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.

As a rule, we men, who strive to live celestial laws and are thus judged worthy to be ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood, qualified to hold that authority in the premortal life, which Alma calls the “first place.”^[ii] Quoting Alma and Joseph Smith, Elder McConkie taught that worthy priesthood holders were

“on the same standing with their brethren,” meaning that initially all had equal opportunity to progress through righteousness. But while yet in the eternal worlds, certain of the offspring of God, “having chosen good, and exercising exceeding great faith,” were as a consequence “called and prepared from the foundation of the world according to the foreknowledge of God” to enjoy the blessings and powers of the priesthood. These priesthood calls were made “from the foundation of the world,” or in other words faithful men held priesthood power and authority first in pre-existence and then again on earth. “Every man who has a calling to minister to the inhabitants of the world was ordained to that very purpose in the Grand Council of heaven before this world was.”^[iii]

Our premortal calling to the priesthood, Alma says, was “on account of [our] exceeding faith and good works.” Having chosen independently to embrace the good and eschew the evil, and having exercised “exceedingly great faith,” we received the authority of God, which qualified us for a “preparatory redemption.”^[iv] In other words, in the “first place,” or premortality, we earned the blessings of a preparatory redemption, which guaranteed that we would be offered those blessings again in the flesh. These blessings included ordination to the priesthood then and the invitation to receive it now. Unless we chose otherwise in this life, the blessings of redemption and the priesthood would be ours forever.

The Eternal Obligation of Priesthood Holders

“Priesthood is the great governing authority in the universe,” writes M. Catherine Thomas, assistant professor emeritus of Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University. “It unlocks spiritual blessings of the eternal world for the heirs of salvation.”^[v] The priesthood then and now is always conferred upon us with the understanding that we will minister to God’s children, offer them the blessings of the plan of redemption, and strive to bring them to Christ for the purpose of redemption and establishing the principles of Zion in their lives.^[vi]

This is modeled in the scriptures by Enoch, who left his home in the land of Cainan to preach the gospel to the people, offer them the ordinances of salvation, and bring them to Zion.^[vii] Likewise, Melchizedek preached the gospel, administered the ordinances, and achieved Zion: “And his people wrought righteousness, and obtained heaven, and sought for the city of Enoch which God had before taken, separating it from the earth, having reserved it unto the latter days, or the end of the world.”^[viii]

The Book of Mormon offers other examples of priesthood holders administering redemptive and Zionlike principles. For example, “And it came to pass that the thirty and fourth year passed away, and also the thirty and fifth, and behold the disciples of Jesus had formed a church of Christ in all the lands round about. And as many as did come unto them, and did truly repent of their sins, were baptized in the name of Jesus; and they did also receive the Holy Ghost. And it came to pass in the thirty and sixth year, the people were all converted unto the Lord, upon all the face of the land, both Nephites and Lamanites, and there were no contentions and disputations among them, and every man did deal justly one with another.”^[ix]

Catherine Thomas explains,

The power to play a saving role is the most sought-after power among righteous priesthood holders in time or in eternity. The greater the soul, it seems, the deeper the desire to labor to brings souls to Christ. . . . A brief look at the history of the priesthood on the earth reveals that men like [King] Benjamin have stood in this priesthood channel unlocking the blessings of salvation for their people since the days of Adam. Adam, in fact, was the great prototype of priesthood holders who strove to bring their communities and their posterity into at-one-ment with the Lord Jesus Christ. Adam blessed his posterity because, the Prophet Joseph taught, ‘he wanted to bring them into the presence of God. They looked for a city . . . ‘whose builder and maker is God’ (Hebrews 11:10).

A priesthood holder is under obligation to sanctify himself so that he can advocate for his people, as did Adam, Enoch, Melchizedek, Moses, King Benjamin, and Joseph Smith. His people would include his wife and family, the people to whom he is called to serve, and anyone else whom the Lord places in his way. Catherine Thomas explains the duties of a priesthood holder:

A priesthood holder’s office is to sanctify himself and stand as an advocate before God seeking blessings for his community in the manner of Jesus Christ (see John 17:19), whether the community be as small as a family or as large as Benjamin’s kingdom. A righteous priesthood holder can work by faith to provide great benefits to his fellow beings (see Mosiah 8:18). He can, in fact, exercise great faith in behalf of others of lesser faith, ‘filling in’ with faith for them. . . . The Lord seems interested not only in individual but in groups of people who wish to establish holy cities and unite with heavenly communities. Like the ancients, one who holds the holy priesthood is always trying to establish a holy community, is always ‘look[ing] for a city’ (Hebrews 11:10, 16).^[x]

The Eternal Nature of Priesthood Work

Our works on earth are an extension of the works we did in the premortal world. These works are redemption and advancing the cause of Zion. Alma explained that our premortal calling to the priesthood set us apart from others in that realm, those who hardened their hearts against the gospel and thus forfeited their privileges: “And thus they [priesthood holders] have been called to this holy calling on account of their faith, while others would reject the Spirit of God on account of the hardness of their hearts and blindness of their minds, while, if it had not been for this they might have had as great privilege as their brethren.”

We distinguished ourselves in premortality by embracing the principles of redemption and Zion, and therefore we were rewarded in that “first place” with the priesthood: “Thus this holy calling [was] prepared from the foundation of the world for such as would not harden their hearts, being in and through the Atonement of the Only Begotten Son.”

Having received the priesthood, we became part of the same order as the Son of God and went about doing his work, the work of Zion:

And thus being called by this holy calling, and ordained unto the high priesthood of the holy order of God, to teach his commandments unto the children of men, that they also might enter into his rest—this high priesthood being after the order of his Son, which order was from the foundation of the world; or in other words, being without beginning of days or end of years, being prepared from eternity to all eternity, according to his foreknowledge of all things—Now they were ordained after this manner—being called with a holy calling, and ordained with a holy ordinance, and taking upon them the high priesthood of the holy order, which calling, and ordinance, and high priesthood, is without beginning or end—thus they become high priests forever, after the order of the Son, the Only Begotten of the Father, who is without beginning of days or end of years, who is full of grace, equity, and truth. And thus it is. Amen.^[xi]

Clearly, our past experience with the priesthood will be exceeded only by our glorious future experience. Moreover, our priesthood work now is an extension of our work then; and our work in the priesthood will continue into the eternities: “The faithful elders of this dispensation, when they depart from mortal life, continue their labors in the preaching of the gospel of repentance and redemption, through the sacrifice of the Only Begotten Son of God.”^[xii]

The work that we assumed so long ago—the work of redemption—is the work that helps to establish Zion in the lives of people now. This work is as eternal as is the priesthood. The priesthood vitalizes the plan of redemption and makes possible the establishment of Zion. The priesthood of God is the power by which the foundation of Zion (the Atonement) and the three pillars of Zion (the new and everlasting covenant, the oath and covenant of the priesthood, and the law of consecration[xiii]) function together. Built upon this sure foundation, Zion rises to form “the highest order of priesthood society.”^[xiv]

Author’s Note

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

[ii] Alma 13:3.

[iii] McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 475–83; Alma 13:3, 5; Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 365.

[iv] Alma 13:3.

[v] Thomas, “Benjamin and the Mysteries of God,” 279.

[vi] Eyring, “Faith and the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood,” 61–64.

[vii] Moses 6:41; see Moses 6–7.

[viii] JST Genesis 14:34.

[ix] 4 Nephi 1:1–2; emphasis added.

[x] Thomas, “Benjamin and the Mysteries of God,” 280–82.

[xi] Alma 13:4–9.

[xii] D&C 138:57.

[xiii] D&C 42:67.

[xiv] Kimball, Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 125.

Enoch’s people set the standard:

The fear of the Lord was upon all nations, so great was the glory of the Lord, which was upon his people. And the Lord blessed the land, and they were blessed upon the mountains, and upon the high places, and did flourish.

And the Lord called his people ZION, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.

And Enoch continued his preaching in righteousness unto the people of God. And it came to pass in his days, that he built a city that was called the City of Holiness, even ZION.

