, a reaching out to lift and help, the sharing of one’s bread, if need be.”

Zion people become angels to the poor and afflicted. We are taught that there are “angels round about [us], to bear [us] up.” As much as angels are instruments in the Lord’s hands to sustain and help us to carry our heavy burdens, so we, by our charitable service, become angels to God’s children and instruments in the Lord’s hands to steady the weak and to heft their weighty load. President Kimball said, “God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs. Therefore, it is vital that we serve each other in the kingdom.”

It is a gospel verity that charity saves the lives of both the giver and the receiver. Charity is sometimes a handout, but it is always a hand up. comes to our souls when we lift another and give of ourselves and our means for the purest and highest of motivations–love.

President Joseph F. Smith said, “I would advise that we learn to love each other, and then friendship will be true and sweet. It has been said by one, that ‘we may give without loving, but we cannot love without giving.’” We note with interest that it was only when the people of Limhi repented, unified, and began to practice a form of consecration to care for the widows and orphans that deliverance from bondage came.

Cain first stated the motto of Babylon in the form of a question: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” That self-centered statement became the foundation of the Anti-Christ doctrine that was advanced by others including Korihor. The entire anti-Christ philosophy is also anti-Zion. It is faithless, immoral, destructive, and selfish. In no way does it draw us to Christ, encourage us to depend on him, shelter us from the consequences of sin, provide for the poor, or make us our brother’s keeper.

To Cain’s selfish motto–”Am I my brother’s keeper?”–The Lord countered with the doctrine of Zion that carries promises: “Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies. The Lord will strengthen him.”

Charity is the mantra of Zion. President Heber J. Grant said, “Make a motto in life: always try and assist someone else to carry his burden.” Charity is also the source of safety for Zion people. The prophet of Ecclesiastes stated that when we plant seeds of service to bless God’s children, we save our own souls. When evil attempts to overwhelm us, when terrifying storms gather above us, when temptations fell trees all about us, charity will protect us-”there [our safety] shall be.” The prophet said we do not understand how God transforms our charitable acts into cloaks of safety; we only know that it happens. Therefore, we are to go about liberally planting the seeds of charitable service: “In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand.” We do not know which seeds of charity will take root and how they will prosper. We only know that by sowing and nourishing charitable acts, many people are blessed by our actions, and in the process we will be kept safe. This is the safe and secure state of Zion people.

Charitable Service Prospers the Giver

The promise of charitable service is that of an abundant return. President Marion G. Romney taught the following truth: “You cannot give yourself poor in this work; you can only give yourself rich.” His statement is a confirmation of the ancient prophet’s teaching: “Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.”

This suggests both a boomerang effect and a germination period. Bread that is cast upon the water will most certainly float back to land on the tide or a current; that is, our charitable actions will always return to bless us. Moreover, the seed that makes the bread that is cast upon the water will eventually find land, set down roots, sprout, and grow; that is, charitable acts carry the potential of life within them; charitable acts might take time to find ground and take root, but in time, those acts will become a beautiful and fruitful tree. We cannot be impoverished by casting the seeds of our charity upon the water. We cannot consecrate ourselves poor.

Abundance flows to Zion people as they manifest charity. They grow from grace to grace by giving grace for grace. It is also upon the principle of charitable service that Zion people progress toward perfection. Therefore, by receiving grace (the Lord’s help) for grace (our service), we grow from grace (light, truth, power, and perfection) to grace (more light, truth, power, and perfection).

According to John the Baptist’s testimony, Jesus grew in grace (light, truth, power, and perfection) by giving grace (service): “And I, John, saw that he received not of the fulness at the first, but received grace for grace. And he received not of the fulness at first, but continued from grace to grace, until he received a fulness.” Likewise, we progress incrementally from grace to grace to a fulness of glory by keeping the commandments and giving service, whereupon the Lord blesses us by granting us grace for our having given grace to another: “For if you keep my commandments you shall receive of his fulness, and be glorified in me as I am in the Father; therefore, I say unto you, you shall receive grace for grace.”

Again we see the hundredfold principle in giving charitable acts. When we receive the seed of grace from God or from a charitable person, we should plant rather than hoard that seed of charity by giving charity to another person. The replanting of the seed will urge a stalk to grow, which contains many seeds. Then if we will plant again, we will realize a marvelous harvest. Thus, ever repeating the cycle of planting and harvesting constitutes the mystery of Zion’s prosperity. It is the Zion principle of giving then receiving in return with increase.

Therefore, should we be concerned about keeping the commandment to consecrate and extend charitable service? Do we really believe that we will end up with less? President Kimball refuted the idea and challenged our faith:

What are we to fear when the Lord is with us? Can we not take the Lord at his word and exercise a particle of faith in him? Our assignment is affirmative: to forsake the things of the world as ends in themselves; to leave off idolatry and press forward in faith; to carry the gospel to our enemies, that they might no longer be our enemies. We must leave off the worship of modern-day idols and a reliance on the ‘arm of flesh,’ for the Lord has said to all the world in our day, ‘I will not spare any that remain in Babylon.’

Clearly, our ultimate safety and security are only found in extending charity and consecrating our lives, property, time, and talents for the building up of God’s kingdom and for the establishment of Zion.

Charity Is an Absolute

Few scriptural absolutes are as stunning as those describing charity:

• “If ye have not charity, ye are nothing.”
• “Charity never faileth.”
• “Charity . . . is the greatest of all.”
• “Charity . . . endureth forever.

In a world where everything fails, only those things that are built upon the foundation of charity will not fail. When we seek charity first, as exemplified by our seeking the kingdom of God and his righteousness first, we are promised that all else will fall into place and be added unto us. Because of charity, the blessings of the priesthood will flow to us forever without compulsory means.

Charity Is a Gift–the Greatest Gift

Despite our best efforts, we never will obtain charity or know its power in our lives unless the Holy Ghost delivers it to us. Charity is a spiritual gift that must be sought. Like the principle that states that we are saved by grace only after all we can do, we receive charity as a gift only after we do all we can to obtain it. Therefore, because salvation is impossible without charity and because charity is delivered to us as a gift of the Spirit, Mormon pleads with us to “pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ.”

When charity finally enters our souls, Mormon continues, this love becomes the vehicle to make of us “sons of God.” Charity has the power to make us “like him.” Ultimately, upon the principle of charity, we will become “as he is” – Zion! This is our “hope; that we [through our charity] may be purified even as he is pure.” This is the principal aim and the ultimate destination of the royal law, the celestial law of love upon which a Zion life is built.

Charity is the quality of love that propels Zion’s foundational law of consecration and fulfills the first and second commandments: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” We consecrate because we love, and when love motivates all we do, we become Zion.

Author’s Note

This article was adapted from The Three Pillars of Zion. You may receive a free sample at www.PillarsOfZion.com.

1 Timothy 1:5.

John 14:15; emphasis added.

Paraphrased from John 21:16; emphasis added.

Ashton, “Love Takes Time,” 108.

Matthew 22:36-40.

D&C 97:8.

Phelps, “Praise to the Man,” Hymns, no. 27.

Genesis 26:12; 2 Samuel 24:3; Matthew 13:8-23; 19:29; Mark 10:30; Luke 8:8; D&C 98:25; 132:55.

Monson, “In Quest of the Abundant Life,” 2.

4 Nephi 1:7.

Matthew 13:33; Luke 13:21.

Smith, History of the Church, 4:227.

Hinckley, Standing for Something, 6.

D&C 84:88.

Tanner, “All Things Shall Work Together for Your Good,” 104.

Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 252.

Smith, Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith, 192.

Mosiah 21:16-18.

Genesis 4:9.

Alma 30:12-28.

Psalm 41:1-2.

Grant, Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Heber J. Grant, 139.

Ecclesiastes 11:2-6.

Romney, “Welfare Services: The Savior’s Program,” 92.

Ecclesiastes 11:1.

D&C 93:12-13; emphasis added.

D&C 93:20; emphasis added.

Matthew 19:29; Mark 10:30.

Packer, “The Candle of the Lord,” 54-55.

Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 417; quoting D&C 64:24.

Moroni 7:46-47.

3 Nephi 13:33.

D&C 121:46.

2 Nephi 25:23.

Moroni 7:48.

In his great intercessory prayer, the Savior taught that personal sanctification is the principle by which one person might help to save another. Just moments before Gethsemane, Jesus made the following statement: “For their sakes I sanctify myself that they also might be sanctified” (John 17:19). In other words, the first action, personal sanctification, makes possible the second action, the saving of another.

We often think of sanctification in the context of being cleansed from sin-and it is certainly that-but here we see Jesus, who had no sin, sanctifying himself. Obviously, there are greater reasons to persist in the process of sanctification beyond repentance.

Definitions

To understand the process, we must first define terms. Purification and sanctification are words that are often interchanged. That they are closely associated is evident. In this article, we will define purification as extracting any impurities that would stand between us and perfection; we will define sanctification as changing the purpose of something or making something holy.

Purification

Purification is dependent upon two factors: 1) our complete effort to change and make amends, and 2) the grace of Jesus Christ to do what lies beyond our ability. The Savior is the Purifier, but the agent for the purification process is the Holy Ghost.

