The Articles of Faith Part 44

[1052] Pearl of Great Price: Moses vii, 69; Doc. and Cov. x.x.xviii, 4; xlv, 11-12; lx.x.xiv, 99-100.

=14.= We have seen that the names Zion and New Jerusalem are used interchangeably; and, furthermore, that righteous people as well as sanctified places are called Zion; for, by the Lord's special word, Zion to Him means "the pure in heart."[1053] The Church in this day teaches that the New Jerusalem seen by John, and by the prophet Ether, as descending from the heavens in glory, is the return of exalted Enoch and his righteous people; and that the people or Zion of Enoch, and the modern Zion, or the gathered elect on the western continent, will become one people.

[1053] Doc. and Cov. xcvii, 21; Pearl of Great Price: Moses vii, 18; also Doc. and Cov. lx.x.xiv, 100.

=15.= The Book of Mormon is explicit in foretelling the establishment of Zion on the western continent; but the precise location was not revealed until after the restoration of the priesthood in the present dispensation. In 1831, the Lord commanded the elders of His Church in this wise:--"Go ye forth into the western countries, call upon the inhabitants to repent, and inasmuch as they do repent, build up churches unto me; and with one heart and with one mind, gather up your riches that ye may purchase an inheritance which shall hereafter be appointed unto you; and it shall be called the New Jerusalem, a land of peace, a city of refuge, a place of safety for the saints of the Most High G.o.d; and the glory of the Lord shall be there, and the terror of the Lord shall also be there, insomuch that the wicked will not come unto it, and it shall be called Zion."[1054]

[1054] Doc. and Cov. xiv, 64-67; read further, verses 68-71.

=16.= Later revelations called the elders of the Church to a.s.semble in western Missouri,[1055] and designated that place as the land appointed and consecrated for the gathering of the Saints.[1056]

"Wherefore this is the land of promise, and the place for the city of Zion."[1057] The town of Independence was named as "the center place,"

and the site for the temple was designated, the Saints being counseled to purchase land there, "that they may obtain it for an everlasting inheritance."[1058] On August 3rd, 1831, the temple site thus named was solemnly dedicated by the prophet, Joseph Smith, and his a.s.sociates in the priesthood.[1059] The region round about was also dedicated, that it might be a gathering place for the people of G.o.d.

[1055] Doc. and Cov. lii, 2-3; see Note 2.

[1056] Doc. and Cov. lvii, 1-2

[1057] Verse 2.

[1058] Verses 4-5.

[1059] See Note 3.

=17.= Such, then, is the belief of the Latter-day Saints; such are the teachings of the Church. But the plan of building up Zion has not yet been consummated. The Saints were not permitted to enter into immediate possession of the land, which was promised them as an everlasting inheritance. Even as years elapsed between the time of the Lord's promise to Israel of old that Canaan should be their inheritance, and the time of their entering into possession thereof,--years devoted to the people's toilsome and sorrowful preparation for the fulfilment,--so in these latter-days, the Divine purpose is held in abeyance, while the people are being sanctified for the great gift, and for the greater responsibilities a.s.sociated with it. In the meantime, the honest in heart are gathering to the valleys of the Rocky Mountains; and here, in the tops of the mountains, exalted above the hills, temples have been erected, and all nations are flowing unto this region. But Zion shall yet be established on the chosen site; she "shall not be moved out of her place," and the pure in heart shall surely return, "with songs of everlasting joy to build up the waste places of Zion."[1060]

[1060] Doc. and Cov. ci, 17-18; see also ci, 43, 74, 75; ciii, 1, 11, 13, 15; cv, 1, 2, 9, 13, 16, 34; cix, 47; cx.x.xvi, 18.

=18.= But gathered Israel cannot be confined to the "center place,"

nor to the region immediately adjacent; other places have been and will be appointed, and these are called Stakes of Zion.[1061] Many stakes have been established in the regions inhabited by the Latter-day Saints, and these are to be permanent possessions; and thence will go those who are appointed from among the worthy to receive possession of their inheritances. Zion is to be chastened, but only for a little season,[1062] then will come the time of her redemption.

[1061] Doc. and Cov. ci, 21; see page 215.

[1062] Doc. and Cov. c, 13.

