18 The King of Zion Will Preserve His People
18 The King of Zion Will Preserve His People
Jesus is the King of Zion! He watches over His people, and
in the last days He will preserve them from the great tribulations that will
occur.
Moses
7:53 53 And the Lord said: Blessed is he through whose seed
Messiah shall come; for he saith—I am Messiah, the King of Zion,
the Rock of Heaven, which is broad as eternity; whoso cometh in
at the gate and climbeth up by me shall never fall; wherefore,
blessed are they of whom I have spoken, for they shall come forth with songs of
everlasting joy.
What are some of the trials that are going on in the world
around us in these last days?
Where can you find peace and safety, even when you know of
wickedness surrounding you, or even when you have some of your own trials that
are bothering you?
Remember that Jesus can calm all storms, even the storms
that might rage inside of you.
I recognize and know that the Lord has helped me during the
storms (trials and difficulties) that I’ve had in my life?
I appreciate what the Lord has done for me and sincerely
want and need His help.
Enoch and his people built “the City of Holiness, even Zion.”
We are striving to build Zion in our day as well; where Jesus will be King.
Moses
7:20 The Zion of Enoch’s day will be blessed forever.
We are striving in our day to also become a Zion people so
that we can also be blessed forever. Think about that. We are trying to mirror
the Zion of old; so that in the last days, the Zion of heaven and the Zion of
earth will meet, and Jesus will reign forever as King of Kings and Lord of
Lords.
Enoch foresaw that the other people of that day would be
destroyed in the flood, excepting Noah and his family. He wept.
This mirrors our world again today. Do we sorrow knowing that there will be
those who will be destroyed at the Second Coming of the Lord, so that the earth
can be renewed and receive its paradisical glory? If so, are we praying like
Enoch prayed and working in faith to gather Israel? Are we becoming a Zion
people, and helping others to see the covenant path and stay on the path so
that they can also be a Zion people?
Moses
7:42–57 Enoch was sad about those who would be lost in the flood and he
asked the Lord if He’d have mercy on them.
The Lord responded by teaching Enoch about the atonement of His Son Jesus
Christ. The Lord has mercy on us all and gives us every chance to repent and
change. The people who have not been taught the gospel in this life, will still
have the benefit of being taught it in the Spirit World; and because of the
atonement of Jesus Christ and the priesthood and sealing powers found within
the temple, they will still have the opportunity to be baptized and receive the
blessings of salvation.
Read Moses
7:53 again.
How do we become the people of Zion? We become pure in
heart.
Enos wanted to know if the Lord would come again in the last
days.
Moses
7:60–61 60 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;
61 And the day shall come that the earth
shall rest, but before that day the heavens shall be darkened, and
a veil of darkness shall cover the earth; and the heavens shall
shake, and also the earth; and great tribulations shall be among the children
of men, but my people will I preserve;
How will the Lord preserve his faithful children in the last
days?
in the last days, the Lord will …
As students answer, write the following phrases on the board:
send righteousness out of heaven.
send truth out of the earth.
gather His people to Zion (see also Doctrine
and Covenants 115:6).
Righteousness out of heaven and truth out of the earth to
gather us to Zion
Joseph Smith received the First Vision.
John the Baptist gave the Aaronic Priesthood to Joseph
Smith.
Peter, James, and John gave the Melchizedek Priesthood to
Joseph Smith.
The Lord revealed the Doctrine and Covenants.
The Lord reveals His word through modern-day prophets.
Joseph Smith obtained and translated the gold plates.
We are all part of a ward or branch.
The Restoration is ongoing.
President Joseph Smith:
[I] explained concerning the coming of the Son of Man; also
that it is a false idea that the Saints will escape all the judgments, whilst
the wicked suffer; for all flesh is subject to suffer, and ‘the righteous shall
hardly escape’ [see D&C
63:34]; still many of the Saints will escape, for the just shall live by
faith [see Habakkuk
2:4]; yet many of the righteous shall fall a prey to disease, to
pestilence, etc., by reason of the weakness of the flesh, and yet be saved in
the Kingdom of God.
President Ezra Taft Benson:
The Book of Mormon has come forth out of the earth, filled
with truth, serving as the very “keystone of our religion” (see Introduction
to the Book of Mormon). God has also sent down righteousness from
heaven. The Father Himself appeared with His Son to the Prophet Joseph Smith.
The angel Moroni, John the Baptist, Peter, James, and numerous other angels
were directed by heaven to restore the necessary powers to the kingdom.
Further, the Prophet Joseph Smith received revelation after revelation from the
heavens during those first critical years of the Church’s growth. These
revelations have been preserved for us in the Doctrine and Covenants.
These two great works of scripture, then, become a major
tool in the Lord’s hand for preserving His people in the latter days.
President Dallin H. Oaks:
With the creation of stakes and the construction of temples
in most nations with sizeable populations of the faithful, the current
commandment is not to gather to one place but to gather in stakes in our own
homelands. There the faithful can enjoy the full blessings of eternity in a
house of the Lord. There, in their own homelands, they can obey the Lord’s
command to enlarge the borders of His people and strengthen her stakes
(see Doctrine
and Covenants 101:21; 133:9,
14). In this way, the stakes of Zion are “for a defense, and for a refuge
from the storm, and from wrath when it shall be poured out without mixture upon
the whole earth.”
Elder D. Todd Christopherson:
We must acknowledge that the building up of Zion occurs in
tumultuous times—“a day of wrath, a day of burning, a day of desolation, of
weeping, of mourning, and of lamentation; and as a whirlwind it shall come upon
all the face of the earth, saith the Lord” [Doctrine
and Covenants 112:24]. Thus, the gathering into stakes becomes “for a
defense, and for a refuge from the storm, and from wrath when it shall be
poured out without mixture upon the whole earth” [Doctrine
and Covenants 115:6]. …
This great and last dispensation is building steadily to its
climax—Zion on earth being joined with Zion from above at the Savior’s glorious
return. The Church of Jesus Christ is commissioned to prepare—and is
preparing—the world for that day.
Elder David A. Bednar:
What has been accomplished thus far in this dispensation
communicating gospel messages through social media channels is a good
beginning—but only a small trickle. I now extend to you the invitation to help
transform the trickle into a flood. Beginning this day, I exhort you to sweep
the earth with messages filled with righteousness and truth—messages that are
authentic, edifying, and praiseworthy—and literally to sweep the earth as with
a flood.
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