The process of purification is often called the baptism of fire. We are fully immersed in the heat of the Lord’s furnace to burn out of us all impurities. The Holy Ghost will persist in the process until he can commend us to God as being pure, that is, “true and faithful in all things” in the similitude of “Him whose very name is ‘Faithful and True.’” Such people are called “Zion, the pure in heart.”

We must do our part to purify ourselves, but in the end we will need the Holy Ghost and the Savior to make us completely pure. BYU professor, Chauncey Riddle, wrote:

Then and only then will our Savior reach in and give us a new heart. The new heart will be a pure heart, one that has no selfish desires, one that is willing to do the right thing. It will choose to do the will of God at all times and places, no matter what the opposition or the sacrifice involved. This new heart is made in the image of Jesus Christ…. To be purified is to become literally a new creature in Christ, to die as to the old person that we were, literally to become of the heart and mind of [Christ]. The scriptures promise great rewards for those who qualify and take this step. The scriptural name for this new heart is ‘charity.’ Charity is to have a heart that loves with the pure love of Christ.

Sanctification

Sanctification is the result of being purified. When the contaminants, pollutions and alloys have been burned from our souls, we emerge from the furnace sanctified, and we now have a new and holy purpose.

Let us examine sanctification from the point of view of the sacrament prayer. By the priesthood, the priests bless and sanctify common bread and change its purpose to call us to remembrance of the body of Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life. Now blessed and sanctified, the bread’s purpose has changed from sustaining physical life to sustaining spiritual life.

Likewise, a pile of stones can, by the priesthood, be changed in purpose to become an altar. A regular day in the week can be sanctified by God and become a day to worship him and enter into his glory. A natural man can be purified of sin then sanctified by the Holy Ghost, so that his purpose now becomes one of service to God: “And thou shalt put them upon Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him; and shalt anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office.”

The Savior sanctifies us through the Atonement, but the Holy Ghost is the agent of sanctification, just as he is the agent of purification. The Holy Ghost rids us of impurities so that he might change our purpose.

Parents, who wish to become redeemers to their children, submit to the process of purification so that their level of sanctification increases. With each effort that they make to become more purified, their purpose changes, as does their power to partner with the Redeemer to redeem their children. They are transformed from caregivers, nurturers, disciplinarians, etc. to saviors on Mount Zion in the similitude on the Savior. Elder Mark E. Petersen said, “You are ministers of the Lord unto your children, and if you will do your duty by your children, you will be as saviors on Mount Zion to them.”

How Jesus Sanctified Himself

So how and why did Jesus sanctify himself? We see the answer in the context of the 17^th chapter of John. Jesus sanctified himself through living a life of strict obedience. He had spent the week before his atoning sacrifice in the temple. The night of his sacrifice, he read and sang from the scriptures, partook of the sacrament, then entered into a fast. Afterwards, he proceeded to Gethsemane where he made a vicarious sacrifice and offered mighty prayer (which I believe is prayer preceded by sacrifice).

Could we not do the same? Clearly, in addition to other sanctifying principles, obedience, temple worship and service, scripture study, partaking of the sacrament, fasting, and offering mighty prayer are essential keys to personal sanctification.

The Savior’s example of personal sanctification teaches us that we simply cannot invite a change in someone else unless we have first changed our purpose. This principle could not be more clearly stated than in the Sermon on the Mount:

And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam [is] in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

The more we strive to increase our level of sanctification the more we can shine a bright light on that person for whom we are praying. Of course, we cannot interfere with that person’s agency, but we can partner with the Redeemer and better learn and do our part in the Lord’s plan of redemption.

The Easiness of the Way

Despite the present difficulty of working with a wayward child, the gospel solution is easy, according to Alma.” In an Ensign article, Gérald Caussé wrote, “All the knowledge of the gospel which is meaningful for our salvation can be summarized in a few points of doctrine, principles, and essential commandments.” In the case of recuing a wayward child, what is this easy way? What are the few points of doctrine? If we follow the example of Jesus, we will personally focus on fundamental gospel principles before we attempt to invite change in someone else. We will

• Strive to become more obedient.
• Increase our temple attendance, worship and service.
• Feast on, rather than merely read, the scriptures, and do so with more regularity.
• Partake of the sacrament more worthily.
• Offering mighty prayer that is coupled with sacrifice.

With regard to offering sacrifice, interestingly, the sacrifice that seems to be most Christlike-or Saviorlike-is vicarious sacrifice, or proxy sacrifice. Is it any wonder, then, that some of the mightiest of prayers that we can offer are in a most sacred place in the temple after we have performed a vicarious sacrifice for someone who could not otherwise achieve salvation? It is in the temple where we come to understand that parents, who are united in love and who sanctify themselves, are endowed with power from on high to pray down angels in behalf of their children. Clearly, the prayers offered by sanctified parents for their children are only exceeded in power by the prayers of Jesus Christ.

An Example

We end this article with a story from “Ellen,” a mother in San Diego, California, who learned an extraordinary lesson in the power of personal sanctification.

My patience was wearing thin. First, I lost patience with my daughter, Angela, whom I could not reach no matter what tactic I used; and second, I lost patience with the Lord for not stepping in to help. My husband and I counseled with our bishop, after which I felt even more hopeless. All he did was run down the checklist: Were we praying as a couple, individually, and as a family? Were we fasting for our daughter? Were we holding family home evening, diligent in our callings, reading the scriptures, attending the temple-you get the idea. I felt as though I was in a temple recommend interview. That is not what is needed! I screamed inside. Give me something concrete that I can do to change Angela! My husband and I left the bishop’s office with his parting counsel, “Take everything up a notch. When you shine more brightly, you’ll be able to shine a brighter beam on your daughter.”

I was so disappointed, and I told my husband as much. It was Angela who needed changing, not us. I felt as though the Church had let me down; the gospel was merely theory and void of practical application-a set of pat Sunday School answers with no substance.

My patient husband listened to me rant, then presented another view. He had actually felt something when the bishop had talked to us about light. Quoting D&C 93:37, my husband said, “The scriptures say ‘light and truth forsake that evil one.’ If light is what is needed then we should do as the bishop counseled and try to bring more light into our lives.”

After that, I repented of my tantrum and followed my husband’s lead. Over the next few months, we examined every spiritual aspect of our lives and tried to bring our spirituality up a notch: better prayers, more consistent scripture study, more frequent family home evening and temple attendance-anything to infuse more spiritual light into our lives. Although I felt a decided improvement in me, I noticed no improvement in my daughter. Nevertheless, I persevered in increasing the light.

One day when I was reading the scriptures, two visual images came into my mind. First, I imagined that I was holding a spotlight with the beam fixed on my daughter. Every time I prayed, fasted, studied the scriptures, attended the temple, etc., the beam grew more intense. Despite Angela’s ongoing attempts to seek the darkness, she could not escape the light that I was shining on her. Then I saw Angela under a magnifying glass that the Lord was holding. She was also under its light, although the glass was far away from her now. Nevertheless, I realized that the Lord was slowly moving the glass toward her, and in the process, the light was growing more and more concentrated. In time, the light would form a focused beam and become very intense. When that happened, the concentrated light-depending upon her choice-would either burn out all her impurities or burn her up. Clearly, someone skilled and someone who knew Angela very well needed to be in charge of the magnifying glass. I understood that I was not that person. If I were holding the magnifying glass, I might incinerate Angela due to my impatience; but gratefully, the Lord held the glass, and He knew how to focus the light through the lens to purify her. His intention was to save and not to destroy her.

I gained an appreciation for the bishop’s counsel. The gospel was truly a practical remedy for spiritual problems. If I simply focused on filling myself with light-Jesus said we are the light of the world-then I would gain the ability to cast a continual, bright beam on my daughter, which would illuminate her while the Lord worked the magnifying glass to concentrate the light. The Lord and I were partners in the light!

Angela has not totally forsaken her wayward ways, but my husband and I have noticed marked improvement in her. Recently she was involved in a serious accident that could have taken her life. Miraculously, she walked away unscathed, knowing that God had saved her and given her a second chance. There was no other explanation. She has given up alcohol and has begun to pray. Spiritual ideas nag at her constantly, as though she is under a persistent beam of light. She can’t get those thoughts out of her mind. Now, when she brings them up of her own free will, we have opportunities to talk about the gospel. My husband I and know that Angela will return; it is just a matter of time. But in the meantime, we continue to try and bring more light into our lives.

Author’s Note

This article was adapted from my book, Rescuing Wayward Children. Follow this link to learn more.

Also, get a sample of my new 5-book series on Zion: The Three Pillars of Zion. Click here.

McConkie, A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, 316.

D&C 97:21.

Riddle, “The New and Everlasting Covenant,” 1989 Sperry Symposium on the Doctrine and Covenants, Chapter Sixteen, 236-37.

D&C 20:77.

John 6:35.

Exodus 40:10.

Genesis 2:3.

D&C 84:24.

Exodus 28:41.

McConkie, The Mortal Messiah: From Bethlehem to Calvary, vol. 4:114.

Alma 13:11-12; 3 Nephi 27:19-21; D&C 84:33.

Petersen, Conference Report, October 1959, 14.

Matthew 7:3-5.

Alma 37:46.

Caussé, “Even a Child Can Understand,” Ensign, Nov 2008, 34.

