Zion will not be brought forth
without the Lord guiding the work. It will not be
realized without His stamp of approval. It is
impossible that man can bring forth a community of people
who are of one heart and one mind with no poor among them,
let alone an actual city, without the aid of heaven.
That being said, there is
something we can do here and now, if not only on an
experimental basis. Therefore, maybe the words that
follow are informative more than anything else, because
without the Lord’s hand involved we probably will not be
able to implement any of the ideas I set forth, as they
require a serious commitment, the like of which is not
found anywhere on the earth (at least that I am aware
of).
With grief and based on my
personal observations, I do not believe the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is interested in
bringing forth Zion. Neither is any other Christian
sect. The rest of the world is not even aware of
such a concept. The scriptures show that Zion is
going to be a grass-roots effort. It will come forth
from the ground up, not the top down, so a while ago I
started praying for further light and knowledge regarding
Zion. I desired with all my heart to be part of
Zion, but based on what I saw in the Church, Zion was not
going to be a result of the Church’s efforts. I
prayed for guidance. The Lord started showing me
books to read, and through those books I met many
like-minded individuals who also wanted to be part of
Zion.
As a result of my prayers, I
associate with many people whose greatest desire is to
bring forth and be part of Zion. These people for
the most part are serious students of the scriptures,
Church history and Israelite history. A few of them
have seen the Lord face to face. Many others
regularly converse with angels or have dreams, visions and
other spiritual manifestations.
For years, I always thought I was alone in my deep-felt desires for and commitment to studying these sorts of things, but ever since I have met and began mingling with these friends, I no longer feel as isolated in my quest to see God and bring forth Zion. For the first time in my life, I feel like I am not the only one who reads the scriptures with a real desire to gain further light and knowledge, who reads the scriptures and studies history looking for truth and cold hard facts, not to validate something the Church proposes, but the real truth. We meet together oft to partake of the sacrament, praise God, sing, worship, pray and study together, pay and distribute tithing according to people’s needs, etc. Indeed it could be said that these gatherings are planting the seeds for Zion.
In contrast, the Church does not
do this. The Church has worship services where we
can pray and sing, but the Church doesn’t ever talk about
Zion. The Church collects tithing, but those funds
don’t go to the poor. I do not see that the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints offers what I am
being offered right now. The Church is filled with
members who buy everything the leaders say and do.
They give the leaders full discretion how to use their
tithes, despite the fact that investing in City Creek
Mall, full-featured films that extoll themselves and
expensive electronic billboards in Times Square New York
are all evidence that the leaders are not using the money
to bring forth Zion. Once per month members of the
Church meet and bear testimony to the fact that their
leaders can’t lead them astray and that the Church is
true. It is like one big Rameumptom meeting. I
just can’t do it anymore. It seems the Church is
getting farther away from Zion, not closer.
If the Church’s purpose is NOT to bring forth Zion, then what is it? The Church claims its purpose is expressed in the three-fold mission of the Church, which is to (1) proclaim the gospel, (2) redeem the dead and (3) perfect the saints. If that is the purpose of the Church, then there are three huge problems: (1) The gospel the Church Proclaims administers to the people changed ordinances, ordinances that the Lord decreed should never be altered. (2) Redeeming the dead is based on the false doctrine that “the fathers” we should seal ourselves to are our ancestors, not the real “fathers,” Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, et al. (3) Perfecting the saints is based on the idea that the leaders won’t, indeed can’t, lead us astray while it is obvious they do lead us astray.
It seems I am more interested in
bringing forth Zion than the Church is. My friends
are more interested in seeking God’s face and establishing
Zion than the Church is as well. Our Church’s
leaders do not seem to care about the subject of Zion, and
the common lay members seem to follow suit. There is
a general ignorance that permeates the Church from the top
to the bottom toward the subject of Zion, which is
surprising to me because in the early days of the Church,
Zion was one of the central topics of discussion.
That subject is practically non-existent today.
Moses 7:18 reads:
“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.”
