Doctrine and Covenants 64–66

<p>Also, do the right things for the right reasons. The Lord, who &ldquo;requireth the heart and a willing mind&rdquo; (D&amp;C 64:34) and who &ldquo;is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart&rdquo; D&amp;C 33:1 knows why you go to church&mdash;whether you are present in body only or truly worshipping. You can&rsquo;t sing on Sunday, &ldquo;O Babylon, O Babylon, [I] bid thee farewell&rdquo; and then seek or tolerate its company again moments later (&ldquo;Ye Elders of Israel,&rdquo; Hymns, no. 319). Remember that casualness in spiritual matters never was happiness. Make the Church and the restored gospel your whole life, not just a part of your outward or social life. Choosing this day whom you will serve is lip service only&mdash;until you actually live accordingly. Spiritual confidence increases when you are truly striving, for the right reasons, to live a consecrated life in spite of your imperfections!</p>

<p>As the forces of good and evil polarize more and more, those who have not prescribed a moral consequence to their actions will find their lives in such chaos that their style of life will be unbearable to them. Then the prophecies will be fulfilled which say, &ldquo;And all things shall be in commotion; and surely, men&rsquo;s hearts shall fail them; for fear shall come upon all people&rdquo; (D&amp;C 88:91)</p> <p>When that day comes, the righteous Saints of God will be the only well-governed people unto whom the world can turn. It will be there and there only that they will find stability and steadfastness. They will come, not knowing the doctrine of the righteous, but it will be as foretold: &ldquo;For, behold, I say unto you that Zion shall flourish, and the glory of the Lord shall be upon her; And she shall be an ensign unto the people, and there shall come unto her out of every nation under heaven&rdquo; (D&amp;C 64:41&ndash;42).</p> <p>Righteousness is the better way. Finally, it is the only way. In righteousness is the power to provide the joy and happiness and the safety and security that men and women have longed for and searched for through all the generations of time.</p> <p>It seems like such a simple solution, but the reality is that &ldquo;Satan is abroad in the land, and he goeth forth deceiving the nations&rdquo; (D&amp;C 52:14). There is opposition. Right and wrong do exist. Our actions do have moral consequences. There is no right way to do a wrong thing.</p>

<p>The scriptures are filled with promises made to the descendants of Ephraim, the son of Joseph, and the birthright child of Israel (1 Chronicles 5:1–2; Jeremiah 31:9). Moses gave a blessing to the children of Ephraim, saying, “His glory <em>is like</em> the firstling of his bullock, and his horns <em>are like</em> the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they <em>are</em> the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they <em>are</em> the thousands of Manasseh” (Deuteronomy 33:17). The Doctrine and Covenants in particular speaks of the blessings given to the descendants of Ephraim. The Lord identified the Book of Mormon as the “record of the stick of Ephraim” (D&C 27:5). A revelation given shortly after this one spoke of the other tribes of Israel bringing “forth their rich treasures unto the children of Ephraim, my servants” (D&C 133:30).</p> <p>Though Ephraim is considered the birthright tribe of the house of Israel, the Lord does not refer to the descendants of Ephraim as rulers but rather as servants. In Doctrine and Covenants 64 the Lord says that “the rebellious are not of the blood of Ephraim and will be plucked out” (D&C 64:36). Many who come into the Church are literal descendants of Ephraim and the other tribes, while many are not. The Lord does not distinguish between the two groups in the way He provides blessings to His children. The promises made to the fathers are important, but in the end, what the Lord requires of His servants is “the heart and a willing mind” (D&C 64:34).</p>

<p>In several places in scripture the Lord gives the Saints the charge to assist in carrying out judgment upon the world. Speaking to the Nephite disciples, the Lord declared, “And know ye that ye shall be judges of this people, according to the judgment which I shall give unto you, which shall be just. Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am” (3 Nephi 27:27). Urging the Saints to resolve their own differences rather than looking to outside sources, Paul wrote, “Know ye not that we shall judge the world?” and “Know ye not that we shall judge angels?” (1 Corinthians 6:2–3). In both of these cases the Savior and Paul used the promise of a future judgment to motivate the Saints to live a virtuous life so that they can assist the Savior in judging the world without hypocrisy.</p> <p>Ultimately the Savior is the judge of all men and women (2 Nephi 9:41). The Saints are called to assist in acting as His servants on earth to determine worthiness before sacred ordinances such as baptism, sealings, and other covenants can be extended. In all things the Savior seeks a fair judgment for all people based on their circumstances, light, and knowledge. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught, “It has been the design of Jehovah, from the commencement of the World, and is his purpose now, to regulate the affairs of the World in his own time; to stand as head of the universe and take the reins of government into his own hand. When that is done judgement will be administered in righteousness: anarchy and confusion will be destroyed, and ‘nations will learn war no more.’”<a href="#_ftn1" id="_ftnref1" title="" class="see-footnote">[1]</a></p> <div class="footnotes"> <p><a href="#_ftnref1" id="_ftn1" title="" class="footnote-label">[1]</a> Joseph Smith—History, vol. C-1, 34, JSP.</p> </div>

<p>The assurance given by the Lord in this revelation is that Zion will flourish. While trials and persecutions lay ahead of the Saints, the ending of the story is a happy one. The concept of Zion would expand beyond its beginning as a city built in Missouri to provide a home for the Saints to a recognition of Zion as a people spread throughout the globe (D&C 97:11). Zion flourishes whenever a new temple is dedicated, a new stake is created, or a new member is baptized. Decades after this prophecy was given to Joseph Smith, his nephew Joseph F. Smith remarked on its fulfillment: </p> <blockquote> <p>Zion is, indeed, flourishing on the hills, and it is rejoicing on the mountains, and we also who compose it are gathering and assembling together unto the place appointed. I now ask this congregation if they cannot see that this prediction (which was made many years before the idea prevailed at all among this people that we should ever migrate and gather out to these mountain valleys) has been and is being literally fulfilled? If there were no other prophecy uttered by Joseph Smith, fulfillment of which could be pointed to, this alone would be sufficient to entitle him to claim of being a true prophet.<a href="#_ftn1" id="_ftnref1" title="" class="see-footnote">[1]</a></p> </blockquote> <p>More than a century removed from Joseph F. Smith’s comments on the prophecy of Zion flourishing, we see its even greater fulfillment. Millions more Saints have made covenants, a handful of temples has grown to over one hundred and fifty dedicated houses of the Lord, and the members of the Church of the Lamb, though relatively few in number, are “armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory” (1 Nephi 14:14).</p> <div class="footnotes"> <p class="footnote"><a href="#_ftnref1" id="_ftn1" title="" class="footnote-label">[1]</a> <em>Gospel Doctrine, </em>486–487.</p> </div>