We speak of Zion, sing of Zion, covenant to promote the establishment of Zion, and long for Zion-but what is Zion? Latter-day Saints ought to know. We have more scriptures and prophets’ statements about it than any other people. One could hardly read a page from the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, or Pearl of Great Price and not bump into the term or its principles. Why? Because we have the singular charge to become Zion individually, and we have the charge to prepare for the collective establishment of the Lord’s Zion. Consequently, we-all of us-are (or should be) more identified with Zion than any other generation.

The Establishment of Zion: Our Greatest Object

The fact that we have the responsibility to call God’s children to Zion suggests that we, individually, must first become Zion people: “Verily I say unto you all: Arise and shine forth, that thy light may be a standard for the nations.” Hugh Nibley reminded us that a primary purpose of the Church [the kingdom of God] is to prepare a people to become Zion: “[We] work for the building up the Kingdom of God on earth and the establishment of Zion. The first step makes the second possible.”

At the outset of this last dispensation-the dispensation of Zion-Joseph Smith said, “We ought to have the building up of Zion as our greatest object.” If we were to conduct a survey, would the building up of Zion be our greatest object? Regardless of how we might answer, we nevertheless are fond of defending Zion as uniquely us, and we are not timid about claiming the blessings of Zion as our birthright. Nevertheless, many of us are hard-pressed to describe or envision Zion, let alone live its principles.

What can we do about this dilemma?

Brigham Young had the answer: “[Zion] commences in the heart of each person.” That is, Zion, the priesthood society, is made up of Zion, the individual people.

Zion is a Condition of the Heart

Beyond the typical uses of the word Zion-as a location or a society-Zion is a person whose heart is pure; therefore, that person “shall see God”-in other words, to stand in and regain his presence. President John Taylor said, “The Zion of God. What does it mean? The pure in heart in the first place. In the second place . . . the pure in heart who are governed by the law of God.” Elder Matthew Cowley added, “And to you whose lives are committed to righteousness, I say unto you, You are Zion.”

If we will fully embrace these statements, a vast library of Zion material will open to our view. We suddenly realize that by likening the scriptures concerning Zion to ourselves, many of the descriptions of that ideal priesthood society are also descriptions of individual Zionlike people, who are comprised of the same attributes. Therefore, none of us is exempt. Zion is a vibrant, current idea that we must embrace. Zion is now; we are Zion!

Zion Is Our Ideal

The term Zion is described in the scriptures and by prophets in a variety of ways. For example, Zion is a process, a people, and a place. But significantly, Zion is always described as a condition of the heart. This, then, becomes our ideal: to purify our hearts to the point that we can regain the presence of God.

Zion can be manifested in a variety of settings, from telestial to terrestrial to, ultimately, celestial. We qualify as Zion people by beginning in this telestial world and remaining on the path until we achieve celestial Zion. As we journey toward the ideal of Zion and strive to assimilate Zionlike attributes in our lives, we qualify as Zion. We simply must keep our eye single and move forward with the Lord’s grace compensating for those Zionlike attributes we have not yet acquired.

A Zion Life is achieved by Covenants

The ideal of Zion is the end purpose of the new and everlasting covenant, the oath and covenant of the priesthood, and every saving covenant and ordinance of the gospel. Therefore, if we do not have becoming Zionlike in mind, the gospel plan has little meaning or power in our lives.

To live our covenants in such so as to become a Zion person, achieve a Zion marriage, and establish a Zion family should be our primary aims in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Every program, every function, every activity is (or ought to be) designed with Zion in mind. We can become distracted and caught up in extraneous details, but in the end we will only postpone or forfeit our blessings. To latter-day saints, Zion should be everything and the focus of our covenants. After all, our origin was Zion in the celestial world; our earthly birthright is Zion, and if we are faithful, Zion will be our destiny. Very literally, we are covenant children of Zion.

Zion people take their covenants seriously and literally. They have a feeling of urgency and a longing that drives them to establish Zion in their hearts. And they will not be disappointed. The day will come when Zion individuals will receive their inheritance in the priesthood society of Zion. But until that day, each of us is commanded to become individually Zion.

President Benson handed each covenant person the responsibility of becoming Zionlike. Zion, the priesthood society, he said, can be brought about only by Zion people. As more and more of us decide to embrace the principles of Zion, the celestial order will finally exist among us and we, individually and collectively, will be prepared to receive the Lord. The prophet’s words ring true. We recall that Enoch built his city of Zion after his people had individually qualified as Zion people (notice the sequence); just so, we will gather to build latter-day Zion when our hearts are pure, and then only under the direction of the prophet.

President Spencer W. Kimball was another prophet who laid the responsibility for becoming and establishing Zion squarely upon our shoulders. How well we incorporate the new and everlasting covenant in our lives directly determines the time required to “accomplish all things pertaining to Zion.”

Zion is the Celestial Order

Zion is the standard among celestial and celestial-seeking beings. We can measure substantially any situation, institution, person, group, philosophy, theory, or motivation against the standard of Zion. Hugh Nibley explained that three orders exist on the earth, just as they exist in the universe:

1. The order of Zion is celestial.
2. The order of Eden is terrestrial.
3. The order of Babylon is telestial.

How we choose among these orders determines where our hearts are now and where they will be in eternity. This life is uniquely and strategically designed so that the three orders are ever before us. We must learn to discern between them and make our choices consistently with our eternal desires.

Zion and Babylon-Exact Opposites

Wherever there exists anything or anyone that is celestial, there exists Zion.Zion is in every way the exact opposite of the telestial order of Babylon, making the two as incompatible and mutually resistant as positive and negative poles. President Gordon B. Hinckley said that compromising the revealed doctrines of the Covenant is never an option. Like Jesus and Satan, celestial and telestial things cannot co-exist in any degree. When a person attempts to straddle Babylon and Zion, he will eventually be pulled into Babylon. It is unavoidable.

When we attempt to mix celestial Zion with telestial Babylon (often called the world), Zion simply flees to its eternal lofty location. Thus the saying, “Zion is fled.” Why? Because Zion is a constant that never changes despite the inconsistency of her children: “Zion shall not be moved out of her place, notwithstanding her children are scattered.” Our covenantal responsibility, then, is to conform to Zion rather than insisting that Zion conform to our worldly desires: “They that remain, and are pure in heart, shall return, and come to their inheritances, they and their children, with songs of everlasting joy, to build up the waste places of Zion.” If we choose otherwise or if we lack courage and commitment, we will be left to ourselves to languish in this telestial world and its order.

Referencing Elder John A. Widtsoe, Elder Ezra Taft Benson said, “The troubles of the world may largely be laid at the doors of those who are neither hot nor cold; who always follow the line of least resistance; whose timid hearts flutter at taking sides for truth. As in the great Council in the heavens, so in the Church of Christ on earth, there can be no neutrality.” Therefore, either we are Zion or we are not. There is no compromising or mingling of Zion and Babylon. Hugh Nibley explained: “Zion is pure, which means ‘not mixed with any impurities, unalloyed’; it is all Zion and nothing else.”

Zion People

If we truly long for Zion, to become that kind of person and to enjoy Zion’s unique privileges, we must first make and keep the foundational covenant of Zion-The New and Everlasting Covenant. This Covenant is not the covenant that will someday be required of Zion people when they are invited into that celestial order; that future covenant of Zion will be an appendage to the new and everlasting covenant, which is the totality of all saving covenants, ordinances, and commandments. The new and everlasting covenant prepares us to become Zion in our hearts and to someday gain an inheritance in the heavenly society of Zion. The new and everlasting covenant that we embrace with all our hearts walls out Babylon and welds us irrevocably to Zion and her King. The pure in heart become “all Zion and nothing else.”

This, then, is what we know of Zion. She is our origin, our birthright, and our destiny. She is our ideal. Her establishment should be our greatest desire. As part of the latter-day dispensation, we are under covenant to build up the kingdom of God for the purpose of establishing Zion. To accomplish that feat, and to ensure our salvation and exaltation, we must enter into the new and everlasting covenant. By this act, we specify that we have made a choice between Zion and Babylon and that forevermore we will not attempt to mix the two. Then we must abide in and follow the Covenant to its perfect conclusion: to snatch us from Babylon, to single us out, to purify our hearts, to prepare us in every way to regain the presence of God, and to obtain our inheritance and our crown. “This is Zion: THE PURE IN HEART.”

Author’s Note

These articles are adapted from The Three Pillars of Zion. You can download a free sample of this new Zion series at www.PillarsOfZion.com.

Nibley, Approaching Zion, 25; emphasis added.

Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 160.

Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, 118.

JST Matthew 5:10; 3 Nephi 12:8.

Taylor, The Gospel Kingdom, 245.

Cowley, Matthew Cowley Speaks, 30.

1 Nephi 19:23-24.

Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1624-26.

Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, 118.

Every person descends from Enoch, and a high percentage of the world descends from Abraham.

Benson, “Jesus Christ-Gifts and Expectations,” 16.

Moses 7:19.

Kimball, “Becoming the Pure in Heart,” quoting D&C 105:37.

D&C 105:5.

Nibley, Approaching Zion, xv.

Matthew 6:21; Luke 12:34; 3 Nephi 13:21.

Nibley, Approaching Zion, 30.

Hinckley, “The Dawning of a Brighter Day,” 81.

Moses 7:69.

D&C 101:17-18.

Benson, God, Family, Country, 359.

Nibley, Approaching Zion, 26.