And it came to pass that Enoch talked with the Lord; and he said unto the Lord: Surely Zion shall dwell in safety forever.[i]

Melchizedek’s people followed suit. Like Enoch’s people, who built “the City of Holiness, even ZION,” Melchizedek’s people built Salem, meaning “city of perfection”^[ii] or “righteousness and peace.”^[iii] This city became the forerunner of Jerusalem,^[iv] the eternal city of God.[v]

Now this Melchizedek was a king over the land of Salem and his people had waxed strong in iniquity and abomination; yea, they had all gone astray; they were full of all manner of wickedness;

But Melchizedek having exercised mighty faith, and received the office of the high priesthood according to the holy order of God, did preach repentance unto his people. And behold, they did repent; and Melchizedek did establish peace in the land in his days; therefore he was called the prince of peace, for he was the king of Salem; and he did reign under his father.^[vi]

Melchizedek, like Enoch, was enormously successful in establishing the principles of Zion in the hearts of his people: “And his people wrought righteousness, and obtained heaven, and sought for the city of Enoch.”^[vii]

In the Meridian of Times, the Nephites and Lamanites achieved a society devoid of all forms of poverty.

And it came to pass in the thirty and sixth year, the people were all converted unto the Lord, upon all the face of the land, both Nephites and Lamanites, and there were no contentions and disputations among them, and every man did deal justly one with another.

And they had all things common among them; therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift….

And it came to pass that there was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell 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; yea, even they were blessed and prospered until an hundred and ten years had passed away; and the first generation from Christ had passed away, and there was no contention in all the land.[viii]

How To Eradicate Poverty and Achieve Prosperity

In the latter days, do we have the faith to achieve a poverty-free world? If so, how might it happen? The answer lies in a principle that is a gospel irony, a paradigm of thought that eludes the world. Here is the principle:

Give your way to prosperity, freedom, safety and security.

This principle was widely known and practiced by ancient Zion people, who managed to flourish while the world around them collapsed under the weight of selfishness, greed and wickedness. Those Zion people discovered that by living this principle, they simultaneously invoked the law of restoration,[ix] or the hundredfold law.[x] That is, whatever they gave immediately gained power to return to them many times more than their sacrifice. Thus, by the simple act of charitable giving they prospered, and in the process, they achieved greater liberties, safety and security.

Knowing that history is wont to repeat itself, we wonder if we, who will face the prophesied judgments of the last days, will choose to embrace this principle and prosper by it, or choose to suffer with the world as it spirals out of control and implodes around us. One thing is certain: The days of attempting to mix Zion and Babylon are over; the day of decision is upon us.

A Foundation That Will revolutionize the World

At the beginning of this dispensation, Joseph Smith prophesied of the impact of the glorious latter-day work while simultaneously raising the anti-poverty flag: “I intend to lay a foundation that will revolutionize the whole world.” The Prophet’s use of the word revolution was not meant to suggest conflict: “It will not be by sword or gun that this kingdom will roll on,” he said: “the power of truth is such that all nations will be under the necessity of obeying the Gospel.”[xi] What is the Lord’s mandated goal that could revolutionize the world and eradicate every form of poverty? Here are his words: “You are to be equal…every man according to his wants and his needs, inasmuch as his wants are just.”[xii]

Equality! Covenant people recognize these inspired words as central to the law of consecration, the same law that governs the celestial kingdom,[xiii] and the law that is intended to govern the kingdom of God on the earth.

How is this to be done? The Lord gives the answer: “I, the Lord, stretched out the heavens, and built the earth, my very handiwork; and all things therein are mine.” That is, to achieve equality, we must first recognize that all things belong to the Lord and that by covenant we are stewards of his (not our) property. The Lord declares this arrangement is for our good: “It is wisdom in me.”

To make the leap from being owners to stewards, we must adopt a new mindset and rethink our priorities regarding our time, talents, money, property, and our treatment of the poor; then we must agree to include the Lord in the decisions we make regarding the use of the things that he has entrusted to us. Moreover, we must agree to be accountable to him for the discharge of our stewardship: “Therefore, a commandment I give unto you, that ye shall organize yourselves and appoint every man his stewardship; that every man may give an account unto me of the stewardship which is appointed unto him. For it is expedient that I, the Lord, should make every man accountable, as a steward over earthly blessings, which I have made and prepared for my creatures.”[xiv]

We might try to excuse ourselves from living this law by appealing to a false presumption in Church history: Wasn’t the law of consecration put on hold or at least lessened because of the failings of our fathers? Absolutely not. Any attempt to locate scriptural or authoritative evidence that this law was rescinded or is waiting to one day be implemented will be vain. If we are truly a covenant people then we are a consecrated people, and as such, we have bound ourselves to be stewards dedicated to equalizing the condition of the Lord’s children by the proper use of the Lord’s resources that he has placed in our hands.

As stewards, we agree to do the work of the Lord with his resources. That work is the “immortality and eternal life of man.”[xv] While we cannot give anyone the gift of immortality, we can, through our charitable actions, help someone achieve a more exalted level of immortality. And the highest level, of course, is called eternal life. Broadly, this is the work we covenant to assume, and to do so, we agree to consecrate all that we are and have.

In Mine Own Way

A central part of the Lord’s work is to level up the condition of his impoverished children: “And it is my purpose to provide for my saints.” To accomplish this feat, he employs us, his stewards, who have entered into a covenant of consecration to do this very thing. The Lord dictates the specific way that he, through us, will care for his children: “But it must needs be done in mine own way; and behold this is the way that I, the Lord, have decreed to provide for my saints, that the poor shall be exalted, in that the rich are made low.”[xvi]

On the surface, this statement could appear like the socialistic doctrine of forced redistribution of wealth; but, as we shall see, consecration is neither an experiment in socialism nor an adaptation of an economic order. The Lord’s way is founded on personal agency and the condition of the steward’s heart. Implemented properly, the Lord’s way prospers, enlightens and exalts, while man’s way impoverishes, discourages and damns.

In the latter days, the Lord has placed an extra burden on the well-to-do saints to care for their underprivileged brothers and sisters in impoverished nations: “…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.”[xvii] The word Gentiles in this context means the members of the Church who live in wealthy gentile nations; the “poor of my people who are of the house of Israel” live elsewhere in less favorable circumstances. We, who are privileged, are responsible to contribute generously to the programs of the Church that level up our brothers and sisters, allowing them to share equally with us in the Lord’s blessings.

Enough and to Spare

The Lord promises ample resources to accomplish his purposes: “For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare.” Therefore, we need only go about doing all that we can to care for the Lord’s children. Finally, taking care of the impoverished remains our choice, but how we choose will bring judgment: “I prepared all things, and have given unto the children of men to be agents unto themselves. Therefore, 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.”[xviii]

Imagine, then, a world impacted by the Lord’s stewards. Such people would go about doing good works in the similitude of their Master, whose work it is. 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.”[xix] With the resources that the Lord had entrusted to his stewards, they would search out and attack misery wherever they encountered it. They would always have their antennae up, seeking to become a conduit through which the Lord could channel blessings to his needy children. To such stewards the Lord would direct a continuous flow of opportunities and resources for the purpose of blessing his children.

When the stewards became aware of a need, they would receive the intelligence with the attitude that the Lord had brought the matter to their attention. The stewards would not and could not turn away; rather, they would assume that the Lord expected them to do whatever they could to supply the necessary need and continue until stability and equality were achieved.

A Lesson from the Good Samaritan

The parable of the Good Samaritan[xx] is a case in point. Although the Samaritan did not know the abused nameless man whom he encountered, he nevertheless assumed the responsibility for the man’s welfare. The Samaritan provided generously for the man’s needs; then he offered to supply anything else that might be required until the man was made whole. Clearly, the Samaritan was the Lord’s steward, and as such he was continually on the Lord’s errand.

When he saw the beaten and destitute man, he recognized that the Lord had caused two paths to converge for the purpose of saving an impoverished soul. The Samaritan received the honor of blessing the man as the Lord would have blessed him. No matter the inconvenience and notwithstanding the required time and resources that would be needed (these things belong to the Lord anyway), the Samaritan saw life through the eyes of a steward, who was under covenant to use his Master’s resources as directed.

Significantly, the Samaritan needed no blinding revelation to take action; the fact that he had encountered need was revelation enough. Assumedly, the Samaritan had previously made a decision that if the Lord would take occasion to make a need known to him, the Samaritan would receive it as a revelation and an invitation to act. Jesus ends his parable with a commandment to each covenant person, who would be a steward: “Go, and do thou likewise.”[xxi]

Could a group of such people change the world? The Samaritan clearly changed the world for at least one nameless impoverished soul. Doubtless, in his lifetime, the Samaritan changed the world for many poor individuals who needed the Lord’s time, talents and resources. Is there any way that the Samaritan’s generosity might have diminished him or reduced the resources in his trust? Of course not.