That succinctly describes exactly what Zion is. Zion
is a gathering of like-minded people who know the Lord and
take care of each other. Eventually the
gathering of like-minded people will build an actual city
called Zion.
If the inhabitants of Zion are
going to dwell in righteousness then it goes without
saying that sin is a hindrance to Zion, but sin is a broad
word meaning many different things to different people, so
for the sake of this blog post I will classify sins into
four main categories. The categories are:
1. Sin
– Sin is not
the easiest thing to define because people come from many
different levels of light and backgrounds, and “unto whom much is given much is
required” (D&C 82:3),
so what is sinful to one person might not be considered a
sin to another. However, generally speaking, sin is
thinking, saying or doing anything that is contrary to
what you believe is God’s will. Therefore, a belief
in God or a Higher Power makes it easier to define the
word sin, because without a
belief in a Higher Power, then there would be no sin to
that individual, for there would be no knowledge to him of
God’s will. There would only be misbehavior
according to how society defines it, but misbehavior is
not the same thing as sin. Misbehavior is the same
as transgression. You can transgress certain
man-made laws, but that is not necessarily a sin, per
se. Transgressing is comparable to running a
stoplight, whereas sin is committing murder, lying,
adultery, stealing, etc. We innately know when we
sin. However, just because a belief in God is
beneficial to define sin, that does not mean if we discard
our belief in God, we absolve ourselves of sin. It
means that if we believe in God, we are held to a higher
standard of conduct. That being said, we all have
light within us, a basic knowledge from birth of right
from wrong or good from evil, and it is as easy to discern
between the two as discerning between day and night.
When we go against that light or knowledge and choose evil
over good, then that is sin. Therefore, even someone
who does not believe in God is capable of committing
sin. King Benjamin said this about sin: “And finally, I cannot tell you all
the things whereby ye may commit sin; for there are divers
ways and means, even so many that I cannot number them.
But this much I can tell you, that if ye do not watch
yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your
deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue
in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming
of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must
perish” (Mosiah 4:29).
2. Iniquity
- Iniquity has
to do with unfairness, injustice, partiality, or
inequality in any form. It is favoritism, prejudice,
racism, exclusivity or discrimination. It is
arrogance, cockiness, self-righteousness or pride in
ourselves. It takes credit. It is vain.
It is competitive, greedy, selfish and ambitious.
Iniquity holds a grudge and withholds forgiveness.
It is any thought, word or behavior that is designed
to makes someone higher, greater or better than someone
else. When a person creates or perpetuates
inequality between him and others, making himself above or
better than others, then iniquity exists. Once I
read a bumper-sticker type message that expressed iniquity
perfectly. It read, “We were all humans until race
disconnected us, religion separated us, politics divided
us, and wealth classified us.” More often than not,
iniquity relates to people who are in positions of
authority over others like a powerful figure, such as a
king, or a regular position, like a father. As a
matter of fact, the scriptures contain references to the
iniquity of kings, priests or fathers more than any other
type of person. Hierarchies in organizations,
institutions, churches, governments, etc. are
iniquity. Caste systems, whether lawfully enforced
or willingly embraced, are iniquity. Priestcrafts
are a very serious type of iniquity.
Priestcrafts are when men set themselves up as
a light and/or make money because of it. It is
iniquity “when we… exercise control or dominion or
compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any
degree of unrighteousness” (D&C 121:37).
When we exercise iniquity in any form, the Spirit is
grieved and the powers of heaven, the angels, withdraw
themselves.
3. Abominations
– the word abomination is
used to describe a sin that is approved or sanctioned in
the name of religion. Abominations are sinful
behaviors performed under the guise of sanctity, supported
by the scriptures. They are religious justifications
of wrongdoing. A minor example would be believing
falsehoods or in embracing foolish and vain traditions as
if they were God’s will, such as believing the Word of
Wisdom is a commandment. A more serious abomination
is believing that it is acceptable to place a man (Thomas
S. Monson), men (the First Presidency or the quorum of the
Twelve) or an institution (the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints) between you and the Lord. Another
serious example is when the Church withheld the priesthood
from men of African descent. That was racism, but
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints condoned
the idea in the name of religion. Racism is not only
iniquitous; it is an abomination before the Lord.