D&C 97:21.

In Part 1 of this two-part series, we that a foundational principle of the law of stewardship is “all things ultimately belong to the Lord, whether property, time, talents, families, or capacity for service within the Church organization.

Stewards act in their lives or in a Church calling as a trustee for the Lord, not out of personal ownership or privilege. While we no longer are required to deed over our property, we are required to figuratively deed over our hearts. We recognize that ultimately our time, talents, and property belong to the Lord, and we are stewards assigned to manage his resources under his direction. Then a remarkable thing happens: God helps us to depart from Babylon, and he becomes our Paymaster in Zion. Once the Lord has separated us from Babylon and has placed within our care a stewardship in his kingdom, we must discharge our duty faithfully and never turn back.

The law of stewardship is the law upon which Zion’s equality is achieved. Zion people come unto Christ and hearken to his voice by seeking to purify their hearts; by seeking to equalize the condition of the Lord’s children through the giving of their means; by striving to heal the Lord’s children, bolster their faith, and love them. The pure in heart view themselves as stewards rather than owners, and they seek to bless the Lord’s children with their stewardships, which is the sum of everything that they have and are.

Stewardships in the Scriptures

As we study the standard works, we discover the concept of stewardship throughout. Stewardships are also referred to as callings, trusts, charges, responsibilities, and inheritances or portions. Some stewardships are classified as spiritual while others are temporal. For example, a Church calling is a spiritual stewardship, while an individual’s business and holdings are a temporal stewardship. Of course, even temporal things are spiritual unto the Lord.

In the early days of the Church, stewardships were also called inheritances or “portions.” BYU professor Clark V. Johnson explained that the Lord “required the bishop of the Church to give every man an inheritance. [The Lord] explained that Church members were equal according to their family, circumstances, wants, and needs (D&C 51:4).” Here we see the principles of stewardship and accountability as they apply to an inheritance. We note that it is the bishop who assigns inheritances in Zion, and he is also the one who, in behalf of the Lord, receives an account of their management.

Receiving and reporting on Church callings and tithing settlement are manifestations of these principles. With regard to the management of their stewardships, “the Lord reminded members of the Church that when they had enough to satisfy their needs, they were to give the surplus to the storehouse. D&C 70:7-D&C 82:18 Excess gained in the operation of the stewardship was to be used to administer to those who were in need (D&C 42:33-34). The bishop kept all surplus donated from the stewardships in a storehouse he organized (D&C 51:13).”

Even today we might expect to render accountings of our various stewardships to the bishop. For example, we make such an accounting to him when he interviews us for a temple recommend, and from time to time, when we counsel with him, we also make an accounting of our lives. Because the law of consecration requires that we consecrate our time, talents, and all that we have and are to the kingdom of God, the bulk of our stewardships usually lie outside the Church organization. Nevertheless, we are accountable for them to the Lord and to his servant, the bishop. Perhaps more blessings would flow to us if we lived the law of stewardship more faithfully and felt more accountability on each point of the law.

We would expect that our actual inheritances in priesthood society of Zion would follow the pattern described in Doctrine and Covenants 58: “This is a law unto every man that cometh unto this land to receive an inheritance; and he shall do with his moneys according as the law [of consecration] directs.” Although we privately own our inheritances, we must consider them as consecrated stewardships, and thus we are accountable to the Lord for them according to the law of accountability. If we live the law of stewardship, we are promised safety, for our consecrated effort is “to prepare [us] against the day of vengeance and burning.” If we do not live this law, we run the risk of suffering the consequences: “If any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment.”

Understanding the Order of the Law of Stewardship

In section 104 of the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord revealed the order by which inheritances (stewardships) are apportioned from the Lord’s resources to us, the stewards. We are reminded that “the sacred things” which are “delivered into the treasury” are the Lord’s, “and no man among you shall call it his own, or any part of it, for it shall belong to you all with one accord.” The surplus derived from the management of the stewardship rightly belongs to Lord and must be placed in his sacred repository for the common good: “And thus shall ye preserve the avails of the sacred things in the treasury, for sacred and holy purposes. And this shall be called the sacred treasury of the Lord; and a seal shall be kept upon it that it may be holy and consecrated unto the Lord.” The Lord’s servant, the bishop, manages the treasury and the Lord’s resources. This is the order of the law of stewardship.

In our day, we would call this sacred treasury the bishop’s storehouse. Of course, the Church maintains other treasuries-for instance, monetary funds, warehouses of supplies, and service departments. We also read of sacred treasuries in heaven. For example, “Lay up for yourselves a treasure in heaven, yea, which is eternal, and which fadeth not away; yea, that ye may have that precious gift of eternal life.” To access that heavenly treasury, we must sacrifice our personal treasures in this world: “Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto [the rich young man], Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.”

One definition of “treasure” is anything that is good. Under this definition, even our testimonies could be considered stewardships. We know that the law of consecration requires that every good thing that we receive from the Lord must be returned to him with increase. Interestingly, when we bear sincere testimony, our testimony grows, and that allows us to fulfill the law and return our testimony to the Lord with increase. Our bearing witness of the truth is much like casting our testimony into the treasury of heaven; in return, great blessings are unleashed: “Nevertheless, ye are blessed, for the testimony which ye have borne is recorded in heaven for the angels to look upon; and they rejoice over you, and your sins are forgiven you.” “Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God.” Again, these blessings flow from the order of the law of stewardships.

Upon what principle do consecrated properties flow into the sacred treasuries? “Joseph Smith taught that the consecration of properties must be done by mutual consent. The bishop could not dictate in matters of consecration or he would have ‘more power than a king.’ The Prophet further explained that there must be a balance of power between the bishop and the people in order to preserve ‘harmony and good-will.’” Therefore, the bishop, who is the Lord’s steward, is authorized to extend stewardships to his people; the people accept the stewardship and manage and account for it by their free-will choice; the people sustain the bishop in his calling. That sustaining is done by mutual covenant: the people agree to accept the bishop as the voice of the Lord, and he agrees to receive their accountings and judge them righteously in the Lord’s name. In his office, the bishop is entrusted to receive free-will offerings from the surpluses of the stewards’ stewardships, and he places those offerings in the common treasury. Then the stewards, who have common access to the treasury, may draw upon it, with the bishop’s permission, for their needs and wants.

Clearly, the interaction between the stewards and the bishop is one of common consent. The bishop manages the treasury, assigns stewardships, and takes accountings, and the people sustain his actions, and through his ministry gain access to the Lord’s treasury. Such transactions are to be done “only by the voice of the order, or by commandment. . . . And there shall not any part of it [the treasury's resource] be used, or taken out of the treasury, only by the voice and common consent of the order.”

We see this law in action in every ward in the Church today. One of the highest manifestations of this law is that the steward receives access to the Lord’s resources for the purpose of growing and managing his stewardship: “And this shall be the voice and common consent of the order-that any man among you say to the treasurer: I have need of this to help me in my stewardship.” In whatever form the law of consecration and the law of stewardship exist, the order that governs those laws will always apply. By common consent, the bishop, who is sustained by the voice of the people, will always apportion, aid in, judge, and take accounting of all stewardships pertaining to the kingdom of God. This is the order of the law of consecration.

Spiritual Gifts Are Stewardships to Bless Others

The stewardships that the Lord places in our trust are our time, talents and abilities, and everything else that we are or possess. Some of these stewardships are listed in Doctrine and Covenants 46 and are called spiritual gifts. These gifts include:

• The gift of knowing-”that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that he was crucified for the sins of the world.”
• The gift of believing-”on their words, that they also might have eternal life if they continue faithful.”
• The gift of administration-”the differences of administration.”
• The gift of “the diversities of operations, whether they be of God, that the manifestations of the Spirit may be given to every man to profit withal.”
• The gift of “the word of wisdom.”
• The gift of “the word of knowledge, that all may be taught to be wise and to have knowledge.”
• The gift to have “faith to be healed.”
• The gift to have “faith to heal.”
• The gift of “the working of miracles.”
• The gift of the ability “to prophesy.”
• The gift of “discerning of spirits.”
• The gift of speaking “with tongues.”
• The gift of “the interpretation of tongues.”

Why does the Lord give us these gifts as stewardships? The answer echoes the language in the priesthood covenant. We receive gifts from the Lord “for [our] sakes, and not for [our] sakes only, but for the sake of the world.” The Lord said, “All these gifts come from God, for the benefit of the children of God.” When we consider the Lord’s answer, we recall other scriptural injunctions to consecrate our resources for the purpose of blessing other people: “For of him unto whom much is given much is required.” “Freely ye have received, freely give.” Clearly, we cannot achieve celestial glory without blessing others.

Significantly, Doctrine and Covenants 46 mirrors many of the principles stated in the parable of the talents, signaling to us the parable’s latter-day relevance. Talents are gifts and therefore stewardships, and thus are to be used to bless the Lord’s children. Because every person receives a gift or gifts from God, we are treated equally-a characteristic of Zion. Thus, the Lord says, “And you are to be equal, or in other words, you are to have equal claims on the properties, for the benefit of managing the concerns of your stewardships, every man according to his wants and his needs, inasmuch as his wants are just-and all this for the benefit of the church of the living God, that every man may improve upon his talent, that every man may gain other talents, yea, even an hundred fold, to be cast into the Lord’s storehouse, to become the common property of the whole church-every man seeking the interest of his neighbor, and doing all things with an eye single to the glory of God.”