If we knew the rest of the story, we would expect that the Samaritan was restored in each instance “an hundredfold” so that he could give again. We simply cannot extend merciful blessings to God’s children and not experience a harvest of merciful blessings in return.^[xxii] As we give what we have, replacement comes with increase.^[xxiii]

This principle, then, is part of the revolutionary foundation that Joseph Smith intended to establish that would one day change the entire world. When employed, this principle prospered, secured, protected and exalted the most successful civilizations that have ever existed. It is central to “the law of the celestial kingdom,”[xxiv] and therefore we must become converted to living it if we ever expect to inherit that kingdom. It is the last law and obstacle that stand between us and celestial glory. For now, it has the power to transform the condition of mankind and achieve the unimaginable: No poor among them!

Author’s Note

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

[ii] Galbraith, Ogden, and Skinner, Jerusalem: The Eternal City, 41.

[iii] Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 321.

[iv] McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 531.

[v] Ezra Taft Benson, Come unto Christ, 114; Hebrews 12:22.

[vi] Alma 13:17–18.

[vii] JST Genesis 14:34.

[viii] 4 Nephi 1:2-3, 15-18.

[ix] Alma 41:3–6, 15.

[x] 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.

[xi] Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 366.

[xii] D&C 82:17.

[xiii] D&C 105:4–5.

[xiv] D&C 104:14, 11-13.

[xv] Moses 1:39.

[xvi] D&C 104:15-16.

[xvii] D&C 42:39.

[xviii] D&C 104:16-18.

[xix] History of the Church, 4:227.

[xx] Luke 10:30-37.

[xxi] Luke 10:37.

[xxii] Hinckley, “Blessed Are the Merciful,” 68.

[xxiii] Packer, “The Candle of the Lord,” 54–55.

[xxiv] D&C 105:4–5.

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.

In the beginning of the 34^th year of the Nephite calendar, a terrible destruction occurred. According to Mormon, on the fourth day of the first month of the year, the Nephite nation was visited with cataclysms on the scale of the Flood and Sodom and Gomorrah. To the survivors, the voice of the resurrected Christ pierced the strangling darkness with both a rebuke and an invitation. We are obligated to consider these canonized words, because Mormon handpicked them as a way for us to prepare for and receive the resurrected Christ and his Zion.

O all ye that are spared because ye were more righteous than they, will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?

How do we prepare to receive Christ and his Zion? Return, repent, and be converted. And what is the promise? Complete healing.

Mormon zeroed in on an exhortation that Jesus made when he later appeared to the Nephites. As we shall see, this exhortation helped to prepare the people for Zion:

And there shall be no disputations among you, as there have hitherto been; neither shall there be disputations among you concerning the points of my doctrine, as there have hitherto been. For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another. Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that such things should be done away (3 Nephi 11:28-30).

In other words, stop arguing; stop fighting. Quit competing, gossiping, judging, and saying and doing hurtful things to each other. All of these things come of pride and selfishness. So stop thinking so much about yourself and start thinking more about others.

The Preparatory Year

We note with interest that Jesus’ voice was heard in the beginning of the thirty-fourth year. Then Mormon lets the record goes silent, as silent as the weighty silence that shrouded the earth after the Savior’s first pronouncements. When Mormon picks up the account again, he announces that we are “in the ending of the thirty and fourth year,” nearly one year later.

What happened in the lives of the surviving Nephites during those twelve months? Mormon gives us the answer in 4^th Nephi, and these verses provide us a key to likewise qualify to come into the presence of the Lord and become a Zion people.

And it came to pass in the thirty and sixth year, the people were all converted unto the Lord, upon all the face of the land, both Nephites and Lamanites, and there were no contentions and disputations among them, and every man did deal justly one with another.

And they had all things common among them; therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift….

And it came to pass that there was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell 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.

Clearly, the people had done as Jesus had directed one year earlier. In the subsequent twelve months, they had managed to return to him with full purpose of heart; they had repented; they had become converted. Then, as promised, when the Lord came, he healed them. Moreover, after Jesus came, and perhaps most importantly, the people had purged themselves of disputations and contentions. Now they were ready to become a Zion people, among the happiest “people who had been created by the hand of God.”

Is Zion that close? Could we, too, qualify for the supernal blessings enjoyed by the Nephites by practicing the same principles and eliminating the same vices?

Brigham Young said, “[Zion] commences in the heart of each person.” “The length of time required ‘to accomplish all things pertaining to Zion’ is strictly up to us and how we live.”

The Problem with Contention

Contentions and disputations had always been the common denominators of Nephite decline, apostasy and war. Contentions had also brought down the Jaredite civilization, and later contention had nearly destroyed the Nephites after the birth of Christ. We are not exempt. Mormon seemed to take a prophetic view of our day and single out a significant barrier that would stand between us and Zion. Quoting Jesus, Mormon reminds and warns us about the dangers of contention and disputation, then commands us to abandon such behavior once and for all.

A cursing is pronounced upon those who contend, and prophets and great leaders have sought to teach unifying principles to avoid the possibility of contention. King Benjamin warned, “But, O my people, beware lest there shall arise contentions among you, and ye list to obey the evil spirit…. For behold, there is a wo pronounced upon him who listeth to obey that spirit; for if he listeth to obey him, and remaineth and dieth in his sins, the same drinketh damnation to his own soul; for he receiveth for his wages an everlasting punishment, having transgressed the law of God contrary to his own knowledge.”

Later, Alma commanded the members of the Church “that there should be no contention one with another, but that…their hearts [should be] knit together in unity and in love one towards another.” Looking out across the generations of his children, Nephi prophesied that contention would define his people’s history and eventually cause their downfall: “For behold, I say unto you that I have beheld that many generations shall pass away, and there shall be great wars and contentions among my people.”

When the resurrected Jesus appeared to the Nephites, he commanded them to never again contend or dispute with each other. If they would obey this command, they would also impede to a great degree envy, strife, tumult, sexual sins, lying, murder, lasciviousness, secret combinations and economic and social distinctions.

We might conjecture that if we would diligently strive to come unto Christ with full purpose of heart, repent, become converted, and rid our lives of contentions and disputations, we too might qualify in a short period of time, even in as little as one year, as the Nephite record and Brigham Young suggest, for the Lord to come to us and establish us as individual Zion people, Zion marriages, Zion families, Zion wards and stakes, and a Zion church.

“It is high time to establish Zion”

Could becoming Zion people be that simple? If we were to really believe what we have been taught and really live what we have been given, could we also become Zion people in as little as one year? Joseph Smith said, “So long as unrighteous acts are suffered in the Church, it cannot be sanctified, neither can Zion be redeemed.” Our responsibility is to act now and embrace the principles of Zion, “or else,” the Lord warns, our “faith is vain.”

An editorial written by Bishop Newel K. Whitney and his counselors in the Messenger and the Advocate sums up the urgency: “Whatever is glorious. Whatever is desirable-Whatever pertains to salvation, either temporal or spiritual. Our hopes, our expectations, our glory and our reward, all depend on our building up Zion according to the testimony of the prophets. For unless Zion is built: our hopes perish, our expectations fail, our prospects are blasted, our salvation withers, and God will come and smite the whole earth with a curse.”

President Spencer W. Kimball taught, “Zion can be built up only among those who are the pure in heart, not a people torn by covetousness or greed, but a pure and selfless people. Not a people who are pure in appearance, rather a people who are pure in heart. Zion is to be in the world and not of the world, not dulled by a sense of carnal security, nor paralyzed by materialism. No, Zion is not things of the lower, but of the higher order, things that exalt the mind and sanctify the heart.”

Finally, President Lorenzo Snow exhorted, “It is high time to establish Zion. Let us try to build up Zion. Zion is the pure in heart. Zion cannot be built up except on the principles of union required by the celestial law. It is high time for us to enter into these things.”

A Challenge for the New Year

Let us adopt a challenge to become more Zionlike during the coming year. Write this goal on paper and attach it to the refrigerator:

Zion in One Year!

Come unto Christ

Repent

Be converted

No more contention

As simple as this goal might appear, it is nevertheless scriptural and proven among a people very much like us.

Author’s Note

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

See 3 Nephi 8:5.

