A CALL TO ZION

 

Millenium The Long Awaited Hour by Charlotte Noelle Pedersen

I call Chapter 51 of Isaiah ‘a call to Zion’. This chapter is specifically directed to ‘the redeemed’ of the last days as is thus addressed:

“Hearken unto me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord… (v 1);

“Hearken unto me, my people…..(v 4);

“Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law.. (v 7)

The ‘redeemed of the Lord’ are those who are of the Abrahamic covenant ‘as in the ancient days, in the generations of old’ (v 1,9). They are called to ‘look unto Abraham your father and unto Sarah that bare you, the rock from whence you are hewn” (v 1,2). Not only is this a reference to our ancient parents of the covenant because they were righteous and had set the path of example but because they provided the path to the seeking of Zion which they themselves were devoted to :

“Abraham’s diligence in seeking God is mentioned in the book of Abraham at the very point of his departure from Haran when he will, a Hebrews say, go looking for the city with foundations (Abraham 2:12). It is the same city, as scholars point out, that is also referred to in the next chapter of Hebrews: “But ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn” (Heb 12:22-23).

“When similar language is used in latter-day scripture, it describes the people of Enoch. Those attaining celestial glory are said to “come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly place, the holiest of all. These are they who have come to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of Enoch, and of the Firstborn” (D&C 76:66-67). Clearly Abraham was seeking Enoch’s city of Zion.” (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 805)

That we are to prepare to live a terrestrial life of the Millenial reign is evident by Isaiah 51:11 where he says that ‘sorrow and mourning shall flee away and everlasting joy shall be upon our heads’ (Isaiah 51:11). These are the conditions of the Millenium. Right now we are in a telestial world. The Millenium will be a terrestrial existence. It will be a lifestyle that will prepare the most righteous for a celestial life, a life with God the Father. I am more convinced of it when I look at the City of Enoch and its ascension to God.

There is a pattern that we will follow during the Millenium to prepare us for the celestial life with the Father,  Eternal God, and this is it. The golden age of the City of Enoch is the blueprint of New Jerusalem, the modern day Millenial Zion upon the American continent. Enoch’s city had another name: the City of Holiness (Moses 7:19). There is only one reason why this city was called the City of Holiness and that’s because ‘the Lord came and dwelt with his people’ and ‘dwelt in the midst of Zion  (Moses 7:16;69). It was He who was the embodiment of holiness and not its people. Much like He will be in New Jerusalem during the Millenium.

When the Saviour comes and resides in New Jerusalem, “the need will disappear for the sun and the moon to give light to God’s covenant people. The Lord Himself will be an everlasting light…and all the city will be lighted up by the glory of His presence….” (Orson Pratt, in “Journal of Discourses”, 14:355-56; see also D&C 133:57-58)

Because the Saviour was there with the people of Enoch, they ‘were of one heart and one mind and dwelt in righteousness and there was no poor among them’ (v 18). This description tells us one thing: because the citizens of Zion were true followers of Christ, they were endowed with His pure love.

Without the pure love of Christ we can never become citizens of Celestial Kingdom. A Zion life-style prepares us for this eventuality. And here is something we need to know. This pure love is unique only to Christ. It is solely His kind of love. We do not possess it and neither are we capable of developing it. His pure love is an endowment to those who love Him and follow Him (Moroni 7:48). That’s the good news.

It took Enoch’s city 365 years of ‘walking with the Saviour’ to reach the state of holiness which ‘lifted them up, even into the bosom of the Father and of the Son of Man’ (Moses 7:24,69). Much like 1,000 Millenial years will prepare us for the same.

When the Saviour returns, those who are spared will be those who are only ‘more’ righteous than those who will not be spared, like the Nephites of old when he appeared to them after His resurrection (3 Nephi 9:13). There will be no perfect people on earth when He comes. Perfection only comes in and through Him. The Saviour will live with His saints upon this earth for a thousand years to perfect them through His grace and endow them with His pure love in preparation for the celestial realm.