These gifts, or talents, prepare us for the Lord’s return; they “are suited to the gifts and needs of the individual to give him or her the maximum opportunity for growth in the Kingdom of God.” How we manage our talents determines our eventual inheritance in the celestial kingdom. Joseph Smith taught: “Many of our brethren are wise in . . . their labors, and have rid their garments of the blood of this generation and are approved before the Lord.”

Profitable and Unprofitable Servants

Jesus first introduced the idea of profitable and unprofitable servants in the parable of the talents. Over a century earlier, King Benjamin discussed the concept of serving profitably. Although our present mortal circumstances greatly hamper us from being profitable to the Lord, nevertheless, we must make the attempt, because profitability is central to our eternal progression and thus to the ever-expanding kingdom of God. When the Lord gives us a trust, we are to magnify it on our watch. Otherwise, as the parable of the talents states, the unprofitable servant is cast into outer darkness, where “there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

At least two criteria lead to profitability: (1) our being “anxiously engaged in a good cause, do[ing] many things of [our] own free will, and bring[ing] to pass much righteousness,” and (2) yielding our hearts and wills to God. Because we are agents with agency, we are endowed with the power of choice and the capability to magnify our stewardships. The goal of our creative effort is to “bring to pass much righteousness.”

We also learn that the greater the profitability of the stewardship, the greater the trusts that God will eventually place in our care. Commenting on the teachings of Joseph Smith, Orson Hyde wrote:

The most eminent and distinguished prophets who have laid down their lives for their testimony (Jesus among the rest), will be crowned at the head of the largest kingdoms under the Father, and will be one with Christ as Christ is one with his Father; for their kingdoms are all joined together, and such as do the will of the Father, the same are his mothers, sisters, and brothers. He that has been faithful over a few things, will be made ruler over many things; he that has been faithful over ten talents, shall have dominion over ten cities, and he that has been faithful over five talents, shall have dominion over five cities, and to every man will be given a kingdom and a dominion, according to his merit, powers, and abilities to govern and control. . . . There are kingdoms of all sizes, an infinite variety to suit . The chosen vessels unto God are the kings and priests that are placed at the head of these kingdoms. These have received their washings and anointings in the  temple of God on this earth; they have been chosen, ordained, and anointed kings and priests, to reign as such in the resurrection of the just.

For the present, our maximum effort will not generate the maximum profits that our stewardship is capable of producing. For that to happen, we must draw upon the principle of grace; we must humbly yield our wills to God, submit to his counsel, and allow him to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Only by such a partnership can the stewardship reach the summit of its potential. We are greatly benefitted by such a relationship. Elder Neal A. Maxwell taught that we enhance our individuality by yielding our wills to God; that is, as we are stretched and molded by him, we become more capable of receiving “all that the Father hath.” He concluded by saying we simply could not be entrusted with God’s “all” until our wills more closely corresponded to God’s will.

Profitable servants improve upon that with which they have been entrusted; they employ sound management principles by reducing waste and insisting that invested resources generate an appropriate return; they are tireless workers and represent well the person to whom they are accountable: “O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength.” Then, when profits are produced over and above that which the servant needs to care for his family and himself, the servant releases that surplus to the Lord, to whom the surplus rightly belongs: “Nevertheless, inasmuch as they receive more than is needful for their necessities and their wants, it shall be given into my storehouse; and the benefits shall be consecrated unto the inhabitants of Zion, and unto their generations, inasmuch as they become heirs according to the laws of the kingdom. Behold, this is what the Lord requires of every man in his stewardship, even as I, the Lord, have appointed or shall hereafter appoint unto any man. And behold, none are exempt from this law who belong to the church of the living God.”

How happy are the profitable servants who can report to God that they have accomplished everything that they were charged to do.  They will hear: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things.”

Stewardships Prepare Us for Eternal Life

Because the law of consecration is the law of the celestial kingdom, we might expect to receive, develop, and account for stewardships there. This assumption is evidenced in the Lord’s promise to righteous couples who are sealed in the temple and keep their marriage covenant. He promises that they “shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and depths.” The fact that this list contains diverse stations stated in the plural suggests that our celestial assignments and inheritances might shift and expand throughout the eternities, as we progress in our Father’s kingdom.

We also might expect that we will receive these stewardships by consecration, and that we will be held accountable for them. To develop our celestial stewardships, we might expect that we would draw upon the Father’s vast resources to improve and manage our stewardships, and, in turn, we would consecrate the resources thereof back to his higher kingdom to which we belong. If that is the case, if we intend to achieve that exalted state and live in that priesthood society, we must first learn to live the laws of consecration and stewardship here and now.

The Lord said, “And whoso is found a faithful, a just, and a wise steward shall enter into the joy of his Lord, and shall inherit eternal life.” And Elder McConkie added, “It is by the wise use of one’s stewardship that eternal life is won.”

Conclusion

These articles are adapted from The Three Pillars of Zion. You can download a free sample of this new Zion series at www.PillarsOfZion.com.

D&C 42:33, “D&C 42:7171.

D&C 29:34-35.

Johnson, “The Law of Consecration,” 100.

D&C 58:36.

D&C 42:32.

D&C 85:3.

D&C 104:18.

D&C 104:64-66.

Helaman 5:8.

Luke 18:22.

Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, 335.

D&C 62:3.

Luke 12:8.

Johnson, “The Law of Consecration,” 100, quoting Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 23.

D&C 104:64, 71.

D&C 104:72-73.

D&C 46:13-25.

D&C 84:48.

D&C 46:13-25.

D&C 82:3.

Matthew 10:8.

Matthew 25:14-30.

D&C 82:17-19; emphasis added.

Johnson, “The Law of Consecration,” 100.

Smith, Evening and Morning Star, July 1833.

Matthew 25:14-30.

Mosiah 2:20-21.

Matthew 25:30.

D&C 58:27.

Helaman 3:35.

Smith, The Words of Joseph Smith, 299.

D&C 84:38.

D&C 4:2.

D&C 70:8-10.

Matthew 25:21.

D&C 105:4-5.

D&C 88:107.

D&C 132:19.

D&C 51:19.

McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 767.

In the vocabulary of consecration, an agent is a steward. The trust extended to a steward is a stewardship, which, according to the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, is a “responsibility given through the Lord to act in behalf of others.”

The concept of stewardship reminds us of the principle that “all things ultimately belong to the Lord, whether property, time, talents, families, or capacity for service within the Church organization. An individual acts in a Church calling as a trustee for the Lord, not out of personal ownership or privilege.” When we receive a stewardship, whether as a calling, a trust, or an inheritance, we are “expected to sacrifice time and talent in the service of others,” which builds “a sense of community. When all serve, all may partake of the blessings of service. The ideal attitude toward stewardship suggests that it is not the position held but how well the work is done that counts.” One can readily see why stewardship is central to Zion and the law of consecration.

The Riches of the Earth Are the Lord’s

When a Zion person exercises his agency to live the law of consecration, he makes a conscious choice to become a steward of the Lord’s property. His approach to ownership is that “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.” Elder Bruce R. McConkie said, “that all things belong to the Lord. ‘I, the Lord, stretched out the heavens, and built the earth, my very handiwork; and all things therein are mine. . . . Behold, all these properties are mine. . . . And if the properties are mine, then ye are stewards; otherwise ye are no stewards.’” There can be no mistake about who owns what; the Lord states emphatically, “the riches of the earth are mine.”

Even in a telestial setting, we encounter the concept of stewardship constantly. For example, a business owner will enter into an agreement to hand over the management of his company to a trusted employee, provided the employee gives his best effort, pursues the mission of the company, is committed to increasing the company’s profitability, and is accountable to his employer. In return, the employer pays the employee a fair wage, with which the employee takes care of his family. The employee has no right to divide his attention with another interest, change the purpose of the company, use its resources outside his employer’s desire, or take the profits for himself. We might ask ourselves, If we understand these principles on a telestial level, why can we not apply them to a celestial situation?

Let us examine the law of consecration in this light. By agreeing to take upon us this covenant, we agree that everything belongs to the Lord and we are stewards. From that point forward, we cease to lay claim to our time, talents, and possessions. Rather, we essentially enter into a management agreement with the Lord, in which we agree to give him our best and undivided effort as we administer the affairs of the stewardship that he places in our hands. We agree to pursue the ordained purpose of that stewardship, the core issue of which is always to assist in bringing to pass the immortality (the quality of immortality, i.e. telestial, terrestrial or celestial) and the eternal life of man. Moreover, we agree to use and disseminate the stewardship’s resources as the stewardship’s Owner directs. We agree to magnify the stewardship, to take no more of the surplus than we are entitled to, and to be accountable to the Owner for our management of his resources. For the Lord’s part, he agrees to allow us our agency in managing his resources, and he agrees to take care of us and keep us safe while we are on his errand.

