6/6/2017 - Section 38:1-9

June 6, 2017

Section 38:1-9

Zion Establishing, Obedience, God Powers of, Prayer Blessings Of, City of Enoch AND Others, Work, Growth, Sanctification & Purification, Second Coming & Atonement,

This revelation was received during the third general conference of the church. Joseph feels that two things are needed before Zion (just as Enoch’s Zion) can be built in this dispensation: revelation from the Lord giving His law and the order of Zion, and the Preparation and sanctification of the Saints. V 32 tells just why the Lord had commanded the Saints to gather in Ohio: “There I will give unto you my law; and there you shall be endowed with power from on high.”  There evidently were some members of the Church living in New York who wondered why they should move three hundred miles to the west in the dead of winter. This verse could well be the answer to their questions.

In v 2 the Lord is continuing in His description of Himself: “The same which knoweth all things, for all things are present before mine eyes;” The footnote to ‘present before mine eyes’ is “TG God, Foreknowledge of” I looked that up and found among many other scriptures Abr 2:8 “I know the end from the beginning”. How beautiful, and wonderful and safe to have my prayers heard and answered by One who knows the end from the beginning. If we but apply to Him, He will help us to not be too hampered by our limited, mortal vision.

In v 4 the Lord says He has “taken the Zion (the pure in heart) of Enoch into mine bosom; and verily (truly), I say, even as many as have believed in my name.” I love knowing that the Lord sees us all…individually. He rewards us according to our actions and our thoughts and our desires and our faith…

V 7-8 “…mine eyes are upon you. I am in your midst and ye cannot see me; (8) But the day soon cometh that ye shall see me, and know that I am for the veil of darkness shall soon be rent, and he that is not purified shall not abide the day.” And just in case that would be scary to us or so overwhelming that we would decide to give up early, He went on in v 9 to say: “Wherefore, gird up your loins and be prepared. (Faith and growth rarely just happens, it takes work…ongoing work, but the promise of our doing that work is in the next phrase, and the reality of the end result makes our work so very much worth it all) and the enemy shall not overcome.”

P 76 President Joseph Fielding Smith referred to Moroni who said “to be near at hand, then Christ will spear as the refiner and the purifier of both man and beast and all that pertains to this earth…” I think as we do our best that even at the end of the earth—maybe especially at the end of the earth—the atonement is still in effect, and if we have been doing our very best, Christ will add what ever else we need.

We are not just WAITING for the Second Coming, we are WORKING for it!