There were no contentions and disputations among them, and every man did deal justly one with another. And they had all things in common among them; therefore, there were no rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift.
“You are growing up in enemy territory. When you become mature spiritually, you will understand how the adversary has infiltrated the world around you.”
“The world is wrong and we have to right it under the direction of Heaven. For this purpose are we located upon the land of Zion, and the land of Zion is North and South America—the land where our heavenly Father made his appearance and planted the Garden of Eden. This land is choice above all other lands upon the face of the earth.”
The Whole Earth (President Brigham Young): “When Joseph first revealed the land where the Saints should gather, a woman in Canada asked if we thought that Jackson County would be large enough to gather all the people that would want to go to Zion. I will answer the question really as it is. Zion will extend, eventually, all over this earth. There will be no nook or corner upon the earth but what will be in Zion. It will all be Zion.”
“And where is the land of Zion? It is wherever the finger of the Lord has pointed out for His people to gather to. That is the place to go to. ”
“Where is Zion? Where the organization of the Church of God is.”
“We are not going to wait for angels, or for Enoch and his company to come and build up Zion, but we are going to build it.”
“If we are to build up the kingdom of God, or establish Zion upon the earth, we have to labor with our hands, plan with our minds, and devise ways and means to accomplish that object.”
“Do we realize that if we enjoy a Zion in time or in eternity, we must make it for ourselves? That all who have a Zion in the eternities of the gods organized, framed, consolidated, and perfected it themselves, and consequently are entitled to enjoy it.”
“The angels that now walk in their golden streets, and they have the tree of life within their paradise, had to obtain that gold and put it there. When we have streets paved with gold, we will have placed it there ourselves. When we enjoy a Zion in its beauty and glory, it will be when we have built it. If we live in the city of the New Jerusalem, it will be because we lay the foundation and build it.”
“As individuals, we enjoy Zion at present, but not as a community; there is so much sin, darkness, and ignorance, and the veil of the covering which is over the nations of the earth is measurably over the Latter-day Saints. The same unrighteous principles, which becloud the minds of men universally, more or less becloud the minds of the Latter-day Saints.”
“Are the Latter-day Saints ready to receive Zion from above? Have they wisdom and knowledge to receive and conduct themselves properly in the society of angels? I think not.”
“The skill of building up and establishing the Zion of our God on the earth is to take the people and teach them how to take care of themselves.”
“When eternity comes I will be prepared to enter on the things of eternity. But I would not be prepared for that sphere of action, unless I could manage the things that are now within my reach. You must all learn to do this.”
“No man is going to inherit a celestial glory, who trifles with the principles thereof. The man who does not labor from day to day and from hour to hour for building up this Kingdom and bringing forth the fulness of the Kingdom of God on the earth, and the establishment of Zion, will sooner or latter, fall and go out of the Church.”
“We have improved as fast as the church of Enoch. I trust we improve faster, for we have not as much time as they had.”
“Millions will come and live in Zion when the laws of Zion reign predominant over creation; but will all be prepared to be crowned kings and priests unto God? No.”
“Then we shall begin to rapidly collect the intelligence that is bestowed upon the nations, for all this intelligence belongs to Zion. All the knowledge, wisdom, power, and glory that have been bestowed upon the nations of the earth, from the days of Adam till now, must be gathered home to Zion.”
“We will have a nation that understands all things pertaining to the earth that it is possible for man to grasp. … So that all the world can say there is a pattern for us, not only in our business and worship, but in our knowledge of things that are, things that have been and of things that are yet to come, until the knowledge of Zion shall reach the uttermost parts of the earth, and the kings and great men shall say, ‘Let us go up to Zion and learn wisdom’. Will they come here to learn how to govern? Yes.”
2nd Zion is a People “Zion is the name given by the Lord to his saints.”
3rd Zion is a Place Old Jerusalem: “At least from the days of King David, the name Zion was applied to one of the hills upon which Jerusalem is built or later, to the entire city.”
New Jerusalem: “The New Jerusalem to be built in Jackson county, Missouri, is also called the City of Zion or Zion. Dozens of revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants speak about this Zion. Isaiah and other of the ancient prophets have much to say about it and about the Jerusalem of old which shall be restored in grandeur and beauty in the last days.”
Celestial Kingdom: “Paul uses the term Mount Zion to refer to the abode of exalted beings, those who overcome all things and inherit the fulness of the father’s kingdom.”
“We go out to the nations of the earth and preach the Gospel, a good many receive it and gather to Zion. But their trials begin when they get here, for this is the threshing floor.”
Zion is a Philosophical State of Being “Therefore, verily, thus saith the Lord, let Zion rejoice, for this is Zion—the pure in heart;”
“The heavens were opened upon us, and I beheld the celestial kingdom of God, and the glory thereof, whether in the body or out I cannot tell. I saw the transcendent beauty of the gate through which the heirs of that kingdom will enter, which was like unto circling flames of fire; Also the blazing throne of God, whereon was seated the Father and the Son. I saw the beautiful streets of that kingdom, which had the appearance of being paved with gold.”