=19.= That time will be appointed of G.o.d, yet it is to be determined according to the faithfulness of the people. Their wickedness causeth the Lord to tarry; for, saith He:--"Therefore, in consequence of the transgression of my people, it is expedient in me that mine elders should wait for a little season for the redemption of Zion."[1063] And again,--"Zion shall be redeemed in mine own due time."[1064] But the Lord's time in giving blessings unto His people is dependent upon them. As long ago as 1834 came the word of the Lord unto the Church:--"Behold, I say unto you, were it not for the transgressions of my people ... they might have been redeemed even now."[1065]

[1063] Doc. and Cov. cv, 9; also cx.x.xvi, 31.

[1064] Doc. and Cov. cx.x.xvi, 18.

[1065] Doc. and Cov. cv, 1-2.

NOTES.

=1. Jerusalem.=--"The city has, in different ages, borne a variety of names, and even in the Bible it has several designations. Salem, mentioned in Gen. xiv, 18, was perhaps its name in the time of Melchizedek, and it is certainly so called in Psa. lxxvi, 2. Isaiah (xxix, 1, 7) calls it Ariel. Jebus, or Jebusi, the city of the Jebusites, was its name in the days of Joshua and the Judges (Josh. xv, 8; xviii, 16, 28; Judges xix, 10, 11), and this name continued in use till David's time (I Chron. xi, 4, 5). Some have thought that Jerusalem is itself a corruption of Jebus-Salem, but it is a theory unsupported by facts. Jerusalem is also termed 'the city of David,' 'the city of Judah,' 'the holy city,' 'the city of G.o.d' (II Kings xiv, 20; II Chron. xxv, 28; Neh. xi, 18; Psa. lx.x.xvii, 3). To this day it is called el-Kuds, or 'the holy,' in most countries of the East. No city in the world has received more honorable appellations; our Savior himself called it 'the city of the great King.'"--_Bible Dictionary_, Ca.s.sell & Co., p. 600.

=2. The Founding of Zion in Missouri.=--"... A company of Saints known as the Colesville Branch--from their having lived at Colesville, Broome County, New York--had arrived in Missouri, and having received instructions to purchase the lands in the regions around about Zion, they secured a tract of land in a fertile prairie some ten or twelve miles west of Independence, in Kaw township, not far from the present location of Kansas City. On the 2nd of August [1831]--the day preceding the dedication of the temple site--in the settlement of the Colesville Saints, the first log was laid for a house as the foundation of Zion. The log was carried by twelve men, in honor of the Twelve Tribes of Israel; and Elder Sidney Rigdon consecrated and dedicated the land of Zion for the gathering of the Saints."--_Outlines of Ecclesiastical History_, by Elder B. H. Roberts, p. 352.

=3. Temple Site, Independence, Jackson County, Missouri.=--"Taking the road running west from the Court House for a scant half mile, you come to the summit of a crowning hill, the slope of which to the south and west is quite abrupt, but very gradual toward the north and east.... This is the temple site. It was upon this spot on the third day of August, 1831, that Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Edward Partridge, W. W. Phelps, Oliver Cowdery, Martin Harris, and Joseph Coe, and another person whose name I cannot learn, for there were eight in all--men in whom the Lord was well pleased, a.s.sembled to dedicate this place as the temple site in Zion. The eighty-seventh psalm was read.

Joseph [the prophet] then dedicated the spot, where is to be built a temple on which the glory of G.o.d shall rest. Yea, the great G.o.d hath so decreed it, saying: 'Verily this generation shall not pa.s.s away, until an house shall be built unto the Lord, and a cloud shall rest upon it, which cloud shall be even the glory of the Lord, which shall fill the house.... And the sons of Moses, and also the sons of Aaron, shall offer an acceptable offering, and sacrifice in the house of the Lord, which house shall be built unto the Lord in this generation, upon the consecrated spot as I have appointed.'--(Doc. and Cov. sec.

lx.x.xiv, 5, 31.)"--Elder B. H. Roberts, _Missouri Persecutions_.

See "The House of the Lord," by James E. Talmage, Chapter V.

LECTURE XX.

CHRIST'S REIGN ON EARTH.

=Article 10.=--We believe ... That Christ will reign personally upon the earth, etc.

=1. Christ's First and Second Advents.=--The facts of Christ's birth in the flesh, of His thirty and three years of life among mortals, of His ministry, sufferings, and death, are universally accepted as attested history. Not alone do the records that the Christian world regards as sacred and inspired bear testimony concerning these facts, but the history written by man, and, in contrast, called profane, is generally in harmony with the biblical account. Even those who reject the doctrine of Christ's divinity, even they who refuse to accept Him as their Redeemer, admit the historical facts of His marvelous life, and acknowledge the incalculable effect of His precepts and example upon the human family.