3 Nephi 9:13.

3 Nephi 10:18.

4 Ne 1:2-3, 15-16.

Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, vol. 9:284.

Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, vol. 9:283.

See 1 Nephi 9:4; 12:3; 19:4; 2 Nephi 26:2, 32; 28:4; Omni 1:17; Words of Mormon 1:12; Mosiah 9:13; Alma 2:5; 4:9;50:25; 51:9; Helaman 16:22; 3 Nephi 2:11.

See Ether 11:7.

See 3 Nephi 2:11.

See Ether 4:8.

See Mosiah 29:7.

Mosiah 2:32-33.

Mosiah 18:21.

2 Nephi 26:2.

See 4 Nephi 1:24-25.

Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, vol. 2:146.

See D&C104:54-55.

N. K. Whitney & R. Cahoon. V. Knight, Messenger and Advocate, vol. 3 (October 1836-September 1837), Vol. 3 September, 1837 No. 36 p.563.

Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 363.

Lorenzo Snow, The Teachings of Lorenzo Snow, p.181.

a. D&C 97:21. (The pure in heart.)

b. D&C 82:14. (The Church and its stakes.)

c. Moses 7:19. (The city of Enoch.)

d. 2 Samuel 5:6-7; 1 Kings 8:1. (The ancient city of Jerusalem.)

e. D&C 45:66-67; 57:1-2; Articles of Faith 1:10. (The New Jerusalem, which will be built in Missouri.)

f. Hebrews 12:22-23. (The dwelling place of those who are exalted.)

First Things First

Which comes first: a Zion people or a Zion priesthood society? Read Moses 7:16-19. Notice that in the days of Enoch, the Lord called his people Zion before Enoch built the city of Zion. In fact, the city was named after the people. If we are waiting for an announcement from Salt Lake to become Zion, we will be sorely disappointed. Our pioneer forefathers discovered this sad fact: location does not make a Zion people; Zion people make a Zion location. Zion is a condition of the heart.

Pure in Heart

What does “pure in heart” mean? First, we must define terms:

1.     To “purify” something means to extract from it all contaminants and impurities;

2.     To “sanctify” something means to change its purpose or make it holy.

For example, on Sunday the priests take common bread and bless and sanctify it, whereupon the bread becomes holy. Its purpose has changed; now it is an emblem of the atonement. Likewise, when common people step into the waters of baptism and submit to that ordinance, all sin is extracted from them.

A common metaphor for this process is the making of steel. When raw ore is placed in a crucible and heated in a furnace, the substance becomes molten and the  properties separate. At that point, a skilled metallurgist can divide out the impurities from the pure, refined iron. An alloying process ensues, whereby the metallurgist carefully combines select elements in perfect proportion with the pure iron. The result is steel. But the process is not yet complete. For steel to become strong and not brittle, it must be subjected to reheating in the furnace, which is followed by pounding to align the molecules into their strongest position. The process of being thrust into the furnace and beaten is repeated multiple times until the steel is free from impurities and aligned so that it cannot be broken. At some point, the metallurgist pours the steel into a mold to change its purpose, and as a final step he polishes it. The finished product is incredibly strong and beautiful and it will remain so indefinitely.

In a similar manner, we are immersed in the crucibles attendant to the purifying experience, those fiery trials that heat, pound, mold, and polish us so that we might be purified, sanctified, and conformed to the image of God. The Lord has every right to do this. We agreed to it when we entered into the new and everlasting covenant. John Taylor wrote: “I heard the Prophet Joseph say, in speaking to the Twelve on one occasion: ‘You will have all kinds of trials to pass through. And it is quite as necessary for you to be tried as it was for Abraham and other men of God, and (said he) God will feel after you, and He will take hold of you and wrench your very heart strings, and if you cannot stand it you will not be fit for an inheritance in the kingdom of God.’”

To become pure in heart, we agree to enter into the new and everlasting covenant by baptism, and then we agree to submit to the purifying efforts of the Holy Ghost. If we allow him to do his work, he will purify our hearts so that he can thereafter sanctify us and form us into the image of God.  The apostle Paul said it this way: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.” Zion people are covenant people, who submit to the purifying crucible and emerge sanctified as new creatures. King Benjamin’s people cried out what we might call the anthem of the pure in heart:

And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which 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.

President Spencer W. Kimball taught: “Zion can be built up only among those who are the pure in heart, not a people torn by covetousness or greed, but a pure and selfless people. Not a people who are pure in appearance, rather a people who are pure in heart. Zion is to be in the world and not of the world, not dulled by a sense of carnal security, nor paralyzed by greed. No, Zion is not things of the lower, but of the higher order, things that exalt the mind and sanctify the heart.”

Burning Out Impurities

What impurities could we allow the Holy Ghost to burn from us so that we could become pure in heart? Let us mention a few:

• Disobedience (D&C 64:34-35;105:3, 5-6). InD&C 105, the Lord cited disobedience as one of the reasons the city of Zion was not to be established at that time.
• Persecution of the poor (D&C 105:3). The word poor broadly means those who are financially, emotionally, physically or spiritually in need. The Saints who were trying to establish Zion in Missouri were chastised by the Lord for failing to care for “the poor and afflicted among them.” The rich are continually condemned by the Lord: “But wo unto the rich, who are rich as to the things of the world. For because they are rich they despise the poor, and they persecute the meek, and their hearts are upon their treasures; wherefore, their treasure is their God. And behold, their treasure shall perish with them also.” The reasons for the condemnation should be clear: A rich man makes at least three fatal decisions so that he might become and remain wealthy: 1) He uses his time, talents and resources for the purpose of building his personal wealth; 2) He determines that the wealth belongs to him and is not a stewardship that is to be used to do the Lord’s work; 3) He decides to keep his most of his wealth instead of giving it to the poor. By assuming this attitude, he despises the poor, persecutes the meek, and chooses Babylon over Zion.
• Casual attitude toward the temple. (D&C 97:10-16; 105:9-12). Zion people are covenant people. They always gather for the purpose of building temples, where they can receive their eternal blessings and stand as proxy so others can receive the blessings of salvation. As proxies, they become saviors on Mount Zion in the similitude of the Savior, who is the king of Zion. They assume the work of their king, which is to “bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” While Zion people cannot affect immortality, they can affect the potential quality of another person’s immortality, the highest manifestation of which is eternal life.
• Casual attitude toward missionary work. (D&C 133:8-9). Once a person has made the decision to come out from Babylon and the Lord has delivered him into Zion, the Lord sends that person back to call other people out from Babylon (the world) and into Zion. Jesus is our example. As the Father sent him into the world, so Jesus sends us into the world to bring people out. We cannot avoid this assignment without serious repercussions. A missionary attitude will become more critical as the world implodes under the weight of its own wickedness.
• Casual attitude toward the priesthood. (D&C 82:14). “For Zion must increase in beauty, and in holiness; her borders must be enlarged; her stakes must be strengthened; yea, verily I say unto you, Zion must arise and put on her beautiful garments.” President Franklin D. Richards explained, “What are these beautiful garments? These beautiful garments are the clothing upon with the authority and power of the Holy Priesthood. It is that which makes people beautiful; it is that which makes people useful….” Today, many priesthood holders have authority but little power, which comes through valiance and righteousness. The days of casualness towards the priesthood are over. President Eyring prophesied, “The destiny of the rising generation of priesthood holders is far more than to be ready to bring God’s power down to heal the sick. The preparation is to be ready to go and do whatever the Lord wants done as the world is preparing for His coming.”
• Casual attitude toward gospel scholarship and duty. (D&C 105:10). Lehi plainly taught us that one-hundred percent of the people who did not hold fast to the iron rod (the word of God) were lost. Only those who “did press their way forward, continually holding fast to the rod of iron” achieved the fruit of the tree.” But knowing the word of God is meaningless unless it is coupled with duty. “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only.”
• Inequality. (D&C 82:17-19). “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.”

Nephi said, “Behold, the Lord esteemeth all flesh in one; he that is righteous is favored of God.” Equality governs God’s dealings with his children; and righteous Zion people, who also espouse equality, receive God’s greatest blessings. What are the “favored of God” supposed to do with their blessings? Clearly, they are supposed to do that which qualified them to be called “righteous” in the first place: use them to bless God’s children.