“And Zion cannot be built up unless it is by the principles of the law of the celestial kingdom; otherwise I cannot receive her unto myself. And my people must needs be chastened until they learn obedience, if it must needs be, by the things which they suffer.”
“And it will come to pass before a great while that people will be so far from having peace that they must either take up the sword to contend against their neighbor, or flee to Zion and gather with God's people. You will see this come to pass. Mark my words. All kinds and conditions of people will desire to come here and make homes with us. You will see the day when it will be as hard to keep the wicked away from us as it ever has been to get people to join us. Mark that, too.”
“The time will come when the Latter-day Saints will build, in Independence, Mo., a holy city. That will one day be the center stake of Zion, the center spot of the New Jerusalem which God is to build on this land. We can only be prepared for that work by being united.”
“When we came to these valleys, we thought we had left the world behind us. We thought that because these mighty mountains, which reared themselves on every hand as an impassable barrier between us and the rest of the world, Babylon was left behind. We thought we could live comparatively pure lives, and that we would be comparatively free from the associations of the world. But such ideas have been dispelled - very rudely dispelled - by that which has occurred. Babylon followed us. We find that these mountains are not sufficient to divide us from the rest of the world; that we must share with the rest of mankind the evils and the blessings that pertain to this mortal condition of existence. We have these circumstances to contend with. We are mixed with the wicked. The tares and the wheat grow together and will grow until the harvest. This seems to be designed in the providence of our Father.”
“Because as Zion increases there will be new temptations and circumstances thrown around us that will be a trial to us.”
“But the time will come when there will be a separation, a final separation, of the righteous from the wicked, and that separation will be brought about by the exercise of the Priesthood which God has bestowed. That Priesthood will draw up from the earth the pure, the holy, the worthy. It will draw them up to the society of God. Everything that is not pure will be left behind.”
“The prophecies concerning Zion which are on record are full of promises concerning the future growth of this people, concerning the glory that shall rest upon Zion. But these predictions and promises are all conditional. They will be fulfilled if we place ourselves in a position to merit their fulfillment, or to bring them about. If Zion fails to come up to the requirements which God has made of us, then the fulfillment of these glorious promises will undoubtedly be deferred.”
Each of us has a small field to cultivate. While so doing, we must never lose sight of the greater picture, the large composite of the divine destiny of this work. It was given us by God our Eternal Father, and each of us has a part to play in the weaving of its magnificent tapestry. Our individual contribution may be small, but it is not unimportant.
Unless the world alters the course of its present trends (and that is not likely); and if, on the other hand, we continue to follow the teachings of the prophets, we shall increasingly become a peculiar and distinctive people of whom the world will take note. For instance, as the integrity of the family crumbles under worldly pressures, our position on the sanctity of the family will become more obvious and even more peculiar in contrast, if we have the faith to maintain that position.
We know that the Savior will come to a people who have been gathered and prepared to live as the people did in the city of Enoch. The people there were united in faith in Jesus Christ and had become so completely pure that they were taken up to heaven.
You sisters, your daughters, your granddaughters, and the women you have nurtured will be at the heart of creating that society of people who will join in glorious association with the Savior. You will be an essential force in the gathering of Israel and in the creation of a Zion people who will dwell in peace in the New Jerusalem.
In the early days of the Relief Society, the Prophet Joseph Smith said to the sisters, “If you live up to your privileges, the angels cannot be restrained from being your associates.”
“You sisters … do not hold a second place in our Father’s plan for the eternal happiness and well-being of His children. You are an absolutely essential part of that plan. “Without you the plan could not function. Without you the entire program would be frustrated. … “Each of you is a daughter of God, endowed with a divine birthright.”
“It would be impossible to measure the influence that … women have, not only on families but also on the Lord’s Church, as wives, mothers, and grandmothers; as sisters and aunts; as teachers and leaders; and especially as exemplars and devout defenders of the faith. “This has been true in every gospel dispensation since the days of Adam and Eve. Yet the women of this dispensation are distinct from the women of any other because this dispensation is distinct from any other. This distinction brings both privileges and responsibilities.”
This dispensation is distinct in that the Lord will lead us to become prepared to be like the city of Enoch. He has described through His apostles and prophets what that transformation to a Zion people will entail.
If the past is prologue, at the time of the Savior’s coming, the daughters who are deeply committed to their covenants with God will be more than half of those who are prepared to welcome Him when He comes. But whatever the numbers, your contribution in creating unity among the people prepared for that Zion will be far greater than half.
Sisters, you were given the blessing of being daughters of God with special gifts. You brought with you into mortal life a spiritual capacity to nurture others and to lift them higher toward the love and purity that will qualify them to live together in a Zion society.
Charity is the pure love of Christ. And it is faith in Him and the full effects of His infinite Atonement that will qualify you, and those you love and serve, for the supernal gift to live in that sociality of a long-looked-for and promised Zion.
"The Zion of God. What does it mean? The pure in heart in the first place. In the second place those who are governed by the law of God - the pure in heart who are governed by the law of God. Shall we build up a Zion? We shall; but we shall not, every one of us, have our own way about it.”
“There have been Zions before.”
