LDS Freedom Forum

The recent acts of Congress have been against the Freedoms of We the People. The Congress has destroyed the Constitution. The judicial and executive branches of government have become enemies of liberty. By rejecting the God inspired laws of liberty, this nation is living under the laws of bondage. If we desire liberty , we must abide by the law that guarantees the blessing of liberty. If we do not conform to the bounds and conditions of a law, we are not justified in receiving the blessings associated with it. The universe is governed by law. Whatever law anyone keeps, he is preserved by that law, and he receives whatever reward that law guarantees unto him. It is the Will of God that all His children should obey the highest law, that they may receive the highest glory that is ordained for all beings. We choose what law we will keep. The Lord will not reestablish the Constitution in Washington DC once it has be overthrown and the nation destroyed along with all nations. Out of Zion will go forth the Law. That law will be the perfect Law of Liberty. All scriptures teach the value of law and the blessings that derive from obedience to it. In the doctrine and Covenants Christ taught that through obedience to His laws, His children are freed from sin, weakness, darkness and despair; they obtain power over all their enemies and gain power to lay hold of every righteous desire of their hearts. they become free of every encumbrance that holds them back. thus having become free and independent, and having the abulity to live in accordance to all of God's laws, the obedient children of God have the powers of the universe at their disposal to use in obtaining a fulness of joy.
When we conclude to make a Zion we will make it and this work commences in the heart of each person. When the father of a family wishes to make a Zion in his own house, he must take the lead in this good work, which it is impossible for him to do unless he himself possesses the spirit of Zion. Before he can produce the work of sanctification in his family, he must sanctify himself, and by this means God can help him to sanctify his family.

“There is not one thing wanting in all the works of God’s hands to make a Zion upon the earth when the people conclude to make it. We can make a Zion of God on earth at our pleasure, upon the same principle that we can raise a field of wheat, or build and inhabit. There has been no time when the material has not been here from which to produce corn, wheat, etc., and by the judicious management and arrangement of this ever-existing material a Zion of God can always be built on the earth.” ( Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 118.)

The wickedness of men may have prevented the building of a Zion society, but it can never prevent the practice of the principles of Zion by individuals and families.
“We ought to have the building up of Zion as our greatest object.
I saw men hunting the lives of their own sons, and brother murdering brother, women killing their own daughters, and daughters seeking the lives of their mothers. I saw armies arrayed against armies. I saw blood, desolation, fires. The Son of Man has said that the mother shall be against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother. These things are at our doors. They will follow the Saints of God from city to city. Satan will rage, and the spirit of the devil is now enraged. I know not how soon these things will take place; but with a view of them, shall I cry peace? No!
Are you ready to gather to Zion? Do you have the building up of Zion as your greatest object? Where do you start? Where do you go? The answer is very simple if you remember the basic definition of Zion. It is a state of the heart, and that is the place you must begin. It is a matter of utmost urgency in our day, for the Lord has said, “Vengeance cometh speedily upon the ungodly as the whirlwind; and who shall escape it?” ( D&C 97:22 ).

Isn’t that what you’d like to know—who shall escape the day of judgment? The Lord gave the answer (see D&C 97:25–28 ), and it is of the utmost importance for us to understand it.
Some individuals fulfilled the personal requirements of a Zion people, but as a whole the Saints did not (see D&C 105:1–2 ). It was necessary that the people and the Church be prepared, under the direction of the prophets, to build Zion again. The Lord revealed the conditions required for the redemption or the establishment again of Zion. He declared that the Church was to “wait for a season ( D&C 105:9 ) in order that “my people may be taught more perfectly, . . . and know more perfectly concerning their duty” ( D&C 105:10 ). They also needed to be “endowed with power from on high” ( D&C 105:11 ) and to seek to obtain “favor in the eyes of [other] people, until the army of Israel becomes very great” ( D&C 105:26 ). Finally, the Lord instructed that the Church, His army, “be sanctified . . . that the kingdoms of this world may be constrained to acknowledge that the kingdom of Zion is in very deed the kingdom of our God and his Christ” ( D&C 105:31–32 ).

The vision of what we are about and what should come of our labors must be kept uppermost in our minds as we learn and do our duty in the present implementation of welfare service. This applies equally to all Church activities. . . .

“This day [of power and redemption] will come; it is our destiny to help bring it about! Doesn’t it motivate you to lengthen your stride and quicken your pace as you do your part in the great sanctifying work of the kingdom? It does me. It causes me to rejoice over the many opportunities for service and sacrifice afforded me and my family as we seek to do our part in establishing Zion. . . .

“The length of time required ‘to accomplish all things pertaining to Zion’ is strictly up to us and how we live, for creating Zion ‘commences in the heart of each person.’ ([Brigham Young, in] Journal of Discourses, 9:283.) That it would take some time to learn our lessons was seen by the prophets. In 1863 Brigham Young stated:

“‘If the people neglect their duty, turn away from the holy commandments which God has given us, seek their own individual wealth, and neglect the interest of the kingdom of God, we may expect to be here quite a time—perhaps a period that will be far longer than we anticipate.’ ( Journal of Discourses, 11:102.)
Zion is ‘every man seeking the interest of his neighbor, and doing all things with an eye single to the glory of God.’ ( D&C 82:19 .) As I understand these matters, Zion can be established only by those who are pure in heart, and who labor for Zion, for ‘the laborer in Zion shall labor for Zion; for if they labor for money they shall perish.’
President Kimball continued:

“As important as it is to have this vision in mind, defining and describing Zion will not bring it about. That can only be done through consistent and concerned daily effort by every single member of the Church. No matter what the cost in toil or sacrifice, we must do it. That is one of my favorite phrases: ‘Do It’.
http://institute.lds.org/manuals/doctri ... -a-c-b.asp