Another abomination, one closer to our day, is when the
Church spent billions of dollars of the Lord’s money to
build a high-end shopping mall that promotes worldliness,
consumerism, materialism, credit card debt, etc., and then
because of the clout the Church leaders have with its
members, the leaders are able to convince their
subordinates that it was done for a higher godly purpose,
such as attract tourists to Salt Lake City to bring people
to Zion. City Creek Mall in Salt Lake City is an
abomination. It is literally the Babylon of today’s
world.
4. Secret
Combinations – Secret combinations are
the modern equivalent to conspiracies.
It is too bad that people who believe there are
conspiracies are considered whack-jobs. I believe
everyone knows there are conspiracies all around us in
everything, but the topic is not discussed openly because
it is taboo. People get labeled as a “Conspiracy
Theorist” if they entertain thoughts of these
things. To bring up the subject of conspiracies
makes one vulnerable to being considered paranoid or
delusional. However, if we believe in the Book of
Mormon then we must accept the idea of the existence of
conspiracies. The Book of Mormon is a record of two
civilizations from the past that fell because of
conspiracies and Moroni prophesied about our modern-day
conspiracies. In addition to the conspiracies spoken
of in the Book of Mormon, God revealed the Word of Wisdom
to us nowadays because "of evils and designs which do and
will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last
days” (D&C 89:4).
In light of this verse why we trust our food manufacturers
and pharmaceutical companies is beyond my
comprehension. Why we think the conspiracies
described in the Word of Wisdom only point a finger at the
alcohol and tobacco industries also defies my ability to
think straight. Conspiracies exist in every major
facet of government, religion, politics, economics,
warfare, and commerce. Our military industrial
complex and the wars in which we are engaged are based on
lies. The Federal Reserve, our fiat money and our
banking system are based on lies. Our criminal
justice system and the prison industrial complex are based
on lies. Big-pharma, genetic science, and other
health-related industries are based on lies. Our
educational system is based on lies. Our agriculture
and food science, food manufacturing and supply are all
based on lies. Our medical science and technology
are based on lies. Our energy and transportation
sectors are based on lies. Our lives are practically
controlled by behemoth and corrupt corporations driven
only by filthy lucre. There are not very many things
left today that are untainted by secret
combinations. Because of the conspiracies Moroni saw
that would exist in our day, he describes our situation as
“Awful!” (Ether 8:22-25),
and tells us we need to “Wake up!”
If we were to broadly rank the
acts of offending God or behaving contrary to His will, it
would be thus: (1) sin, (2) iniquity, (3) abominations,
and (4) secret combinations. Each level of sin is
progressively worse than the previous one. Sin
begets iniquity, iniquity begets abominations, and
abominations beget secret combinations. I recognize
there is overlap in these categories. For example,
murder is a heinous sin that far exceeds in severity the
abomination of believing some false doctrines, but
generally these categories are sound.
Let us analyze these four
categories relative to Zion. To make it easy in the
analysis we will only determine if any of these categories
will exist in Zion – Yes or No.
- Sin – Yes. Penitent sinners will exist in Zion. They will not be perfect. They will still commit sins. Grievous sins like murder, adultery or the like will not exist in Zion, but the people will still do things that grieve the Spirit (Matthew 22:10), but they will know how to retain a remission of their sins.
- Iniquity – No. There will be no iniquity in Zion.
- Abominations – No. Absolutely not. There will be no traces of abominations in Zion.
- Secret Combinations – No. Absolutely not. There will be no traces of conspiracies in Zion.
We read the well-known verse where it says, “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” (Moses 7:18). In my opinion, righteousness as it is used in this verse is not the absence of sin. It is the absence of iniquity. The builders and inhabitants of Zion are considered “righteous” and are “of one heart and one mind” because they have no iniquity.