When the Saviour returns, Enoch’s city will return with Him to live with Zion, the New Jerusalem (Moses 7:62). This is us. They will meet us there and “we will fall upon their necks, and they shall fall upon our necks, and we will kiss each other” (Moses 7:63)….it will be a meeting of hearts knit together with the pure love of Christ. The Saviour is at the door….the Millennium imminent. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

THE CITY OF ENOCH

 

“One of the most outstanding features of the society which Enoch established was the manner in which the Lord instructed him to combine the religious ideals of the people with certain divinely inspired economic principles. The successful practice of these principles resulted in a golden age of prosperity which continued throughout the earthly existence of this community – a total of three hundred and sixty-five years (Moses 7:68).” (W. Cleon Skousen, “The First Two Thousand Years”, p 173)

This golden age of the City of Enoch is the blueprint of New Jerusalem, the modern day Millenial Zion upon the American continent. Enoch’s city had another name: the City of Holiness, even Zion (Moses 7:19). There is only one reason why this city was called the City of Holiness and that’s because ‘the Lord came and dwelt with his people’ and ‘dwelt in the midst of Zion  (Moses 7:16;69). It was He who was the embodiment of holiness and not its people. Much like He will be in New Jerusalem.

When the Saviour comes and resides in New Jerusalem, “the need will disappear for the sun and the moon to give light to God’s covenant people. The Lord Himself will be an everlasting light…and all the city will be lighted up by the glory of His presence….” (Orson Pratt, in “Journal of Discourses”, 14:355-56; see also D&C 133:57-58)

Because the Saviour was there with the people of Enoch, they ‘were of one heart and one mind and dwelt in righteousness and there was no poor among them’ (v 18). This description tells us one thing: because the citizens of Zion were true followers of Christ, they were endowed with His pure love.

Without the pure love of Christ we can never become citizens of Celestial Kingdom. A Zion life-style prepares us for this eventuality. And here is something we need to know. This pure love is unique only to Christ. It is solely His kind of love. We do not possess it and neither are we capable of developing it. His pure love is an endowment on those who love Him and follow Him (Moroni 7:48). That’s the good news.

I am guessing that it took Enoch’s city 365 years of ‘walking with the Saviour’ to reach the state of holiness which ‘lifted them up, even into the bosom of the Father and of the Son of Man’ (Moses 7:24,69). Much like 1,000 Millenial years will prepare us for the same.

When the Saviour returns, those who are spared will be those who are only ‘more’ righteous than those who will not be spared, like the Nephites of old when he appeared to them after His resurrection (3 Nephi 9:13). There will be no perfect people on earth when He comes. Perfection only comes in and through Him. The Saviour will live with His saints upon this earth for a thousand years to perfect them through His grace and endow them with His pure love in preparation for the celestial realm.

When the Saviour returns, Enoch’s city will return with Him to live with Zion, the New Jerusalem (Moses 7:62). This is us. They will meet us there and “we will fall upon their necks, and they shall fall upon our necks, and we will kiss each other” (Moses 7:63)….it will be a meeting of hearts knit together with the pure love of Christ. The Saviour is at the door….the Millennium imminent. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Divine Companion by Yongsung Kim)

THE PURE LOVE

 

I became convinced over the years that the pure love of Christ is a unique love to the Saviour and that we do not have an ability to develop this love no matter how hard we try. Moroni attests to this by saying that charity, or the pure love of Christ, is an endowment bestowed upon ‘all who are true followers of Jesus Christ’ (Moroni 7:48).

The pure love of Christ is therefore a gift, like many godly attributes that are bestowed upon us due to our righteousness but our inability to develop them ourselves…..except for one thing. None of these attributes come to us in the abstract. They are given through clinical experiences of mortality.

Elder Bruce C. Hafen discussed this very doctrine in preparing his biography of Elder Neal A. Maxwell. He talked at length about Elder Maxwell’s theory of “wintry doctrine” as opposed to what he called “warm and cuddly doctrines of the gospel”. The “wintry doctrine” was in his mind his belief that Jesus “will eventually request each of us to do those very things which are most difficult for us to do.” (Elder Bruce C. Hafen, “The Story of a Disciple’s Life: Preparing the Biography of Elder Neal A. Maxwell)

After Elder Maxwell was called to the Twelve, “he began to see discipleship as a personal growth process designed to develop Christlike attributes”. In 1996 that personal growth of discipleship became a reality as leukemia entered his life and taught him through suffering of Christ’s empathy for us. He began to experience the pure love that Christ has for other people. This is the doctrinal link that Elder Hafen gleaned from Elder Maxwell’s experience:

“Perhaps those who seek apprenticeship with the Master of mankind must emulate his sacrificial experience to the fullest extent of their personal capacity…. Only then are they like Him enough to feel His love for others THE WAY HE FEELS IT – to love, “AS I HAVE LOVED YOU” (John 13:34). That is a deeper, different love from “love thy neighbour as thyself.”  (Matthew 19:19)