“We all believe somebody has got to do this Work, that it has to be done somehow and somewhere. … How shall these things be accomplished? The nations of the world will not do it, for they are opposed to God and his kingdom. … We are the only people under the heavens that are making an attempt at it, and a blundering one it is, no doubt.”
“It is evident that some great revolution, some mighty change has got to transpire to revolutionize our minds, our feelings and judgment, our pursuits and action, and, in fact, to control and influence us throughout, before anything of this kind can take place.”
“Now, this is what we are building up, and they built up a similar thing before the flood;”
“We are working for these things, and we will go on with the work and let the world wag. Let them get up a commotion once in a while. There is nothing new in that. It is the old trick. If we are faithful God will bless us, and Zion will arise and shine, and the glory of God will rest upon her. But woe to them that fight against Zion, for God will fight against them.”
“Eventually they will be enabled to erect cities that will be fit to be caught up—that when Zion descends from above, Zion will also ascend from beneath, and be prepared to associate with those from above. The people will be so perfected and purified, ennobled, exalted, and dignified in their feelings and so truly humble and most worthy, virtuous and intelligent that they will be fit, when caught up, to associate with that Zion that shall come down from God out of heaven.”
“Zion shall yet become the praise and the glory of the whole earth. … You will see the day that Zion will be as far ahead of the outside world in everything pertaining to learning of every kind as we are to-day in regard to religious matters. You mark my words, and write them down, and see if they do not come to pass.”
“I feel that if Zion prospers all is well, and if Zion does not prosper, then my own happiness and prosperity is in jeopardy. For I expect nothing outside of the Gospel.
North and South America (Joseph Smith): “You know there has been great discussion in relation to Zion … The prophets have spoken and written upon it; but I will make a proclamation that will cover broader ground. The whole of America is Zion itself from north to south...”
2nd Zion is a People “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.”
3rd Zion is a Place Enoch’s City: “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 Enoch and all his people walked with God, and he dwelt in the midst of Zion; and it came to pass that Zion was not, for God received it up into his own bosom; and from thence went forth the saying, Zion is Fled.”
“What is Zion? What are we to understand by its term? Is it a city? Is it a people?”
Those nations are trembling and tottering and will eventually crumble to ruin, and those men of wealth will come here, not to be baptized, but many of them will come that have never heard the servants of God; but they will hear that peace and health dwell among us, and that our officers are all peace officers, and our tax-gatherers men of righteousness.”
“And the gates of Zion will be open day and night, and never be shut, to admit the forces that will come rushing in from all nations, to learn the wisdom, knowledge, and instruction that are poured out from the heavens upon the servants of the Most High.”
“There must be something wonderful, indeed, to attract the attention of all nations; unless there is to be a very great power manifested, it would not attract the attention of the people afar off;”
“What is an ensign? It is not only something unto which the people will gather, but it is something of divine appointment, something that the Lord organizes, something that will be a pattern to all peoples, nations and governments erected in the mountains, and He calls upon all the inhabitants of the earth to see it.”
“New circumstances require new power, new knowledge, new additions, new strength and new Quorums; not to do away with the old, but additional in their nature. Men will hold authority and power to carry forth the laws of Zion to the remnants of this nation, and to foreign nations ministers or plenipotentiaries, if you please, to use a political term, will go forth to the nations of the earth with the laws of God.”
“Do the spiritual work to find out for yourselves, and please do it now. Time is running out.”
“There are some prophecies pertaining to these latter days that are unpleasant to contemplate.”
“But I am satisfied there has got to be a great change with us in many respects before we are prepared for the redemption of Zion and the building up of the New Jerusalem. ”
Often as individuals and as a people we may have the tendency to walk around thinking we are "Saints living in Zion" when the reality is that we are "Saints living in Babylon".
Zion will be built through a revolution in knowledge, wisdom, feelings, and actions. It will come about by a self-reliant people, who are earnest in their labor. This will all occur through governing priesthood that will separate those who live by correct principles via covenant and those who do not. We are seeing the beginning of this separation even now.
As the world becomes more chaotic, millions will seek out stability…That doesn't mean they are converted to the Gospel however.
Crumbling nations, will become so bad that people will really only have two choices…Join the wars, or join to Zion. We no longer will have to go them…They will come to us.
Zion grows in power, wisdom, intelligence and glory. Zion will become a pattern for the rest of the world. That pattern will include political principles related to governing. This pattern has all happened before, in the days of Enoch. How did they deal with it at that time? They dealt with it the same way we are going to deal with it…The world will wag, and we will carry on…God will help fight our battles.
In summary there are a few points to wrap up with The conditional nature of the gospel that we learned back in our study of ethics hasn't changed. The primacy of self/others hasn't changed in our study of politics and Zion. We can only expect our own personal prosperity within the Kingdom of God (Zion) and nowhere else. Which such a great work ahead of us, we can expect many new changes as well. Do people generally like change? In the end individuals are the ones who are changed…Becoming ennobled so as to be prepared to associate (without blushing) with others of celestial quality. As we learned previously in our study of ethics, we seek a "crown of glory" not a "crown of thorns".
There were no contentions and disputations among them, and every man did deal justly one with another. And they had all things in common among them; therefore, there were no rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift.
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