The problem of iniquity is a
bigger issue than we realize. Generally people think
iniquity is synonymous with sin, and they’d be correct,
because iniquity is sinful. However, iniquity is
more grievous because it pits man against each
other. It creates enmity between men. There is
absolutely no way for Zion to exist if iniquity exists
within the hearts of its people.
We live in an iniquitous
world. Our temple ceremony teaches that we are
currently living in a telestial world. In my view
this is literal, not symbolic, so we should take note that
the ‘The Vision” in D&C 76 teaches
us that our glory is “as innumerable as the stars in the
firmament of heaven, or as the sand upon the seashore” (verse 109), and
that “as one star differs from another star in glory, even
so differs one from another in glory in the telestial
world” (verse 98).
Using the infinite variety of shades, colors and
brightness of the stars to describe us and our lives on
this earth is a perfect way to represent the population of
this world. There is enmity between all of us, even
among church members and good people. We are all at
variance with each other, yet we live on the same globe,
so we are one, thus “the glory of the telestial is one,
even as the glory of the stars is one” (verse 98).
Our world is a telestial world because we are all unequal
due to iniquity. The iniquity of the world makes the
differences between the stars an apt metaphor of this
world.
Compare that with the
description of the terrestrial world, where the glory is
compared to that of the moon (D&C 76:71; 1 Corinthians 15:41).
There is only one moon, not many like the number of
stars. The glory of the moon is the glory of the Son
of God. Its glory waxes and wanes, but not through
innumerable phases, but through a finite cycle of
phases. The phases do not testify of various degrees
of glory for mankind; rather they testify that the Lord
went from grace to grace, exaltation to exaltation, until
he obtained the fullness, and that we are required to do
the same thing, worlds without number, until we, like Him
also attain unto the resurrection of the dead. The
occupants of the terrestrial kingdom, of which the glory
of the moon is symbolic, are all unified. They are
of one heart and one mind, which is very different than
iniquity, which is symbolized by the stars.
Terrestrial beings retain a remission of their sins and
have risen above iniquity, and they have become one with
Christ, thus are compared with the glory of the
moon. There is no iniquity in the terrestrial
kingdom. Likewise there is no iniquity in Zion,
because Zion is patterned after the terrestrial
kingdom.
Anciently, iniquity was a
serious enough offense that when a member of the church of
Christ was found guilty of it and they did not repent,
then their name was “blotted out” from among the list of
names of the people of Christ. (Moroni 6:7)
“And those that would not confess their sins and
repent of their iniquity, the same were not numbered among
the people of the church, and their names were blotted
out.” (Mosiah 26:36).
People were not kicked out of the true Church of Christ
because of sin, but because of iniquity. Repentance
and confession for sins were required for entrance into
the Church, but being guilty of iniquity was cause to have
your name blotted out from the Church. (Mosiah 26:35).
The Book of Mormon shows in plain simplicity the religion
Christ wants mankind to follow, and that religion is the
Church of Christ described my Moroni, and the Church of
the Firstborn and the Church of Enoch described in the
Vision, which will descend with Him in the clouds on the
last day. It is the pure in heart, who know Christ,
for they will see Him as He is and they will be like
Him. That is Zion.
The true Church of Christ where
iniquity is non-existent has risen and fallen in the
past. The reason the Nephites’ Golden Era after
Christ appeared to them ended after nearly two hundred
years of peace was because of iniquity. Little by
little inequality began entering into their society.
Alma prophesied that it would happen too. He said
the Nephites would lose their Zion-like society because of
iniquity (Alma 45:10-14). I’ve condensed the
material of the Nephites’ Golden Age to keep only the
relevant information:
- 4 Nephi1:3 -
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.
- 4 Nephi 1:13 - And
it came to pass that there was no contention among all the
people, in all the land
- 4 Nephi 1:15-18 -
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… There could not be a happier people
among all the people who had been created by the hand of
God… 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.
- 4 Nephi1:20 -
There was still peace in the land, save it were a small
part of the people who had revolted from the church and
taken upon them the name of Lamanites; therefore there
began to be Lamanites again in the land. (194
years after Christ appeared to them – This is the first
evidence of iniquity.)