=2.= In the "Meridian of Time" Christ was born to earth, amid humble surroundings,--in obscurity, indeed, to all except the faithful few who had been watching for the expected advent. His coming had been heralded through the previous centuries, even from the dawn of human existence; every prophet of G.o.d had borne record of the great events which were to characterize His advent. Every important incident connected with His birth, life, death, triumphal resurrection, and ultimate glory as King, Lord, and G.o.d, had been predicted; and even the details of the circ.u.mstances were given with exactness. Judah and Israel had been told to prepare for the coming of the Anointed One;[1066] yet, behold, when He came to His own they received Him not. Persecuted and despised, He trod the th.o.r.n.y path of duty, "a, man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;" and, finally condemned by His people, who clamored to an alien power for authority to execute their own diabolical sentence upon their Lord, He went to the death prescribed for malefactors.

[1066] See Note 1.

=3.= To human judgment, it surely seemed that the Divine mission of Christ had been nullified, that His work had failed, and that the powers of darkness had become triumphant. Blind, deaf, and hard of heart were those who refused to see, hear, and comprehend the purport of the Savior's mission. Similarly benighted are they who reject the prophetic evidence of His second coming, and who fail to read the signs of the times, which declare the event, at once so terrible and glorious, to be near at hand. Both before and after His death, Christ prophesied of His appointed reappearance upon the earth; and His faithful followers are to-day waiting and watching for the signs of the great fulfillment. The heavens are flaming with those signals, and the burden of inspired teaching is again heard,--Repent, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

=4. Christ's Second Coming Predicted; and Signs Described. Bible Prophecies.=--The prophets of the Old Testament, and those of Book of Mormon record who lived and wrote before the era of Christ, had little to say regarding the second coming of the Lord, little indeed in comparison with their numerous and explicit predictions concerning His first advent. As they looked into the sky of futurity, and with prophetic power read the story of the heavenly orbs, their vision was dazzled with the brilliancy of the Meridian Sun, and they saw little of the glorious luminary beyond, whose proportions and radiance were veiled by the mists of distance. A few of them saw and so testified, as the following pa.s.sages show: The Psalmist sang:--"Our G.o.d shall come, and shall not keep silence; a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him."[1067] These devouring and tempestuous conditions did not attend the coming of Bethlehem's Babe.

[1067] Psalms l, 3.

=5.= Isaiah cries:--"Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not; behold your G.o.d will come with vengeance, even G.o.d with a recompense; he will come and save you."[1068] Aside from the evident fact that these conditions did not attend the first coming of Christ, the context of the prophet's words shows that he applied them to the last days, the time of rest.i.tution, the day of the "ransomed of the Lord," and of the triumph of Zion.[1069] Again Isaiah speaks:--"Behold, the Lord G.o.d will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him."[1070]

[1068] Isa. x.x.xv, 4.

[1069] Verses 5-10.

[1070] Isa. xl, 10.

6. The prophet Enoch, who lived twenty centuries before the first of those whose words are given above, spoke with vigor on the subject.

His teachings do not appear under his own name in the Bible, though Jude, a New Testament writer, cites them.[1071] From the Book of Moses in the Pearl of Great Price, we learn concerning the revelation given to Enoch:--"And the Lord said unto Enoch, As I live, even so will I come in the last days, in the days of wickedness and vengeance, to fulfil the oath which I have made unto you concerning the children of Noah."[1072]

[1071] Jude 14-15.

[1072] Pearl of Great Price: Moses vii, 60.

7. Jesus taught the disciples that His mission in the flesh was to be of short duration, and that he would come again to earth, for we find them enquiring in this wise, "Tell us when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?"[1073] In reply, our Lord detailed many of the signs of the latter times, the last and greatest of which He thus stated:--"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come."[1074] With great clearness, Jesus spoke of the worldliness in which the children of men had continued to indulge, even on the eve of the Deluge, and on the day of the fiery destruction which befell the Cities of the Plains, and added:--"Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed."[1075]

[1073] Matt. xxiv, 3. See "Jesus the Christ," ch. x.x.xii.

[1074] Verse 14.

[1075] Luke xvii, 26-30.