If we desire to become “righteous” Zionlike people and “the favored of God,” we cannot treat God’s children differently than he does. Rhetorically, Nephi asked, “Behold, hath the Lord commanded any that they should not partake of his goodness?” Then, answering his own question, he said, “Behold I say unto you, Nay; but all men are privileged the one like unto the other, and none are forbidden. . . . He inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female.” Can we expect to become Zionlike if we adopt inequality?

The Lord treats his children equally, but the same is not always true of us. Nevertheless, the law of consecration stipulates that we shoulder the obligation of the covenant to lift others. It is anti-Zion to exalt ourselves while others languish in poverty. The Apostle Paul wrote, “Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s good.” What is the divine result of seeking equality? “And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.” Pay particular attention to the word because in this scripture. Because pure-hearted people strive to lift their neighbors and esteem all of God’s children as themselves, Zion flourishes. Zion is established because we make a choice to become Zionlike. President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “If we are to build that Zion of which the prophets have spoken and of which the Lord has given mighty promise, we must set aside our consuming selfishness. We must rise above our love for comfort and ease, and in the very process of effort and struggle, even in our extremity, we shall become better acquainted with our God.”

• Disunity. (D&C 38:27). We are commanded to become one. The people in the city of Enoch were described as “being of one heart and one mind” (Moses 7:18). Lack of unity was one of the reasons the early Saints were not able to build the city of Zion (D&C 101:6;105:4). Why is unity emphasized so much in connection with Zion? President Gordon B. Hinckleymade this observation: “When you are united, your power is limitless. You can accomplish anything you wish to accomplish.” This remarkable promise speaks to the power of unity. President Daniel H. Wells, former counselor in the First Presidency, taught: “The principles of the Holy Gospel are calculated in their nature to unitethe hearts of the people one with another, and to promote faith, union and lovetowards our fellows.” Because we cannot expect the Lordto establish Zion in our hearts without consecrated unity, the Lord commanded us, “I say unto you, be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine.” Prefacing this directive, he made a powerful statement regarding the importance of unity: “It is even as I am.”

Jesus taught us the power of unity anew in this dispensation: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, as I said unto my disciples, where two or three are gathered together in my name, as touching one thing, behold, there will I be in the midst of them-even so am I in the midst of you.” We see in this scripture the means by which President Hinckley’s promise is realized. Gathering into one in the name of Lord for a common purpose invites the Savior into our circle. Clearly, unity is a celestial law, and when we obey it, we enjoy its unmatched blessings.

• Contention and disputations.(Mosiah 2:32-33). After the crucifixion of the Savior, when the Nephites heard the Lord’s voice declaring the destruction of the wicked, lamenting the evils of his people, and inviting the remnant to come unto him with full purpose of heart. Later, when the Savior appeared to them, he singled out two sins that he could no longer abide if they were to come into his presence and become a Zion people. He said, “And there shall be no disputations among you, as there have hitherto been; neither shall there be disputations among you concerning the points of my doctrine, as there have hitherto been. For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another. Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that such things should be done away.” In other words, stop fighting, arguing, competing, taking offense, and becoming angry with each other.

Contentions and disputations had always been the common denominators of Nephite decline, apostasy and war. Contentions had also brought down the Jaredite civilization, and later contention had nearly destroyed the Nephites after the birth of Christ. Jesus seemed to be reminding and warning them about contentions and disputations with the commandment to abandon such behavior once and for all.

A cursing is pronounced upon those who contend, and prophets and great leaders have sought to teach unifying principles to avoid the possibility of contention. King Benjamin warned, “But, O my people, beware lest there shall arise contentions among you, and ye list to obey the evil spirit…. For behold, there is a wo pronounced upon him who listeth to obey that spirit; for if he listeth to obey him, and remaineth and dieth in his sins, the same drinketh damnation to his own soul; for he receiveth for his wages an everlasting punishment, having transgressed the law of God contrary to his own knowledge.” Later, Alma commanded the members of the Church “that there should be no contention one with another, but that…their hearts [should be] knit together in unity and in love one towards another.” Looking out across the generations of his children, Nephi prophesied that contention would define his people’s history and eventually cause their downfall: “For behold, I say unto you that I have beheld that many generations shall pass away, and there shall be great wars and contentions among my people.”

When the resurrected Jesus appeared to the Nephites, he commanded them to never again contend or dispute with each other. If they would obey this command, they would also impede to a great degree envy, strife, tumult, sexual sins, lying, murder, lasciviousness, secret combinations and economic and social distinctions. We know that the people obeyed the Lord, because the next time we read about them, we discover that “there was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people…and surely there could not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God.”

What are the promises for the pure in heart?

The scriptures speak of the glorious promises of Zion and its people. Read D&C 97:18-25. What are some of the blessings?

• Zion will spread and become glorious and great (D&C 97:18).
• Zion will be honored by the nations of the earth (D&C 97:19).
• The Lord will be Zion’s salvation (D&C 97:20).
• Zion will rejoice (D&C 97:21).
• Zion will escape the Lord’s vengeance (D&C 97:22-25).

What must we do to enjoy these blessings? (See D&C 97:25.)

The Prophet Joseph Smith taught: “The building up of Zion is a cause that has interested the people of God in every age; it is a theme upon which prophets, priests and kings have dwelt with peculiar delight; they have looked forward with joyful anticipation to the day in which we live; and fired with heavenly and joyful anticipations they have sung and written and prophesied of this our day; … we are the favored people that God has [chosen] to bring about the Latter-day glory.”

President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “I see a wonderful future in a very uncertain world. If we will cling to our values, if we will build on our inheritance, if we will walk in obedience before the Lord, if we will simply live the gospel, we will be blessed in a magnificent and wonderful way. We will be looked upon as a peculiar people who have found the key to a peculiar happiness. ‘And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord … : for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem’ (Isaiah 2:3). Great has been our past, wonderful is our present, glorious can be our future.”

Author’s Note:

Much of this material was extracted from The Three Pillars of Zion. You may receive a free sampling at www.PillarsOfZion.com.

Romans 8:29.

Taylor, Journal of Discourses, 24:197.

2 Corinthians 5:17.

Mosiah 5:2.

Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 363.

2 Nephi 9:30.

Moses 1:39.

John 17:18.

Journal of Discourses, 21:195.

Eyring, “Be Ready,” Ensign, Nov. 2009, 59

1 Nephi 8:30.

James 1:22.

1 Nephi 17:35.

2 Nephi 26:28, 33.

JST 1 Corinthians 10:24.

Moses 7:18; emphasis added.

McMullin, “Come to Zion! Come to Zion!” 94.

Hinckley, Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley, 725.

Hinckley, “Your Greatest Challenge, Mother,” 97-100.

Wells, Journal of Discourses, 24:314.

D&C 38:27.

D&C 6:32; emphasis added; see also Matthew 18:20.

3 Nephi 11:28-30

See 1 Nephi 9:4; 12:3; 19:4; 2 Nephi 26:2, 32; 28:4; Omni 1:17; Words of Mormon 1:12; Mosiah 9:13; Alma 2:5; 4:9;50:25; 51:9; Helaman 16:22; 3 Nephi 2:11

See Ether 11:7

See 3 Nephi 2:11

See Ether 4:8

See Mosiah 29:7

Mosiah 2:32-33

Mosiah 18:21

2 Nephi 26:2

See 4 Nephi 1:24-25

4 Nephi 1:15-18, emphasis added

Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 231.

Ensign, Nov. 1997, 69.

The ultimate definition of happiness is to be like God; the more we approach the stature of God in attributes, knowledge, power, and dominion, the happier we are. Conversely, the definition of misery is to be like Satan. Misery is always associated with Babylon.

To become like God and experience his level of happiness rests on two criteria: (1) Justice–the system of celestial laws that make God who he is and provide him what he has; that is, God’s power and quality of life derive from his obedience to celestial laws. (2) Mercy-the Lord’s love, grace, forbearance, clemency, and pity on us lesser beings, as he patiently works with us to help us to become like him. To a great extent our happiness depends upon God’s merciful interaction with us and our extending mercy to others.

The Covenant of the Gods

In a premortal council of the Gods (which preceded the Council in Heaven that we attended), the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost entered into a covenant to work together for the happiness, salvation, and exaltation of the Father’s children. Joseph Smith taught that an “everlasting covenant was made between three personages before the organization of this earth, and relates to their dispensation of things to men on the earth; these personages, according to Abraham’s record, are called God the first, the Creator; God the second, the Redeemer; and God the third, the witness or Testator.” Our interaction with these three Gods began before the world was created, continues here, and will endure into eternity. Every aspect of our interaction with them has to do with our present redemption and our eternal happiness.