In no uncertain terms, we are expressly forbidden to hoard the Lord’s property or claim it as our own. Martin Harris learned this lesson: “I command thee that thou shalt not covet thine own property, but impart it freely to the printing of the Book of Mormon.” At another time, the Lord commanded William E. McLellin to focus on proclaiming the gospel and to “think not of thy property.” Clearly, a Zion person’s claim to his property is subordinate to the Lord’s claim. But if we view our property as our own and not as a stewardship, we break the law of consecration and step into sin: “Let them repent of all their sins, and of all their covetous desires, before me, saith the Lord; for what is property unto me?” Who can lay claim to property or tempt the Lord with it, especially when we know that everything belongs to him in the first place? We recall that Satan tried to entice Jesus with property and was soundly condemned: “Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan.”

On the other hand, as Martin Harris and William E. McLellin learned, our property is a stewardship that must be consecrated for the building up of the kingdom of God and the establishment of Zion. The law of consecration provides that no poor should exist among us. Ultimately we will be held accountable for the diligence we pay to living this law and for the discharge of our stewardships.

God Becomes Our Paymaster

An early attempt to implement the law of consecration required members to deed over their property to the Church. Today, we are asked to figuratively deed over our hearts. We recognize that ultimately our time, talents, and property belong to the Lord, and we are stewards assigned to manage his resources under his direction. To appropriately fulfill our assignment, we agree to “live by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God.” Furthermore, we agree to become “submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love,” and “willing to submit” to the Lord. Then a remarkable thing happens: God helps us to depart from Babylon, and he becomes our Paymaster in Zion. Of course, this miracle is individualized for each person, but it occurs nevertheless.

The Lord takes care of those in his household; he supports the stewards in his employ, and “the laborer is worthy of his hire.” What the Lord said to Warren A. Cowdery could be said to every steward in Zion: “[My steward shall] devote his whole time to this high and holy calling, which I now give unto him, seeking diligently the kingdom of heaven and its righteousness, and all things necessary shall be added thereunto.”

Now that the steward has been extracted and insulated from Babylon, he resides in the safety of his Lord, allowing him to devote his entire effort to his stewardships. In the transition, he ceases to labor for the cause of money and he begins to labor for the cause of Zion: “But the laborer in Zion shall labor for Zion; for if they labor for money they shall perish.” This does not mean that the steward does not need money or to receive monetary compensation for his labor; rather, it means that the cause of Zion and managing his stewardship are his focus. The moment he views the stewardship as his own or attempts to accumulate the resources of the stewardship to himself, he is in conflict with the interests of his Paymaster. Even in Babylon, such an employee would be considered dishonest and an extortionist; he would be summarily dismissed and cast out. Any employee knows that the surpluses derived from his labor belong to the owner to do with as he pleases. The employee errs when he judges the employer’s use and distribution of profits.

The righteous steward discovers that his Lord is a very generous Paymaster. What Elder Carlos E. Asay said of missionaries’ meriting blessings for their labor could be said of any steward:

The word merit is defined as “reward . . . just deserts” (Webster’s Third New International Dictionary). Such a definition often turns our minds to temporal gains received for service rendered. It also suggests a dollar return on a dollar invested and nothing more. Another definition, however, refers to merit as “spiritual credit or stored moral surplusage regarded as earned by performance of righteous acts and as ensuring future benefits” (ibid.). This latter definition appeals to me and seems to apply to missionary service because the process of sharing the gospel with others is centered in “righteous acts” and carries “future benefits” for both the giver and the receiver. In fact, the list of spiritual credits or by-products received by those who seek to save souls is endless. Those who engage in missionary service soon learn that God is a very generous paymaster. We can never place him in our debt (see Mosiah 2:22-24).

Righteous stewards earn temporal and spiritual credits, which may be redeemed in the storehouse of their most generous Paymaster for many times their original value.

Never Turn Back

We must become a righteous steward. Once the Lord has separated us from Babylon, as is exemplified in the temple initiatory ordinances, and when he has placed within our care a stewardship in his kingdom, we must discharge our duty faithfully and never turn back.

Peter taught, “For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.”

The implications are sobering. If we have cried unto the Lord to help us escape Babylon, and then he rescues us and gives us a stewardship and employment in his kingdom-if, after all that, we weaken and return to Babylon and again become entangled in its charms, our situation will be worse than the first. We will find ourselves left alone with no further claim on the Lord’s resources or on him as our Paymaster.

Nephi explained that the journey from Babylon to Zion is the most significant journey in time or eternity. Nothing could be more important than arriving at the tree of life and partaking of its fruit, both of which are symbolic of the love of God. When we finally reach our destination, we must stay. Otherwise, according to Nephi, every person who arrived at the tree and thereafter gave heed to Babylon “had fallen away.” Here, then, is the safety and the condemnation of the law of stewardship.

The Law of Stewardship and the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood

When righteous men (and later righteous men and women at the time of temple marriage) take upon them the oath and covenant of the priesthood, they agree to receive the blessings and obligations of the priesthood “for your sakes, and not for your sakes only, but for the sake of the world.” That is, we are under covenant to exercise the priesthood to gain our salvation by helping to save others. Therefore, to fulfill this part of the priesthood covenant, we approach our stewardships with the attitude of caring for our families, caring for others, and caring for the Lord’s purposes. Consider the Lord’s admonition to the elders, who had taken upon them the oath and covenant of the priesthood:

And behold, thou wilt remember the poor, and consecrate of thy properties for their support that which thou hast to impart unto them. . . . And inasmuch as ye impart of your substance unto the poor, ye will do it unto me; . . . every man shall be made accountable unto me, a steward over his own property, or that which he has received by consecration, as much as is sufficient for himself and family. And again, if there shall be properties in the hands of the church, or any individuals of it, more than is necessary for their support after this first consecration, which is a residue to be consecrated unto the bishop, it shall be kept to administer to those who have not, from time to time, that every man who has need may be amply supplied and receive according to his wants. Therefore, the residue shall be kept in my storehouse, to administer to the poor and the needy, . . . that my covenant people may be gathered in one in that day when I shall come to my temple. And this I do for the salvation of my people. . . . For inasmuch as ye do it unto the least of these, ye do it unto me. For it shall come to pass, that which I spake by the mouths of my prophets shall be fulfilled; for I will consecrate of the riches of those who embrace my gospel among the Gentiles unto the poor of my people who are of the house of Israel.

Stewardship and Equality

The law of stewardship is the law upon which Zion’s equality is achieved. As we have mentioned, equality is defined as having equal access. In Zion, each person must have equal opportunity to receive a stewardship, to develop it, and to have equal access to the Lord and the Lord’s resources. To qualify for the celestial kingdom, we must live the foundational law of stewardship, which stipulates that “every man [must be made] equal according to his family, according to his circumstances and his wants and needs.”

Inequality is wholly telestial in nature; inequality cannot exist in a celestial atmosphere. As we recall, the Lord has stated emphatically that we must become “equal in the bonds of heavenly things, yea, and earthly things also, for the obtaining of heavenly things. For if ye are not equal in earthly things ye cannot be equal in obtaining heavenly things; 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.”

Failing to live the law of stewardship and turning a blind eye to inequality are classified as sins: “But it is not given that one man should possess that which is above another, wherefore the world lieth in sin.” We need only look at the world condition to see the consequences of selfishness, greed, and using the resources entrusted to us without accountability to God: “And the whole world lieth in sin, and groaneth under darkness and under the bondage of sin.” How can we escape this darkness and bondage? The answer separates righteous Zion people from the wicked people of Babylon: “And by this you may know they [the people of Babylon] are under the bondage of sin, because they come not unto me. For whoso cometh not unto me is under the bondage of sin. And whoso receiveth not my voice is not acquainted with my voice, and is not of me. And by this you may know the righteous from the wicked, and that the whole world groaneth under sin and darkness even now.”

We might ask ourselves this question: Could it be possible to make the covenant of consecration, then ignore the law of stewardship with its injunction to equalize people-and still claim that we are acquainted with the voice of the Lord and that we have come unto him?

Zion people come unto Christ and hearken to his voice by seeking to purify their hearts; by seeking to equalize the condition of the Lord’s children through the giving of their means; by striving to heal the Lord’s children, bolster their faith, and love them. The pure in heart view themselves as stewards rather than owners, and they seek to bless the Lord’s children with their stewardships, which is the sum of everything that they have and are.

Part 2

We will conclude our study of the law of stewardship with Part 2. These articles are adapted from The Three Pillars of Zion. You can download a free sample of this new Zion series at www.PillarsOfZion.com.

Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1418.

Psalms 24:1.

McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 767, quoting D&C 104:14, 55-56.

D&C 38:39.

Moses 1:39.

D&C 19:26.

D&C 66:6.

D&C 117:4.

Matthew 4:8-10.

D&C 51:19; 72:3-4; 78:22, 82:3, 11; Luke 16:2; 19:17; Matthew 25:14-30.

D&C 42:30.

D&C 84:44.

Mosiah 3:19.

D&C 84:79.

D&C 106:3; emphasis added.

2 Nephi 26:31.

Asay, The Seven M’s of Missionary Service, 9; emphasis added.

2 Peter 2:20-21; emphasis added.

1 Nephi 11:21-23.

1 Nephi 8:34.

D&C 84:48.

D&C 42:30-39.

D&C 82:17.

D&C 101:5.

D&C 51:3.

D&C 78:3-5.

D&C 49:20.

D&C 84:50-53.

We cannot understand Zion without understanding her opposite: Babylon. A look back at Babylon’s founders in action gives us a template of what we should be avoiding today. Babylon was and is the antithesis of Zion.