- 4 Nephi 1:24-28 -
And now, in this two hundred and first year there began to
be among them those who were lifted up in pride, such as
the wearing of costly apparel, and all manner of fine
pearls, and of the fine things of the world. And
from that time forth they did have their goods and their
substance no more common among them. And they began
to be divided into classes; and they began to build up
churches unto themselves to get gain... And it came
to pass that when two hundred and ten years had passed
away there were many churches in the land; yea, there were
many churches which professed to know the Christ, and yet
they did deny the more parts of his gospel... And
this church did multiply exceedingly because of iniquity,
and because of the power of Satan who did get hold upon
their hearts. (Pride, costly apparel, fine things
of the world, things not being common among them
anymore, being divided into classes, supporting churches
to get gain, etc. – all of these things are iniquity.)\
- 4 Nephi 1:29-35 - And
again, there was another church which denied the Christ;
and they did persecute the true church of Christ, because
of their humility and their belief in Christ; and they did
despise them because of the many miracles which were
wrought among them. Therefore they did exercise
power and authority over the disciples of Jesus who did
tarry with them, and they did cast them into prison; but
by the power of the word of God, which was in them, the
prisons were rent in twain, and they went forth doing
mighty miracles among them. Nevertheless, and
notwithstanding all these miracles, the people did harden
their hearts, and did seek to kill them, even as the Jews
at Jerusalem sought to kill Jesus, according to his
word. And they did cast them into furnaces of fire,
and they came forth receiving no harm. And they also
cast them into dens of wild beasts, and they did play with
the wild beasts even as a child with a lamb; and they did
come forth from among them, receiving no harm.
Nevertheless, the people did harden their hearts, for they
were led by many priests and false prophets to build up
many churches, and to do all manner of iniquity.
And they did smite upon the people of Jesus; but the
people of Jesus did not smite again. And thus they did
dwindle in unbelief and wickedness, from year to year,
even until two hundred and thirty years had passed
away. And now it came to pass in this year, yea, in
the two hundred and thirty and first year, there was a
great division among the people. (At this point in
Nephite history, iniquity had taken full sway, and they
were ripening for destruction. Power and authority
were exercised over, or, in other words, iniquity was
exercised over the three Nephites and the humble
followers of Christ.)
A little bit of iniquity
creeping in is all it took to plant the seed of
destruction of a whole civilization. It does the
same thing on a smaller scale within families too.
Read about when Lehi’s and Ishmael’s families were on the
ship to America:
“And it came to pass that we
were about to be swallowed up in the depths of the sea.
And after we had been driven back upon the waters
for the space of four days, my brethren began to see that
the judgments of God were upon them, and that they must
perish save that they should repent of their iniquities;
wherefore, they came unto me, and loosed the bands which
were upon my wrists, and behold they had swollen
exceedingly; and also mine ankles were much swollen, and
great was the soreness thereof” (1 Nephi 18:15).
These are just two of many
examples in the scriptures that show iniquity exists
everywhere from small families to bigger
civilizations. It characterizes all of us, all of
mankind. But it doesn’t have to. It’s one
thing that has got to go before we can usher in a new way
of doing things, a new world of peace, Zion.
\We all live in this fallen
telestial world, and as long as we do, we will be under
the bondage of sin. However, we can’t just waltz
into Zion in a sinful state of being. We still
need to repent. That is why we have a savior, to
cleanse us from sin. We gain forgiveness through
repenting with faith on the Lord Jesus. We are
commanded to repent. Repentance of our sins is
mandatory, especially if we want to be part of Zion.
But even though sinners will
exist in Zion, it will only be penitent sinners, sinners
who are broken and contrite, who desire nothing more than
to be clean from sin. With faith in Jesus Christ and
sincerity we can confess, repent of and forsake our sins,
and obtain forgiveness from God, but chances are we will
still continue to sin. We can be considered cleansed
from our sins through repentance. However, the next
day, tomorrow, or whenever it happens, we will sin
again.