Too often we miss the fact that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost define their dealings with us in terms of relationship. Each one of us is dearer to them than we can comprehend. Motivated solely by their relationship with us, they initiated the plan of happiness.

In the premortal world, when the Father announced the plan of happiness, we shouted for joy, perhaps because the plan’s far-reaching benefits were so extraordinary. In that supreme act of love, Heavenly Father offered us the opportunity to become what he is. He held nothing back. His package included indivisible access to and inheritance of the totality of his kingdom, the fulness of his power, the keys to the library of everything he knows, and the ability to become like him in perfections, characteristic, and attributes.

His offer included the quintessential gift of a physical body, and a tabernacle of flesh and bones for our immortal spirits to eternally “act upon.” He also offered us the invaluable gift of divine education: the opportunity to experience good and evil and the unrestricted gift of agency to choose between them. Finally, he offered us the opportunity to enjoy his lifestyle–eternal marriage and family–with the promise of eternal posterity.

Happiness Encompasses All That Is Good

Clearly, the plan of happiness offered us all that was good, which is called righteousness. Righteousness, according to Chauncey Riddle, is “that necessary order of social relationships in which beings of knowledge and power must bind themselves in order to live together in accomplishment and happiness for eternity.”

Happiness is wholly dependent upon righteousness, and it is in righteousness that Zion people weld themselves together by solemn covenants so that they become “predictable, dependable, and united so that they can be trusted. They bind themselves to be honest, true, chaste, and benevolent so that they can do good for all other beings, which good they do by personal sacrifice to fulfill all righteousness.” Thus, being and doing good and being and doing righteousness are synonymous terms; goodness and righteousness are unifying, perfecting, selfless principles that produce happiness.

On the other hand, evil, the opposite of goodness and righteousness, is without discipline, a law unto itself, a corrupting and self-serving principle that produces misery. Evil defines Babylon.

Heavenly Father structured the plan of happiness so as to mercifully wrest us from Babylon, from our complacency, from our evil tendencies, and from the effects of the Fall. Heavenly Father built into the plan of happiness his promise that he would endow us with the Light of Christ, which is an agent employed by the Holy Ghost to “feel after” us and draw us out of Babylon and into Zion. By means of that light, the Holy Ghost would continually offer us opportunities to view ourselves in our “awful state,” for the purpose of shaking us loose from Babylon.

Moreover, the Father promised that he would offer each of us an unmistakable witness of the truth by the power of the Holy Ghost, so that we might reconsider our destructive path, repent of evil, and embrace “the godly order of good.” Clearly, the Father makes every effort to offer us happiness.

Balancing Justice and Mercy

To make the plan of happiness operational, the Father first instigated the covenant of justice, that system of laws that he obeyed in order to become who he is and enjoy what he has. That is, by obedience to celestial he was justified to enjoy the blessings associated with those laws. By living those laws, we, God’s children, can progress and become like him in every way. That is the process that leads to true happiness.

Knowing that his children would break the celestial laws while they struggled to assimilate them in their lives, and knowing that those broken laws would consign his children “forever to be cut off from his presence,” the Father decreed a second law, which would have the power to override the consequences of broken celestial laws and to thereby save his children. That new law is called the covenant of mercy. We know this law by another name: the new and everlasting covenant.

The covenant of mercy called for the Father to provide an atoning Savior to balance the demands of justice against the purposes of mercy: “And now, the plan of mercy could not be brought about except an atonement should be made; therefore God himself [Jesus Christ] atoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of mercy, to appease the demands of justice, that God might be a perfect, just God, and a merciful God also.” Mercy would also allow the children of God to receive physical bodies like their Father’s, with the assurance that these eternal gifts would not be cancelled out by death. The Savior’s merciful universal resurrection would make that possible.

Accessing the benefits of mercy through the Atonement was decreed to be a matter of individual choice. To facilitate that choice, the Father instigated a covenant that we could choose to embrace if we desired to access the Atonement, draw upon its mercy, receive shelter from the demands of justice, and be placed beyond the reach of our enemies. This covenant is called the new and everlasting covenant, and we enter it by our individual agency.

Placed Beyond Our Enemies

The Atonement makes goodness, righteousness, happiness, and salvation possible. According to Joseph Smith, salvation is the power to be placed beyond the reach of one’s enemies. The specific enemy he spoke of was death, but, as Brother Riddle says, “The great enemy of each human being is himself, for in our weakness and selfishness we are and do evil.” We, alone, can neither save ourselves nor fully overcome our weakness or selfishness.

Overcoming our natural selves and our enemies is made possible “only if we fully cooperate with Jesus Christ.” He has the ability to cleanse us completely of the stains of our evildoing and to transform us into righteous individuals who have no more desires to do evil. This process leads to progressively higher levels of happiness. By entering into the new and everlasting covenant for the purpose of accepting the Atonement of Jesus Christ, a repentant person can be “rescued from being and doing evil” through the “merits and mercy of the Son of God.”

How Mercy Appeases Justice

That mercy is a covenant is an essential truth. Every covenant or law of God is obeyed or disobeyed by individual choice. Specific blessings and consequences are associated with that choice, and either misery or happiness results. If we desire mercy, we must live the covenant associated with mercy. As we have learned, that covenant is the new and everlasting covenant, which we are required to receive in order to accept Jesus Christ and his Atonement. It is a truth that this Covenant springs from the Atonement and is the instrument by which we are justified to receive the Lord’s mercy and by which the plan of happiness is realized.

Clearly, the new and everlasting covenant activates the plan of redemption. By means of this Covenant, the Father’s children can receive celestial laws and experiment with them without being destroyed by them. By means of the Covenant, the children of God can lay hold on the blessings of the Atonement by choosing to repent, progress, obtain salvation, become like God, and inherit all that he has. This is the ultimate condition of Zion people.

The new and everlasting covenant also sets us on the defined path that leads to eternal life, gives us the authority of God, places in our hands the keys (not priesthood administrative keys) to God’s knowledge and power, and sets us up in our individual eternal kingdoms. Only the Atonement itself exceeds in glory the magnificence of the new and everlasting covenant. The two are inseparable, and both answer the end-purpose of the Father’s plan of mercy: our happiness.

Experiencing Contrasts Leads to Happiness

To lay hold on the plan of happiness, we must be presented with two contrasting revelations: (1) God and his goodness, and (2) our fallen situation. Because is crucial, the Lord uses contrast to motivate us to choose between these opposites.

As we have noted, there are good and bad consequences attached to God’s laws. Breaking his commandments always results in being “cut off both temporally and spiritually from the presence of the Lord.” This is misery, which Alma described as “the gall of bitterness,” and being “encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.” On the other hand, happiness always results from being brought, through our obedience, into “the marvelous light of God.”

For instance, after Alma had been “racked with eternal torment” for his sins and “harrowed to the greatest degree,” he appealed to the Savior and suddenly swung from misery to happiness. He moved from “inexpressible horror” to “exquisite and sweet” joy, from the “pains of a damned soul” to experiencing redemption and seeing “God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels,” with his soul longing to be there. He exulted, “Oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold.” Then describing the contrast, “My soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain.”

Clearly, seeing the contrast between good and evil motivates us toward happiness. After the Lord appeared to Moses, he left him to himself and he was tempted by Satan. That contrast allowed Moses to experience the distinct difference between having the Lord and not having the Lord with him: “Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed.” Moses also perceived the contrasting differences in glory between the Lord and Satan: “Moses looked upon Satan and said: . . . where is thy glory that I should worship thee?” Now that Moses had experienced these contrasting visions, he was empowered to choose between misery and happiness. He said, “Depart from me, Satan, for this one God only will I worship, which is the God of glory.”

Similarly, but in reverse order, King Benjamin’s people literally collapsed when they “viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth.” Then, after they cried out to the Lord for mercy, “the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience.” Happiness came only after they experienced the contrast.

Similarly, and in a unique way, the Lord will offer us happiness by helping us understand who he is and showing us who and where we are. Then we, like King Benjamin’s people, might be so astonished that we cry out for mercy and deliverance. Hopefully, when we are offered deliverance, we will choose to embrace it with all our hearts. The account of King Benjamin and his people teach us the truth that mercy, deliverance, and eternal happiness are available to us only through the Atonement. We note that King Benjamin’s people were willing “to enter into a covenant with [their] God to do his will, and to be obedient to his commandments in all things that he [would] command [them], all the remainder of [their] days.”