Zion and Babylon are reverse orders, contrary programs, opposed and inverse in every way. They are like day and night or opposite poles on a compass. The king of Zion is Jesus Christ; the king of Babylon is the anti-Christ, Satan. The work of the king of Zion is “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” that we might have “fulness of joy.” The work of the king of Babylon is captivity and death that we might become miserable like him.

There can be no greater fall than from Zion to Babylon. An example is the Nephites. Within two hundred years of the coming of Christ, they plummeted from Zion (no contentions or disputations, every man dealing justly one with another, having all things common among them, no rich or poor, widespread freedom, great and marvelous spiritual outpourings and miracles, incredible prosperity, the love of God felt in the hearts of the people, no envyings, strifes, tumults, whoredoms, lyings, murders, or any manner of lasciviousness, no robbers, murderers, any classes of people, equality and oneness, qualifying as the children of Christ, heirs to the kingdom of God, the happiest people ever created by God, and blessed in all their doings) to Babylon (lifted up in pride, hearts set upon costly apparel, expensive jewelry, and the fine things of the world, ceased to have all things in common, divided into classes, built up churches and man-made philosophies to get gain, denied the true church of Christ and the more parts of his gospel, participated in all manner of wickedness, exercised power and authority over each other, hardened their hearts against God, willfully rebelled against the gospel, taught their children to not believe, reestablished secret combinations, sought after and horded gold and silver, and did traffic in all manner of merchandising-the economy became their preoccupation and their god).

The downfall of the Nephite nation can be traced back to their abandoning Zion and embracing Babylon.

Anti-Christ philosophy

According to Blaine Yorgason, Satan’s first two articles of faith are “we can buy anything in this world with money, and…we can buy it now and pay for it later on.” The philosophy of Babylon is anti-Christ. Godlessness, selfishness and competition are its hallmarks. The anti-Christ doctrine states that people fare “according to the management of the creature,” prosper according to their genius, and conquer according to their strength. Because they assume no accountability to God, they believe that they can act without moral consequences. In Babylon, people succeed or fail on their own merits; they are totally alone. They pretend a form of godliness, but deny the power that comes from and makes godliness possible. They eschew hope in and dependency upon Jesus Christ; they trample the plan of salvation, reject the holy priesthood and the gifts of the Spirit; they judge the humble followers of Christ as having frenzied minds and being held captive by what they call the false traditions of the gospel.

In a General Conference address, Elder Mark E. Peterson said,

Every force now corrupting America is a form of anti-Christ. Criminality is anti-Christ. Immorality is anti-Christ. Drunkenness is anti-Christ. Rioting, pillaging, and anarchy likewise are anti-Christ. Robbery, assault, and murder are all anti-Christ. Deception, duplicity, perjury, and covetousness are anti-Christ. The distribution of pornographic material that corrupts the morals of young and old alike is anti-Christ. And so is every other force destructive of the high principles that have made America great…. Oh, America-wake up to the peril that confronts you. Arouse yourself from this delirium in which you find yourself. Realize that this Christian nation can never survive on the principles of anti-Christ.

Frighteningly, the anti-Christ philosophy forms a type of sinister worship. Hugh Nibley writes: “This is the great voice of the economy of Babylon. It does not renounce its religious pretensions for a minute. Many in it think they are identical with a pious life.” Suffice it to say that the anti-Christ philosophy always results in the downfall of those who subscribe to any part of it. We recall the dismal demises of Sherem and Korihor, and we have the testimonies of the once-mighty Jaredite and Nephite nations. Clearly, there is no safety in Babylon. Satan will not support his children; his only aim is to captivate them, make them miserable, and destroy them.

Cain

We can thank Cain and his descendant Nimrod for creating Babylon and perpetuating the anti-Christ philosophy that has enslaved the world and engulfed it in incarcerating misery.

From the dawn of history, Satan, the “father of lies” and the would-be usurper of the Father and the Son’s power, glory and missions, endeavored to gain a foothold in this world and build a kingdom here. He devised a “cunning plan” to make men miserable by means of deceptions and false revelations, which things would be “particularly effective against those who struggle with vanity and pride (2 Nephi 9:28)…. His goal is to destroy the world (Moses 4:6)…[and] to separate what God has joined together and unite what God has separated (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.103).”

Failing to indoctrinate Adam and Eve with the anti-Christ doctrine, he found a willing apprentice in Cain. The two became inseparable, literally the inverse of the Father and the Son. Moses reports: “And Cain loved Satan more than God.” This perverted affection allowed Satan to drive a wedge between Cain and God. To bring Cain to the point of decision, he told him to “make an offering unto the Lord.” Of course offerings ordered by Satan are rejected out of hand by God. It is God alone who mandates offerings; such offerings must be accomplished by proper priesthood authority through a specific ordinance. No wonder, then that the Lord had no respect for Cain’s offering. “Now Satan knew this, and it pleased him. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.” We know the result. The Lord warned Cain of the consequences of following his course of action, but Cain had made his choice. Thereafter, the Lord would call him “Perdition,” which means entirely lost or ruined.

On the other hand, Satan called Cain “Master Mahan,” which suggests that Satan had given Cain a “new name” within the order of his priestcraft (not priesthood), which name suggests a high level of authority in the demonic craft and extraordinary expertise. Now fully willing to establish the foundation of Satan’s benighted kingdom, which would become known as Babylon, Cain learned from Satan the signs, tokens and oaths of the devil’s priestcraft, which were calculated to deliver power into his hands so that he could gain control and dominate the people of the earth. The success of this diabolical father-and-son team was so great that their religion soon enslaved and degraded the whole world until the Lord had no choice except to destroy it by flood.

Hugh Nibley explains:

[Satan] boasts just how he plans to put the world under his bloody and horrible misrule: He will control the world economy by claiming possession of the earth’s resources; and by manipulation of its currency-gold and silver-he will buy up the political, military, and ecclesiastical complex and run everything his way. We see him putting his plan into operation when he lays legal claim to the whole earth as his estate, accusing others of trespass, but putting everything up for sale to anyone who has the money. And how will they get the money? By going to work for him. He not only offers employment but a course of instruction in how the whole thing works, teaching the ultimate secret: ‘That great secret’ (Moses 5:49-50) of converting life into property. Cain got the degree of Master Mahan, tried the system out on his brother, and gloried in its brilliant success, declaring that at last he could be free, as only property makes free, and that Abel had been a loser in a free competition.

The discipline was handed down through Lamech and finally became the pattern of the world’s economy (Moses 5:55-56)…. Cain slew ‘his brother Abel for the sake of getting gain’ (Moses 5:50)-not in a fit of pique but by careful business planning, ‘by the conspiracy’ (D&C 84:16). The great secret he learned from Satan was the art of converting life into property-all life, even eternal life! The exchange of eternal life for worldly success is in fact the essence of the classic Pact with the Devil, in which the hero (Faust, Jabez Stone, even Jesus) is offered everything that the wealth of the earth can buy in return for subjection to Satan hereafter. There is no question of having some of both-’You cannot serve two masters’ (see Matthew 6:24), the one being Mammon; if you try to have it both ways by putting off the final settlement, says Amulek, ‘the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and has no place in you, and the devil hath all power over you’ (Alma 34:35).

Nimrod

The Flood decimated the followers of Cain, but Satan was not to be denied. The principles of Babylon are as eternal as the principles of Zion; they only need revealing to a new Babylonian “prophet” in a new Babylonian “dispensation.” Satan’s new prophet was Nimrod, a descendant of Cain through Ham’s son, Cush. The irony that Nimrod was Cain’s direct descendant and therefore that he possessed the right by bloodline to Cain’s priestcraft cannot be overlooked. Nimrod, Cain’s legal heir, who is identified with Pharaoh, was the one who tried to take the life of Abraham, the rightful heir to the legitimate priesthood. David H. Yarn writes:

One of the earliest and most influential apostates in the dispensation of Noah was named Nimrod, who was the son of Cush, who was the son of Ham. He was a mighty hunter and hero. He began a kingdom in Babel, Erech, and Accad (Shinar). Josephus tells us Nimrod excited the people to a contempt of God. He persuaded the people to ascribe their well-being to himself instead of God. ‘He also changed the government into tyranny, seeing no other way of turning man from the fear of God, but to bring them into a constant dependence on his power.’ He also said ‘…he would avenge himself on God for destroying their forefathers.’ Furthermore, Josephus reports that Nimrod established his kingdom through rapine, murder, and tyranny. (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book I, chap. 4.) He urged the people to depart from the religion of Shem and cleave to the institutes of Nimrod. (Clarke, Bible Commentary, Vol. I, p. 84.) He tried to get men to worship great conquerors and in time the deification of humans became a chief characteristic of heathen religions in Egypt, Babylon, Greece, Rome, China, and India. He also introduced animal worship. Idolatry and adultery (‘institutionalized immorality’) became common religious rites. Even human sacrifices were instituted.