Therefore, we need a way to
retain a remission of our sins. We will not overcome
sin in this life, but we can overcome iniquity thereby
retaining a remission of our sins, and as a bonus by
overcoming iniquity we completely avoid abominations and
secret combinations. Zion will not be a place of
sinless people, but it will be a place where sin is in
remission and it will be a place devoid of iniquity,
abominations and secret combinations.
We should not be in the practice
of repenting every single day. That implies we sin
every day. The Prophet said, “Repentance is a thing
that cannot be trifled with every day. Daily transgression
and daily repentance is not that which is pleasing in the
sight of God” (DHC 3:379). That being said, we
should still repent if we have sinned, but perhaps more
importantly we should be retaining a remission of our sins
every day. Remission of sins is defined as the
long-term efficacy of obtaining forgiveness from the Lord,
where we can “walk guiltless before God” and remain clean
before Him. This is obtained by “imparting of [our]
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” (Mosiah 4:26).
Remission of sins is obtained by obeying the golden rule,
which is to treat others the way we want to be
treated. That is the same as keeping iniquity away.
Retaining a remission of sins
from day to day and consciously eliminating iniquity in
this manner is part of bringing forth Zion. King
Benjamin in the previous verse was talking about people
being able to retain a remission of their sins by living
free of iniquity. This was the beginning of a
Zion-like community among the people of King
Benjamin. It never matured into Zion, but it tried
but the next generous blew it.
In the parable of the marriage
of the King’s son we read that “both good and bad” (Matthew 22:10)
people were ultimately in attendance. This implies
even sinners were there. As the story goes it tells
about a guest who is not wearing “the wedding garment” so
he is kicked out of the feast (Matthew 22:11-13).
This wedding garment is placed upon “both good and bad”
people in order to cover their sins so they can be part of
the wedding feast, or be part of the “kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 22:2),
or Zion. This wedding garment is the same as the
coat of skins that were placed upon Adam and Eve in the
Garden of Eden. It is also the same as the garment
of the holy priesthood which members of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints wear daily underneath
their clothing. This garment symbolizes the covering
of our sins through our faith in Christ. When God
looks upon us, if we are covered in a wedding garment, a
coat of skins or the garment of the priesthood, then He
sees the image of Christ and extends unto us a remission
of sin.
Joseph Smith said, “charity
covereth a multitude of sins” (DHC 4:445). The
wedding garment, the coat of skins and our garments
symbolize charity. It is also described as a cloak
of charity. This cloak of charity is the same thing
as that which is required of us to retain a remission of
our sins. Constant daily repentance seems to be a
fruitless practice. It focuses on individual sins
and frustrates the sinner more than it alleviates
him. A more effective way to overcome sin is by
turning to God, asking for forgiveness and thereafter
retaining a remission of sins by putting on the wedding
garment. The wedding garment is put on ourselves by
treating others in the same way we want to be
treated. It is by eliminating iniquity from among
us. Then we can become Zion-like. Becoming
Zion-like has less to do with being sin-free or sinless,
and more to do with retaining a remission of sins.
Living free from iniquity is the
same as retaining a remission of sins. It is the
same as having a cloak of charity upon our
shoulders. It is imparting of our substance to the
poor, every man according to that which he has, such as
feeding the hungry, visiting the sick and administering to
their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according
to their wants. Doing those things is the very act
of eliminating iniquity. It is exactly one of the
main things that we need to do in order to bring forth
Zion.
Eliminating iniquity from our
midst is imperative if we are going to become a Zion-like
people. We must repent of our iniquities if we are
going to be Zion. Doing those things set forth by
King Benjamin is what it means to be of one heart and one
mind and to be righteous. The inequality, the
injustice, the unfairness, the vanity, the greed, the
selfishness, holding onto grudges, keeping others in our
debt, etc. are put away when we begin to live in such a
way as to take care of every one both temporally and
spiritually.
The sin of iniquity has existed
since the dawn of time. Over time iniquitous
individuals combine and without even being aware of it,
they establish norms, standards and laws protecting their
iniquity. This probably happened without a formal
plan, but if there was a formal plan to organize iniquity,
then that is considered a secret combination, which we’re
really not discussing in this blog post.