Covenant-making leads to deliverance, which leads to happiness. After we have made a covenant and experienced deliverance and happiness, we will never want to return to our miserable past. Our desire now centers on the Lord sending the Holy Ghost to transform us into new creatures with new hearts. Because that process is beyond our ability, we look to Christ. To achieve a change of heart, we must first accept Jesus Christ and his Atonement, enter into a covenant of salvation with him, and cooperate with him to the fullest extent. Moreover, we must fully submit to his incomparable power and trust him as he remakes us into new creatures by planting the seeds of salvation and happiness into our souls. “Thus human beings may become good and may become gods.”

Summary

To summarize, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost entered into a premortal covenant to save and exalt the Father’s children. A primary purpose of that covenant was that the children achieve ultimate happiness. Therefore, the Gods initiated the plan of happiness, which called for the Father to reveal the system of celestial laws that made him who he is and gave him what he has. The Gods knew that in the process of our learning those laws, we, God’s children, would inevitably break the laws and become liable to pay severe penalties. Therefore, to mitigate the adverse effects of broken laws, the Gods initiated the Plan of Redemption, or the Plan of Mercy.

That plan called for the Father to provide a Savior to rescue us from death and to atone for the consequences of broken celestial laws. The blessings of mercy through this plan could be accessed only by law and by choice; therefore, the Father established the new and everlasting covenant. Now his children could agree to obey this new law that would provide mercy, and God in turn would agree to set aside “the demands of justice.” Thus, justice could be satisfied, mercy could rescue and claim her own, and the children of God could progress in the Covenant until they achieved salvation, exaltation, and ultimate happiness, as the Gods had planned in the beginning.

Thus, Zion people experience unequalled happiness because they choose to embrace the Atonement by entering into and fully living the new and everlasting covenant.

Author’s Note

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

2 Nephi 2:25.

See Alma 42:15.

Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 349.

Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 190.

Alma 42:1-26.

Job 38:7.

2 Nephi 2:13-14.

D&C 132:24, 55.

Riddle, “The New and Everlasting Covenant,” 225.

Riddle, “The New and Everlasting Covenant,” 225.

D&C 88:21-35.

D&C 112:13.

Ether 4:15.

Riddle, “The New and Everlasting Covenant,” 225.

Alma 42:13-15.

Alma 42:14.

See Alma 42:13-15.

Alma 42:15.

See Alma 11:44.

Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 305.

Acts 4:12.

Riddle, “The New and Everlasting Covenant,” 225-26.

Alma 19:33.

Riddle, “The New and Everlasting Covenant,” 225.

Alma 42:7.

Alma 36:18.

Mosiah 27:29.

Alma 36:12.

Alma 36:14, 21.

Alma 36:16, 19-22.

Alma 36:20.

Moses 1:10, 13.

Moses 1:20.

Mosiah 4:12-13.

Mosiah 5:5.

2 Nephi 25:28.

2 Corinthians 5:17.

Riddle, “The New and Everlasting Covenant,” 226.

Alma 42:15.

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.

To become Zion people, we must make a decision. Once and for all, we must commit to both believe and live what we have received. It is not enough to go through the motions of being a Latter-day Saint. We must thoroughly study and understand the new and everlasting covenant, which is the offspring of the Atonement.  Receiving, committing to, studying, and living the Covenant are the vehicles that allow us to become Zion people. In the final analysis, it is what we have become that will determine our eternal possibilities.

If we are to become Zion people, what will be our characteristics?

• Above all, pure in heart.
• Separate from Babylon.
• Of one heartand mind-unified with Godand our fellowmen.
• Equal in opportunity for and access to God’s blessings.
• Stewards, not owners, who are accountable to God.
• Having chosen God over mammon.
• Striving to laborfor Zion and not to amass personal waelth.
• Having completely consecrated ourselves: our time, talents, and all that we have and are for the upbuilding of the kingdomof Godand the establishment of Zion.

“How Long Halt Ye Between Two Opinions?”

If Zion is our aspiration, this description is what we must become. And it all starts with making a commitment. Well did Elijah challenge his contemporaries: “How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him.” As long as our commitment waits, Zion’s blessings remain unclaimed.

In a conference address entitled “Becoming the Pure in Heart,” President Spencer W. Kimball taught that we should keep uppermost in our minds the vision of who we are and what we are about. He said, “For many years we have been taught that one important end result of our labors, hopes, and aspirations in this work is the building of a latter-day Zion, a Zion characterized by love, harmony, and peace-a Zion in which the Lord’s children are as one.” Then he quoted Doctrine and Covenants 48, in which the Lord gives us a glimpse of the latter-day Zion:

Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation. For after much tribulation come the blessings. Wherefore the day cometh that ye shall be crowned with much glory; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand. . . .

Behold, verily I say unto you, for this cause I have sent you-that you might be obedient, and that your hearts might be prepared to bear testimony of the things which are to come; and also that you might be honored in laying the foundation, and in bearing record of the land upon which the Zion of God shall stand.

And after that cometh the day of my power; then shall the poor, the lame, and the blind, and the deaf, come in unto the marriage of the Lamb, and partake of the supper of the Lord, prepared for the great day to come. Behold, I, the Lord, have spoken it.

With the gift of seership, President Kimball proclaimed that this scripture will be fulfilled. The day of Zion will surely come, and it is our destiny to cause it to happen. Then he asked if these promises do not inspire us to lengthen our stride and quicken our pace to do our part in this marvelous latter-day work. At that point he mourned that many of us are still mired in Babylon, uncommitted and floundering between two divergent philosophies. He said,

Unfortunately we live in a world that largely rejects the values of Zion. Babylon has not and never will comprehend Zion. . . . Zion can be built up only among those who are the pure in heart, not a people torn by covetousness or greed, but a pure and selfless people. Not a people who are pure in appearance, rather a people who are pure in heart. Zion is to be in the world and not of the world, not dulled by a sense of carnal security, nor paralyzed by materialism. No, Zion is not things of the lower, but of the higher order, things that exalt the mind and sanctify the heart. Zion is “every man seeking the interest of his neighbor, and doing all things with an eye single to the glory of God.” (D&C 82:19.) As I understand these matters, Zion can be established only by those who are pure in heart, and who labor for Zion, for “the laborer in Zion shall labor for Zion; for if they labor for money they shall perish.” (2 Nephi 26:31).

Our duty and our opportunity are clear. We need only to commit.

“It Is High Time to Establish Zion”

In an address given to the Saints on May 2, 1842, Joseph Smith rejoiced in the coming day of Zion, which assumes that some individuals within the Church will have prepared themselves to become the pure in heart:

The building up of Zion is a cause that has interested the people of God in every age; it is a theme upon which prophets, priests and kings have dwelt with peculiar delight; they have looked forward with joyful anticipation to the day in which we live; and fired with heavenly and joyful anticipations they have sung and written and prophesied of this our day; but they died without the sight; we are the favored people that God has made choice of to bring about the latter-day glory; it is left for us to see, participate in and help to roll forward the latter-day glory…. [the establishment of Zion is] a work that God and angels have contemplated with delight for generations past; that fired the souls of the ancient patriarchs and prophets; a work that is destined to bring about the destruction of the powers of darkness, the renovation of the earth, the glory of God, and the salvation of the human family.

To establish Zion, whether in the heart of an individual, a marriage, a family, or in a priesthood community of Saints, President Lorenzo Snow admonished us to cease the destructive practice of competition and the selfish building up of our own kingdoms. We must resolve now, he said, to center our efforts on the building of God’s kingdom for the establishment of Zion:

It is high time to establish Zion. Let us try to build up Zion. Zion is the pure in heart. Zion cannot be built up except on the principles of union required by the celestial law. It is high time for us to enter into these things. It is more pleasant and agreeable for the Latter-day Saints to enter into this work and build up Zion, than to build up ourselves and have this great competition which is destroying us.

Again, calling for us to prepare for the establishment of Zion today and simultaneously denouncing the competitive practices that prohibit Zion, President Snow said,

What a lovely thing it would be if there was a Zion now, as in the days of Enoch, that there would be peace in our midst and no necessity for a man to contend and tread upon the toes of another to attain a better position, and advance himself ahead of his neighbor! And there should be no unjust competition in matters that belong to the Latter-day Saints. That which creates division among us pertaining to our temporal interests should not be.