The philosophies of Babylon were championed by Cain, but Babylon became an institution under Nimrod. Adjacent to the Euphrates River, Nimrod built a city (Babel), which over time became “one of the wonders of the ancient world, with its ziggurat and many miles of hanging (terraced) gardens.” Babel (later Babylon) became known for supplying its citizens every luxury that the world had to offer. Later, under Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon grew into an enormous city with massive walls, 56 miles in circumference, elegant parks and gardens. We can immediately see the trappings and dangers of Babylon. From Cain to Nimrod to Nebuchadnezzar to Caesar to the latter days, Babylon has been a place or state of mind defined by excesses, self-indulgence, wanton sin and contempt of God. Babylon has always been the nemesis of Zion. Elder McConkie writes:

As the seat of world empire, Babylon was the persistent persecutor and enemy of the Lord’s people…. To the Lord’s people anciently, Babylon was known as the center of iniquity, carnality, and worldliness. Everything connected with it was in opposition to all righteousness and had the effect of leading men downward to the destruction of their souls. It was natural, therefore, for the apostles and inspired men of New Testament times to apply the name Babylon to the forces organized to spread confusion and darkness in the realm of spiritual things. (Rev. 17; 18; D&C 29:21; Ezek. 38; 39.) In a general sense, the wickedness of the world generally is Babylon. (D&C 1:16; 35:11; 64:24; 133:14).

Nimrod sought to dominate the world from his capital city, Babel, and, according to M. Catherine Thomas, Nimrod, like his spiritual father, Satan, “sought to dethrone God by bringing men into constant dependence on his, Nimrod’s, power.” Nimrod was very successful. “A multitude followed Nimrod, persuaded that it was cowardice to submit to God. The people began to build the tower, apparently some type of temple, as their objective was to reach heaven by means of the tower. God’s response was to break up their evil combination by scrambling their languages, thus depriving them of the powerful Adamic language. The name babel means, in Akkadian, ‘gate of God’ and is a play on the Hebrew balal, meaning ‘to mix or confound.’ It is apparent then that the tower of Babel was a counterfeit gate of God, or temple, that Ham’s priesthood-deprived descendants built in rebellion against God. Jared and his family and friends rejected this temple and were spared the Lord’s punishments.”

Nimrod’s Babel became Babylon, the world order, philosophy and religion that would dominate the hearts of people throughout the millennia. Elder McConkie writes:

The name Babylon means many things to many people. The Hebrew word (bbel) goes back to a kingdom Nimrod founded, where the ancients built the tower of Babel, or Babylon (Genesis 10:9-10; 11:1-9). This kingdom evolved into an idolatrous materialistic civilization that reached a zenith in the powerful neo-Babylonian empire of Nebuchadnezzar (cf. Daniel 2:37-38). The prophet Isaiah identifies Babylon typologically as both a people and a place: the sinners and the wicked; the earth and the world (Isaiah 13:1, 9, 11). He predicts latter-day Babylon will suffer the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah, thus likening the world’s desolation to a fiery cataclysm falling upon the wicked (Isaiah 13:4-19).

Nimrod and his people rebelled against God, and their religion of choice became idolatry, the worship of nature, images or false gods-all defined by covetousness. E. Douglas Clark writes: “An early Christ source reported… ‘The whole world was again overspread with errors, and…for the hideousness of its crimes destruction was ready for it, this time not by water, but fire, and…already the scourge was hanging over the whole earth.’ Never in the troubled history of mankind had there been greater darkness and depravity. It was a world as far from Zion as possible.”

Clark continues by quoting from the book of Jubilees:

“Noah’s children began to fight one another, to take captive, and to kill one another; to shed human blood on the earth, to consume blood; to build fortified cities, walls, and towers; men to elevate themselves over peoples, to set up the first kingdoms; to go to war-people against people, nations against nations, city against city; and everyone to do evil, to acquire weapons, and to teach warfare to their sons. City began to capture city and to sell male and female slaves…. They made molten images for themselves. Each one would worship the idol which he had made as his own molten image. They began to make statues, images, and unclean things; the spirits of the savage ones were helping and misleading them so that they would commit sins, impurities, and transgressions. Prince Mastema [Satan] was exerting his power in effecting all these actions and, by means of the spirits, he was sending to those who were placed in his control the ability to commit every kind of error and sin and every kind of transgression; to corrupt, to destroy, and to shed blood on the earth.”

This description reads like a how-to book for Babylon or the morning newspaper! Nimrod succeeded in contaminating the entire world with his Babylonian practices. Thereafter, Satan’s great chain once again veiled the earth in darkness, as it had in the days preceding the Flood. “And he looked up and laughed, and his angels rejoiced.” That same chain binds down the people of the latter days. Enoch foresaw our day and recorded that “a veil of darkness shall cover the earth.”

Sodom and Gomorrah

President Spencer W. Kimball spoke of “the rise and fall of great civilizations, such as Babylon, Ninevah, Jerusalem, Egypt, Greece, Rome, and numerous others which have flared like an arc-light, then dimmed even to candlelight proportions, or to be extinguished.” Sodom and Gomorrah, too, had their day and likewise perished. These communities, now covered by the Dead Sea, were contemporary models of Babylon. Because the latter days have been compared to Sodom and Gomorrah, we would do well to examine the characteristics that brought about their downfall.

Quoting Rabbi Eliezer, Hugh Nibley writes:

The men of Sodom were the wealthy men of prosperity, on account of the good and fruitful land whereon they dwelt. For every need which the world requires, they obtained therefrom…. But they did not trust in the shadow of their Creator, but [they trusted] in the multitude of their wealth, for wealth thrusts aside its owners from the fear of Heaven…. The men of Sodom had no consideration for the honour of their Owner by (not) distributing food to the wayfarer and the stranger…. They [even] fenced in all their trees on top above their fruit so that they should not be seized; [not] even by the bird of heaven…. These were the crimes of Sodom and Gomorrah. At the time of Abraham, the people elected leaders ‘of falsehood and wickedness, who mocked justice and equity and committed evil deeds’…the wicked oppressed the weak and gave power to the strong. Inside the city was tyranny and the receiving of bribes. Every day, without fail, they plundered each others’ goods. The son cursed his father in the streets, the slave his master. They put an end to the offerings and entered into conspiracy…. It’s not surprising, the records tell, that travelers and birds alike learned to avoid the rich cities of the plain, while the poor emigrated to other parts. ‘If a stranger merchant passed through their territory, he was besieged by them all, big and little alike, and robbed of whatever he possessed’…. This was a world in which every man was for himself. What a terrible state of things.

Elsewhere, Ezekiel and Jude describe Sodom and Gomorrah’s sins as:

• pride
• “fullness of bread” (luxuriant living)
• abundant idleness
• failure to care for poor and needy
• idolatry (worshipping anything else instead of God)
• contempt for others
• fornication
• “going after strange flesh” (homosexuality)

We know the fate of these offshoots of Babylon. The Lord obliterated them with fire from heaven; then he hid Sodom and Gomorrah from his face by covering them with the waters of the Dead Sea.

Our leaders have compared the conditions of the last days to the evils of Sodom and Gomorrah. They have stated that they know of no time in the history of the earth when there was greater spiritual danger from evil that permeates the world in epidemic proportions, not even in the time of Sodom and Gomorrah. At no time has wickedness been so widely accepted. Whereas evil was localized in Sodom and Gomorrah, he pointed out, now it has spread across the world.

Moses 1:39

3 Nephi 28:10

See 2 Nephi 2:27

See 4 Nephi 1:1-18

See 4 Nephi 1:24-46

Blaine M. Yorgason, I Need Thee Every Hour, p.200

See Alma 30:12

See Alma 30:12-18

Mark E. Petersen, Conference Report, October 1967, p.67-68

Hugh Nibley, Approaching Zion, p.334

See Jacob 7:13-20; Alma 30:49-60

See Alma 30:60

See 2 Nephi 2:27

2 Nephi 9:9

See Moses 4:3; Isaiah 14:12-17

Blaine M. Yorgason, I Need Thee Every Hour, p.326

Moses 5:18, 21-26

See “Perdition,” Webster’s New World Dictionary, p.1054

D&C 130:11

See Moses 5:16-34

Hugh Nibley, Approaching Zion, p.166-67

See Hugh Nibley, Abraham in Egypt, p.61-66

See E. Douglas Clark, The Blessings of Abraham, p.35

David H. Yarn, The Gospel: God, Man, and Truth, p.127-28

David B. Galbraith, D. Kelly Ogden, and Andrew C. Skinner, Jerusalem: The Eternal City, p.103-104

See “Babylon or Babel,” LDS Bible Dictionary, p.618

Bruce R. McConkie, “Babylon,” Mormon Doctrine, p.69

Donald W. Parry, ed., Temples of the Ancient World: Ritual and Symbolism, p.389-90

John M. Lundquist and Stephen D. Ricks, eds., By Study and Also by Faith: Essays in Honor of Hugh W. Nibley on the Occasion of His Eightieth Birthday, 27 March 1990, vol. 2:384

See Colossians 3:5; Ephesians 5:5; Philippians 3:19; See also “Idol,” LDS Bible Dictionary, p.706

E. Douglas Clark, The Blessings of Abraham, p.31, quoting Jubilees 11:2-5

Moses 7:26

Moses 7:61

Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle, p.51

Hugh Nibley, Approaching Zion, p.322-23

See Ezekiel 16:49-50; Jude 1:7

See Genesis 19:24

See Map:  Old Testament Stories:  Part Two, LDS Church News, 1994, 01/08/94

See Boyd K. Packer, “One Pure Defense,” CES Devotional, February 6, 2004