We are all fallen and desire to
compete against others and protect ourselves. It is
according to human nature to be iniquitous. The
problem is that human nature is not in accordance with
God, and has been in opposition with God from the fall of
Adam, and will be, forever and ever (Mosiah 3:19).
In order to overcome our fallen nature we need to
“yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and put off
the natural man and become a saint through the atonement
of Christ the Lord, and become as a child, submissive,
meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to
all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him,
even as a child doth submit to his father” (Mosiah 3:19).
Therefore, because we don’t put off the natural man and
seek to become Godlike, we always end up in societies
distinguished by sin and iniquity that eventually become
filled with abominations and secret combinations.
Iniquity sets the standard for
the world. Practically everything we live by is
iniquitous. The paradigm under which we all live
could go by the name Iniquity. It is secret in that
no one recognizes or identifies it as iniquitous, yet it
exists in plain sight everywhere. Sure, we have made
positive strides in some iniquitous things such as racism
or women’s rights, so we can claim progress over these
things, but these problems wouldn’t even exist if it
weren’t for iniquity. The reason racism is not
completely eradicated is because some people revel in
iniquity and they get gain from it. The same could
be said of women’s rights.
Iniquity even permeates our
Church. Here are some basic more obvious
examples: Confession of sins to bishops and stake
presidents is iniquitous. There is not one single
verse of scripture that requires members of Christ’s
church to confess sins to a bishop or stake
president. When a bishop tells a sincerely contrite
and penitent person to discontinue partaking of the
sacrament that is iniquity on the leader's part. It
has been my experience that when I have asked the Lord for
forgiveness, he gives it to me immediately on the
spot. The fact that there is a hierarchy of leaders,
both on the local level and on the general authority
level, is evidence of iniquity. The fact that the
Relief Society has to report to the men is
iniquitous. Tithing settlements are
iniquitous. Several of our temple recommend
interview questions are iniquitous. Home teaching
statistics are iniquitous. Salaries for Mission
Presidents, Seventies, the Twelve and the First Presidency
are iniquitous, let alone they manifest priestcraft.
The correlated curriculum for Sunday School classes is
iniquitous. The standardized dress code (white
shirts and ties) for young men who administer the
sacrament is iniquitous. The self-righteousness in
Fast and Testimony meetings where people publicly declare
they know the Church is the only true and living Church on
the face of the whole earth, or they express how thankful
they are that they have the fulness of the gospel and the
priesthood is iniquitous. I could go on and
on. The iniquity in the Church is thick, but no one
sees it or says anything about it, because to do so would
be to “speak evil of the Lord’s anointed.” After
all, all of the things I described above came from the
“prophets, seers and revelators” of the Church.
We need to rise above our
current system of living. We live in a world that is
literally filled with sin, iniquity, abominations and
secret combinations. We are ripe for
destruction. It is of utmost importance and urgency
for us to start a new way of living. Just like as in
times of old, we live in a society where iniquity is
protected by laws. Think of when King Noah and his
priests “Were supported in their laziness, and in their
idolatry, and in their whoredoms, by the taxes which king
Noah had put upon his people; thus did the people labor
exceedingly to support iniquity”
(Mosiah 11:6).
The same can be said of our Congress. The laws of
this country are increasingly oppressive, yet the
legislators are not obligated to abide by many of
them. They can vote themselves raises, while the
cost of living increases and the remainder of the people
suffer.
Iniquity is practiced by groups
of people embracing iniquity without them even knowing
it. Such was the case when the people of King Noah
were later put into bondage to the Lamanites and they were
desirous to repent but had not figured how to yet:
“And now the Lord was slow to
hear their cry because of their iniquities;
nevertheless the Lord did hear their cries, and began to
soften the hearts of the Lamanites that they began to ease
their burdens; yet the Lord did not see fit to deliver
them out of bondage” (Mosiah 21:15).