“His love for all mankind is fully bound up in His exquisite pain…..Perhaps we cannot know His love without knowing His pain. If so, the personal suffering we confront…could move the pure love of Christ from a concept in one’s head to a substance in one’s heart. And once in the heart, charity will circulate all through the body, because it is being moved by “a new heart”. (Elder Bruce C. Hafen, “Preparing the Biography of Elder Neal A. Maxwell)

To have this unique love of Christ take its place in our hearts is worth all the suffering we as mortals can endure…it is priceless…

I stand in awe of Him who possesses this love…..the greatness is beyond my limited mind.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: With All My Heart by Yongsung Kim) 

THE DESTINY OF ZION

 

When Elder Bruce C. Hafen was the Area President here in Australia he shared with me that the goal of the Church was at that time to prepare the members for Zion. That was some 25 years ago.

I learnt something important this year from Section 105 of the Doctrine and Covenants. I was reminded of Elder Hafen and I came to see how important the Church is as an organisation of the body of saints because of its leaders who are implementing this preparation.

We are told certain conditions need to be met before Zion can be established as ‘the bridge between the world as it is and the world as God designed it and meant it to be’ (Hugh Nibley, “Approaching Zion” p 4).

Firstly, the elders of the Church are to be endowed with power from on high that we the members might be taught more perfectly in order to develop more experience concerning our duties and what God requires of us (v 10,11).

There are some who believe they can be inactive in the Church and in the end show up at New Jerusalem’s gate expecting to live a Zion life. Imagine arriving to Zion without any experience behind you that would have taught you to be obedient to the leaders’ instructions and to be  united with other members of the Church community.

Zion can only be built ‘according to the union required by the law of the celestial kingdom’  (v 3-5). It is this law and this only that enables men to obey the law of consecration whereby they impart of their ‘substance, as becometh saints, to the poor and the afflicted’ (v 3). This was the success of the city of Enoch. Because they were of one heart and one mind they willingly met each other’s needs so there was no poor among them (Moses 7:18).

If God’s goal for the human family is unity, you can be assured that Satan’s is division. I don’t know how much progress we have made in the last 25 years since Elder Hafen was here. Right now the world is divided into left and right and contention and disunity is rife. President Nelson is constantly warning us against this because our destiny as the Church of Jesus Christ is great.

The celestial law that will get us to Zion is not just about obedience but also love. Love leads to unity. The Lord called the city of Enoch, Zion the Pure in Heart. The people of this city ‘walked’ with God (Moses 7:69) which means they were ‘true’ followers of Jesus Christ and as true followers of Jesus Christ they were endowed with the ‘pure’ love of Christ (Moroni 7:48).

This is the key: He leads and we follow. We follow His example of love, compassion, understanding, tolerance, respect, giving and ministering……today obedience, tomorrow Zion, the day after Celestial Kingdom. In Joseph’s words: “We are on the pathway to eternal fame, and immortal glory.” 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: As I Have Loved You by B. Laura Wilson)

PURE LOVE

 

“The greater definition of ‘the pure love of Christ is not what we as Christians try but largely fail to demonstrate toward others but rather what Christ totally succeeded in demonstrating toward us. TRUE charity has been known only once. It is shown perfectly and purely In Christ’s unfailing, ultimate, and atoning love for us.

“It is that charity – his pure love for us – without which we would be nothing, hopeless, of all men and women most miserable. Truly, those found possessed of the blessings of His love at the last day – the Atonement, the Resurrection, eternal life, eternal promise – surely it shall be well with them….Life has its share of fears and failures…but one thing in time or eternity does not fail us – the pure love of Christ.”

-          Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, “Christ and the New Covenant” [1997], 336-37

“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”   (Romans 8:38,39)

As the stars in heaven

That burn with everlasting light

So is my love that burns for Thee

On the altar of my godly heart.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: God of Wonders by Yongsung Kim)

THE PATH TO DIVINITY

 

“The greater definition of ‘the pure love of Christ’, is not what we as Christians try but largely fail to demonstrate toward others but rather what Christ totally succeeded in demonstrating toward us. True charity has been known only once.

“It is shown perfectly and purely in Christ’s unfailing, ultimate and atoning love for us. It is Christ’s love for us that ‘suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not’. It is his love for us that is not ‘puffed up…., not easily provoked, thinketh no evil’. It is Christ’s love for us that ‘beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things’.