Let us state here that Zion, meaning the ideal of Zion, is the perfection of sanctification. That is our aim and the reason that we submit to the transforming process of being sanctified by the Holy Ghost. If Zion is the pure in heart, then we must become pure-that is to say, unalloyed, unmixed, uncontaminated, uncorrupted, unsullied-if we truly desire to qualify for the ultimate blessings of Zion. President Snow ended with this definitive statement: “So long as unrighteous acts are suffered in the Church, it cannot be sanctified, neither can Zion be redeemed.” Our call to become Zion people is a call to act now and begin to embrace the principles of Zion, “or else,” the Lord warns, our “faith is vain.”

An editorial written by Bishop Newel K. Whitney and his counselors in the Messenger and Advocate sums up the urgency to become Zion people now:

Whatever is glorious. Whatever is desirable-Whatever pertains to salvation, either temporal or spiritual. Our hopes, our expectations, our glory and our reward, all depend on our building up Zion according to the testimony of the prophets. For unless Zion is built: our hopes perish, our expectations fail, our prospects are blasted, our salvation withers, and God will come and smite the whole earth with a curse.

Clearly, it is high time to establish Zion!

A Few Could Form the Foundation of Zion

If we accept the Book of Mormon to be our latter-day guide, we also accept the account in Third Nephi to be our model for the latter-day establishment of Zion. In surveying that account, we are immediately struck by the fact that even a few pure-in-heart people could anchor the principles of Zion to the earth.

Mormon makes the point that only 2,500 Nephites made up the initial group of Zion people. According to the Third Nephi model, the small group of the pure-in-heart people act as leaven by setting an example and encouraging others to become pure in heart and join with them under the organizational leadership of thepriesthood. We note with interest that within a few years, the entire Nephite population had become pure in heart and was assimilated into Zion.

Are we willing to be counted among the few who have the courage to embrace the principles of Zion in our lives? Hugh Nibley quoted Brigham, who issued the following warning: “If we are not faithful, others will take our place.” Zion is our opportunity, but we can lose it through apathy or carelessness. President Young said that though individuals might fail, nevertheless the Church will succeed:

“We may fail, if we are not faithful; but God will not fail in accomplishing his work, whether we abide it or not.” Obviously, our individual inaction will have little impact on the Lord’s global plans for Zion. His purposes will roll forth, and the prophecies and promises concerning Zion will all be fulfilled: “If we do not wake up and cease to long after the things of this earth, we will find that we as individuals will go down to hell, although the Lord will preserve a people unto himself.

Then President Young asked, “Shall we do this in our present condition as a people? No; for we must be pure and holy.” Continuing, he said, “If my brethren and sisters do not walk up to the principles of the holy Gospel . . . they will be removed out of their places, and others will be called to occupy them.” To the uncommitted, he stated that the unifying principles of Zion can be divisive and troublesome: “Of the great many who have been baptized into this Church, but few have been able to abide the word of the Lord; they have fallen out on the right and on the left . . . and a few have gathered together.”

Joseph Smith also lamented about the Saints’ lack of commitment to the cause of Zion: “I have tried for a number of years to get the minds of the Saints prepared to receive the things of God; but we frequently see some of them, after suffering all they have for the work of God, will fly to pieces like glass as soon as anything comes that is contrary to their traditions: they cannot stand the fire at all. How many will be able to abide a celestial law, and go through and receive their exaltation, I am unable to say, as many are called, but few are chosen.”

The first latter-day opportunity to build up Zion evaporated with the contentions and jealousies of the early Saints. That will not happen again. Most certainly, the Lord, through his prophet, will call a “select” few, “who are worthy to be called” to form the foundation of latter-day Zion, and when that happens, Babylon’s fate is sealed. Elder McConkie wrote:

“There has been a day of calling,” a day in which all the elders of the kingdom were invited to come forward and build the New Jerusalem, “but the time has come for a day of choosing.” The response of his early Latter-day Saints having been inadequate, the Lord will now choose, when he will, those who are to accomplish the great work. “And let those be chosen that are worthy.” When the day comes, none but those who qualify by obedience and righteousness will participate in the work. “And it shall be manifest unto my servant”–the President of the Church who then governs the kingdom–”by the voice of the Spirit, those that are chosen; and they shall be sanctified; and inasmuch as they follow the counsel which they receive, they shall have power after many days to accomplish all things pertaining to Zion.” (D&C 105:14-37.) After many days, a designated period in which we still live, those who are called, chosen, selected, appointed, and sent forth by the voice of the Spirit, as it speaks to the President of the Church, shall build the New Jerusalem and the holy temple to which the Lord Jesus Christ shall come in power and glory as the great Millennium is ushered in. In the meantime, our work as a people is to keep the commandments and sanctify ourselves so that if the call comes in our day, we shall be worthy to respond.

If we are waiting to become Zion people when we hear the announcement of the priesthood society of Zion, we will be sorely disappointed. Zion, the location, does not make Zion, the people. Zion is a condition of the heart. Hence, we no more wait for an announcement to become Zionlike than we wait for an announcement to live the law of consecration. When it comes to living the laws and principles of Zion in our individual lives, nothing waits. We have covenanted and we are expected to strive to become Zion people today.

Our preparation for “the upbuilding of an ‘holy city’ which shall be called Zion” is plainly an individual effort that centers on our attempts to purify our hearts. Joseph Smith said, “All who build thereon [the foundation of Zion] are to worship the true and living God, and all believe in one doctrine, even the doctrine of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

To this end, President Lorenzo Snow counseled, “Then let us practice honesty and diligence in our various callings, seeking unity and to cultivate the spirit of brotherhood financially as well as spiritually, that we may be in readiness, upon call, to go forth and build up the center stake of Zion and prepare a house in which to meet the Lord our Savior and Redeemer.” Until the prophetic call to Zion comes, said Joseph Smith, “the Lord wants the wheat and tares to grow together; for Zion must be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness.”

What, then, must we be about? The Prophet Joseph Smith answered, “We ought to have the building up of Zion as our greatest object.” Repeatedly the Lord has commanded us to “seek to bring forth and establish the cause of Zion.” Therefore, we are to “arise and shine forth, that [our] light may be a standard for the nations.” Our safety and the safety of other good-hearted people are at stake. Only in Zion will there be temporal and spiritual protection: “And that the gathering together upon the land of Zion, and upon her stakes, may be for a defense, and for a refuge from the storm, and from wrath when it shall be poured out without mixture upon the whole earth.” Our unique latter-day calling is to prepare the earth for the coming of Christ, the great Millennium, and the vanquishing of Satan.

How shall we begin to become individual Zion persons? President Kimball offered three steps: “First, we must eliminate the individual tendency to selfishness that snares the soul, shrinks the heart, and darkens the mind. . . . Second, we must cooperate completely and work in harmony one with the other…. Third, we must lay on the altar and sacrifice whatever is required by the Lord.” The result of living these steps, he said, is charity.

Everything about Zion comes down to love. If we are filled with charity, we will be selfless, cooperative, and willing to sacrifice all that we have and are; we truly will be Zion people. It is interesting to note that Enoch established a city called Zion after his people had been denominated Zion by the Lord. The society of Zion is comprised of people who have first qualified as Zion in their hearts. Most assuredly, then, it is high time to establish Zion.

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.

Oaks, “The Challenge to Become,” 32-34.

1 Kings 18:21.

D&C 58:3-12.

Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 362-63.

Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 231.

Snow, The Teachings of Lorenzo Snow, 181.

Smith, History of the Church, 2:146.

D&C 104:54-55.

Whitney, Cahoon, and Knight, Messenger and Advocate 3 (Sept. 1837): 563.

3 Nephi 17:25; 19:1-5; 4 Nephi 1:2.

Nibley, “Educating the Saints-a Brigham Young Mosaic,” 85; quoting Young, Journal of Discourses, 8:144, 183; 18:304; 8:144; 16:26; 11:324; Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 331.

McConkie, A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, 619.

Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 79.

Snow, The Teachings of Lorenzo Snow, 185.

Smith, History of the Church, 2:228.

Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 160.

D&C 6:6; 11:6; 12:6; 14:6.

D&C 115:5-6.

Moses 7:60-65; D&C 43:28-35.

Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 364.

Moses 7:18-19.

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.