Almost
daily, both in the LDS Church and outside the LDS Church, I encounter
people who are telling me exactly how God will establish Zion on this
earth. They have been doing so for hundreds and thousands of years
now.
One
word of caution for you. Don't apostatize from the LDS Church if it
doesn't turn out exactly the way you foresee it turning out.
Our
resurrected Lord Jesus Christ has thousands and millions of different
ways to bring Zion, any one of which will bring the same results in
the end.
Jesus
Christ could come in glory tomorrow if He wanted to and establish
Zion. If the Second Coming were tomorrow, what would happen? The
wicked would be burned, and Jesus Christ would then establish Zion
among the righteous remnants. It could happen tomorrow. If Jesus
Christ postpones his Second Coming for a decade or for a century, He
is doing so out of mercy to the "tares" giving the tares a
chance to repent and become "wheat" before the Second
Coming.
In
summary, Jesus Christ does not need to establish Zion the way you
foresee Him establishing Zion in order to successfully establish
Zion. Jesus Christ does not need to do it the way I foresee Him doing
it either. He can do it anyway He wants to do it, including coming in
glory, burning the wicked, and establishing Zion among the righteous
remnant, which He could do tomorrow if He wanted to.
The
establishment of Zion is in Christ's hands, and He will do it at the
pace and in the way that He sees fit. He could do it tomorrow, or He
could do it two hundred years from now, but either way, when He comes
in power and glory, Zion will be established if it hasn't already
been established before.
Any
way that we choose to look at it, Christ wins in the end. God's
plans will not be frustrated.
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SpeedRacer:
“So
it seems in the past he established Zion in the same way. Why is he
changing? How did God get leeway to do as he pleased when he
pleased? I thought there was a plan? How do I exercise faith in a
changeable god? I thought it was prophesied that Christ would return
to Zion? How can He return to something He has to setup? It would
seem he would need to send a servant like Enoch or Melchizedek to
establish Zion, then come to it. Where am I off base on this?”
Answer:
You
are not off-base on this. If that's the way Jesus Christ has chosen
to do it this time around, then that is the way He will do it. If He
chooses to do it Robert Sinclair's way, then that's the way He will
do it. That's my point.
The
way any of us get off-base is when we apostatize against the LDS
Church because the Church isn't establishing Zion the way we
personally believe that it should be established or rebel against the
Brethren because we don't think that they are establishing Zion fast
enough or in the right way.
This
is not Jesus' first time at bat. Jesus Christ has successfully
established Zion multiple times already. He did it for Adam in some
form or another, Enoch, Melchizedek, and the Nephites in 3rd
Nephi; and, those are just the accounts that we know about.
In
fact, through the Restoration of the Gospel of Christ in these
latter-days, Jesus Christ has already established Zion or laid the
foundation for Zion in our time as well. They are called the Stakes
of Zion for a reason. It's called the Temple of the Lord or the
House of the Lord for a reason. It's already here. Jesus has
already done it. The fact that collectively we are not already
taking full advantage of it doesn't change the fact that He has
already restored Zion to the earth in our day. It's called the
Restoration of the Gospel, or the Restoration of Zion, or Laying the
Foundation of Zion for a reason. It will be LDS Temples that will be
found at the heart of every City of Zion during the Millennium, and
the ironic thing is that we already have them here and now. Jesus
has already done it and already established it. It's here now.
Jesus has already won.
It's
a marvelous work and a wonder to think about. We have been told that
Temple Work or Redeeming the Dead will be the primary work of the
Millennium; and, guess what. We are already doing it! In a very
real sense, the Millennium started the day that Joseph Smith
presented the Endowment and the other Temple work to the LDS
Apostles. That's the day that the Millennial Work or Redeeming the
Dead began. So, in a way, that's the day that the Millennium
officially began. Zion is already here. It has already been
established. Jesus has already won.
My
message is to chill and relax. Trust God. Have faith in God. It
will all come in His own way and at His own pace. He has done it
many times before, and He will do it once again. Just don't be
upset, or fly off the handle, or apostatize, or murmur and complain
because He doesn't do it exactly the way you foresee Him doing it,
this time around. Don't quit the Church as some have done just
because the Brethren don't seem to be doing it the “right way” or
“your way”, or don't seem to be establishing Zion fast enough to
suit your pleasure. Don't start making the claim that the LDS Church
is off track, or the Brethren are doing it wrong, or that Christ has
abandoned the LDS Church simply because it isn't all turning out the
way that you foresaw it turning out or isn't going fast enough to
meet the schedule that you have in mind. God deliberately sets up
tests of our faith all the time, and this is one of them. So, trust
that Christ has everything well in hand and knows exactly what He is
doing. Trust and believe and know that Christ has already won.
Don't
commit spiritual suicide because it isn't going the way that you want
it to go. Instead, go to the LDS Temples and do some of that
Millennial work or Zion work. You don't have to wait until Christ
comes in power and glory in order to go and do some Temple Work
today, the very kind of work that everyone will be doing during the
Millennium. You don't have to wait for Christ to come or for some
kind of United Order to be re-established in order to do the works of
Zion here and now. You can do the Temple Work or Millennial Work,
redeem some of the dead, and have Zion in your heart and life at this
very moment. We don't need the coming of some kind of magical
special prophet to save us and establish Zion, because we already had
one, and he was Joseph Smith. We don't need any kind of United
Order, or banking reform, or conversion to socialism, or spectacular
event, or the Gospel already preached to the whole world, or a Zion
City, or the Second Coming of Christ, in order to go do Temple Work
right now. Zion and the work of Zion, Redeeming the Dead, is already
here. It has already been established. Christ has already won.
Sometimes,
we really don't realize or see what we truly have in the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We already have Zion. We are
already doing the works that will be done during the Millennium when
Christ is here in person. We already have the work of the
Millennium, Redeeming the Dead. We are already preaching the Gospel
of Zion and baptizing the converts. It's already here. Zion has
already been established. We just have to stop fretting and be
willing to reach out and take advantage of it. Christ says to us,
“Be still and know that I am God”.