This verse seems to imply that
even though the people were repentant, they still embraced
a paradigm of inequality among themselves, undermining the
Lord’s ability to forgive them. I believe they were
still placing an overemphasis on King Limhi’s position and
that of others in his court. The efficaciousness of
their repentance hinged to a certain degree on the
recognition and abandonment of their collective iniquity (Mosiah 21:17-18).
One of the main things real
prophets do, besides testify of Jesus Christ, is they
prophesy against iniquity. The way I see it, the
number one reason prophets are persecuted, kicked out or
killed is because they prophesy against iniquity,
abominations and secret combinations, not necessarily
because they prophesy of Christ. Speaking against
those things more often than not threatens the people’s
position, rank, status, comfort, income, livelihood,
etc. It reveals the inconspicuous inequalities and
injustices that exist among mankind that are accepted by
the masses as “just the way things are." Secondary
to testifying and teaching of Christ, it seems true
prophets tell the people to repent of iniquity. By
doing that they jeopardize their standing in their
society. They are mocked, ridiculed, stoned,
persecuted, excommunicated, etc. not necessarily because
they testify against sin or of Jesus Christ, but because
they are denouncing the normal accepted ways of
society. When someone comes along and tells you that
the foundation of society is based on iniquity and that
you need to repent or destruction will follow, then most
people are inclined to get rid of that person.
Iniquity is the greatest stumbling Block to Zion.
On a different note with regard
to the current fellowships of Zion now forming and meeting
regularly, before Zion will be brought forth, we “must
wait for strength to develop in the first
fellowships.” The current fellowships can develop
strength by first being baptized and then eliminating
iniquity from among us. This “challenge is an order
of magnitude greater than fellowshipping, and will require
much of us” (Things Now Underway).
The fellowships must put on
strength as the Lord through Isaiah commanded:
Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion (Isaiah 52:1).
“Putting on strength” is to “put on the authority of the
priesthood” (D&C 113:7-8).
The priesthood is inextricably linked with the absence of
iniquity. If iniquity exists then priesthood is
nullified:
“The rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and… the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness. That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man” (D&C 121:36-37).Iniquity is the reason the priesthood is withdrawn from mankind. It is not necessarily sin that causes the powers of heaven to withdraw themselves. Rather it is iniquity. To “put on strength” or to “put on the priesthood” requires us to forsake iniquity. Undertaking to cover our sins, gratifying our pride, our vain ambitions, or exercising control, dominion, or compulsion are expressions of iniquity. “Putting on strength” means we treat others with equality, fairness, respect, and love. These are the opposites of iniquity. In our dealings with others we should use persuasion, long-suffering, gentleness, meekness, love-unfeigned, kindness and pure knowledge.
The command “Awake, Awake, put
on thy strength, O Zion” (Isaiah 52:1) is
telling us to awaken to our awful situation and denounce
the world by rising above the iniquity that characterizes
it, thereby “putting on the authority of the priesthood”
of God. Iniquity undermines the priesthood. It
renders the priesthood ineffective.
To “put on thy strength, O Zion”
pertains to both genders, not just men. When we put
on the authority of the priesthood, we gain a fellowship
with the powers of heaven and the Power of Heaven.
That sort of fellowship is not contingent upon receiving a
certificate from a man indicating you have been
ordained. That sort of priesthood is given by God’s
voice directly to the recipient.
“Put on thy strength, O Zion;
Put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem” (Isaiah 52:1) is
the same as a command to put on the wedding garment, to
put on the coat of skins, to wear the garment of the holy
priesthood. This command from Isaiah pertains to us
right now. We have been commanded to arise and do
this. It is the task staring us in the face.
Let us each resolve to treat
others the way we want to be treated. Let us be
generous in all of our substance. “For if ye are not
equal in earthly things ye cannot be equal in obtaining
heavenly things” (D&C 78:6).
This is extremely important if we desire to
progress toward Zion. For, “it is not given that one
man should possess that which is above another, wherefore
the world lieth in sin” (D&C 49:20).
Let us rise above our sins by placing the cloak of charity
upon ourselves and others, and move one step closer to
Zion.