Doctrine & Covenants Lesson # 46
“Zion—The
Pure in Heart”
Introduction
This lesson is the last in the year and will be
discussed, appropriately, on 31st December. Thereafter we will start the cycle
over again with the Old Testament. Coming from a secular background, my vision
of Zion was tied more to Jewish extremism than Enoch’s City of God; to schism
rather than “one heart and one mind.”; to violent action rather than peace. Of
course that has now changed. I think I have said before that I have been
attending an adult religion class at BYU, taught by Br. Ron Bartholomew. His
last class for this semester centered on the Articles of Faith and the fact
that the emphasis is on “we believe”—and that surely epitomizes Zion, a
commonality of belief, of purpose, brought about by revelation from the Spirit
and a faith in Christ and His Atonement.
1.
Zion—meanings thereof
Zion has
several meanings. The manual lists the following
- D&C 97:21. (The pure in heart.)
- D&C 82:14. (The Church and its stakes.)
- Moses 7:19. (The city of Enoch.)
- 2 Samuel 5:6–7; 1 Kings 8:1. (The ancient city of Jerusalem.)
- D&C 45:66–67; 57:1–2; Articles of Faith 1:10. (The New Jerusalem, which will
be built in Missouri.)
- Hebrews 12:22–23. (The dwelling place of those who are
exalted.)
Notice how many have come to us through modern
revelation. Even in this last conference, Elder Ballard tell us:
By 1869, more than 70,000 Saints had
made a similar trek. Despite their many differences in language, culture, and
nationality, they shared a testimony of the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Ghost, the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and a desire to
build Zion—a place of peace, happiness, and beauty in preparation for the
Second Coming of the Savior. . . . Converts gather to their local
congregations, where the Saints worship our Heavenly Father in the name of
Jesus Christ. With more than 30,000 congregations established around the world,
all are gathered to their own Zion. As the scriptures note, “For this is
Zion—the pure in heart.”[1]
2. Zion has existed in previous dispensations
Elder Maxwell wrote a book imagining the City of Enoch;
he often referred to Zion in his talks, here is one quote that is pithy in its
relevance to us today.
However, what we now are as a people
is clearly not enough, for “Zion must increase in beauty, and in holiness” D&C
82:14. As in the time of Alma, the bad conduct of a few members slows the work
(see Alma 39:11) .Indeed, Zion will not be fully redeemed until after we have
been first chastened (see D&C 100:13). Let us, therefore, not be too
long-suffering with our own shortcomings. And when we are given thorns in the
flesh, let us not demand to see the rose garden (see 2 Cor. 12:7) (Neal A.
Maxwell, “The Net Gathers of Every Kind,” Ensign, Nov 1980, 14).
I found this quote from President Uchtdorf very
thought-provoking:
Like two sides of a coin, the temporal
and spiritual are inseparable.
The Giver of all life has proclaimed,
“All things unto me are spiritual, and not at any time have I given unto you a
law which was temporal.” This means to me that “spiritual life is first of all
a life. It is not merely something to be known and studied, it is to
be lived.” Unfortunately, there are those who overlook the temporal because
they consider it less important. They treasure the spiritual while minimizing
the temporal. While it is important to have our thoughts inclined toward
heaven, we miss the essence of our religion if our hands are not also inclined
toward our fellowman. For example, Enoch built a Zion society through the
spiritual process of creating a people of one heart and one mind and the
temporal work of ensuring that there were “no poor among them.”[2]
So, perhaps being of “one heart and one mind,” also has
to do with blending the temporal and spiritual and, to borrow another metaphor
from Elder Uchtdorf via Elder Bednar I believe—lift where we stand.
2. The Saints of
our dispensation have been commanded to establish Zion.
3.
So exactly how are we to establish Zion? Although this
was in the General Women’s Meeting, this instruction from Sister Carol F.
McConkie applies to all of us:
So we bear one another’s burdens; we
strengthen one another. We retain a remission of sins when we give spiritual
and temporal relief to the poor, the hungry, the naked, and the sick. We keep
ourselves unspotted from the world when we keep the Sabbath day and worthily
receive the sacrament on the Lord’s holy day. We bless our families and make
our homes holy places. We bridle our passions so that we may be filled with
pure and lasting love. We reach out to others in kindness, with compassion, and
stand as witnesses of God. We become a Zion people, of one heart and one mind,
a pure people who dwell together in unity and righteousness.“ For Zion must
increase in beauty, and in holiness.”[3]
Another aspect of this commandment is to build temples.
Elder Cook gave a talk entitled “See Yourself in the Temple.” Here is an
excerpt:
President Monson has stated: “Until
you have entered the house of the Lord and have received all the blessings
which await you there, you have not obtained everything the Church has to
offer. The all-important and crowning blessings of membership in the Church are
those blessings which we receive in the temples of God.” . . . The temple is .
. . a place of refuge, thanksgiving, instruction, and understanding, “that [we]
may be perfected … in all things pertaining to the kingdom of God on the
earth.” Throughout my life it has been a place of tranquility and
peace in a world that is literally in commotion. It is wonderful to leave the
cares of the world behind in that sacred setting.
4. The scriptures include glorious promises about the
future of Zion.
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” (Teachings of the
Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [1976], 231).
Hopefully we will have time to look at D&C 97:18–25
in detail, for there are great promises attached to building Zion, and since its
aim is one heart and one mind, it all starts with one—you
and me. An apt ending to our year of studying the Doctrine and Covenants
together.
Additional resources for this lesson
- “Newel
K. Whitney and the United Firm”: This article describes the
purpose of the United Firm, which came to be known as the United Order.
- “Teachings
of Joseph Smith: Preparing for Zion”: This two-minute video
introduces the concept of Zion.
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