“It is as demonstrated in Christ that ‘charity never faileth’. It is that charity – His pure love for us – without which we would be nothing, hopeless, of all men and women most miserable. Truly, those found possessed of the blessings of His love at the last day – the Atonement, the Resurrection, eternal life, eternal promise – surely it shall be well with them…”  (Jeffrey R. Holland, “Christ and the New Covenant”[1997], 336-37)

Charity or the pure love of Christ is unique to the Saviour. It is called ‘pure’ because this kind of love has no ulterior motive of self-interest. It is pure because it is selfless. Cast your mind on the Saviour’s mortal life and His atoning sacrifice. None of it was about Him but all about saving us and bringing glory to the Father.

This kind of love cannot be developed but can only be bestowed on the true followers of Christ so that they can become sons of God and be like Him when He returns. Why do we need to be like Him? So ‘that we may be purified even as He is pure’ (Moroni 7:47,48). Without this purity we cannot be where God is.

I have been thinking a lot about the Second Coming lately and I have written somewhat about the parable of the Ten Virgins. The more I contemplate this parable the more I can see what the Saviour meant by saying to the unprepared Five that they didn’t know Him (JST Matthew 25:11 or Matt 25:12a). Consequently, they never became like Him, a requirement Moroni spoke of.

I rather think that the prepared Virgins were His true followers who were endowed with His pure love and this is why I think that. In 1 Peter 4:8, it says that ‘charity covers a multitude of sins’ but JST says ‘charity PREVENTETH a multitude of sins’ (JST 1 Pet 4:8a). Think about it, the Saviour was sinless because He possessed this pure love. Speaking of the Father, He said: “I do ALWAYS those things that please Him” (John 8:29). Why? Because He loved the Father.

Possessing the pure love of Christ means possessing a love for God which means much greater obedience than we are capable of on our own. Possessing the pure love of Christ also means no trespass against our neighbour and greater charity toward our fellowman. It means no contention, no hate, no wars……it means a perfect society…..like the one He will bring with Him.

The arrival of the Bridegroom will not be “a scrutiny of churches, but of individuals in the Church” (James Talmage, Marriage Feast, the Called and the Chosen, “Jesus the Christ”, p 543). Only half of us will be at the Marriage Feast and the path to it is paved with love…..

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Artist Unknown)

COME TO ZION PART 1

 

Would it surprise you to know that the prophets, priests and kings of old ‘have looked forward with joyful anticipation to the day in which we live’? Not only did they look forward to it but they have sung, written and prophesied of it considering us a ‘favoured people’ because God had chosen us to bring about the Latter-day glory. (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 4:609-10)

As early as 1829, a year before the Church was organized in our dispensation, the Lord issued a mandate to the saints to ‘seek to bring forth and establish the cause of Zion’ (D&C 6:6). This is the Latter-day glory. We are favoured not because we are perfect but because we have a certain work to do and the Father trusted that we would do it.

I spoke to Elder Bruce C. Hafen one day when he was here in Australia in his capacity as the Area President, and he told me that the Church leaders had been given a directive to prepare the members to become a Zion people. That was 30 years ago. Why this preparation? Because without Zion we are not prepared to meet the Bridegroom, who is at the door….

When we think of Zion, the city of Enoch comes to mind more often than not and so it should because this city is the blueprint of what we can become. So glorious was Enoch’s city that it came to be known as the City of Holiness (Moses 7:19). It could only have been called that because the people living in it were holy.

According to ancient writings, both Melchizedek and Abraham sought to join the city of Enoch, as indeed many of the righteous who were ‘caught up by the powers of heaven into Zion’ (Moses 7:27; E. Douglas Clark, “The Blessings of Abraham”, p 152)

This is the definition of Zion: “Zion is a spiritual condition; Zion is people, Zion is the saints of God; Zion is those who have been baptized; Zion is those who have received the Holy Ghost; Zion is those who keep the commandments; Zion is the righteous, or in other words, as our revelation recites: “This is Zion – the pure in heart”(D&C 97:21) (Bruce R. McConkie, “Come: Let Israel Build Zion”, Ensign May 1977, p 117)

Elder McConkie went on to say that it was people only who were taken up into heaven and not brick and mortar and stone, because there are better homes already in heaven. The people constitute a city and Zion is the state of the heart.

Our next question should be, what does it mean to be pure in heart? We are told that Enoch’s citizens were called Zion because they were ‘of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness, and there was no poor among them’ (Moses 7:18). This condition can indeed only come through a pure heart. The operative word here is ‘pure’. Does it remind you of something else being pure?

The citizens of Enoch's City of Holiness not only achieved the blessed state of being of one heart and one mind but they maintained this state of righteousness for 365 years before they were translated (Moses 7:18, 68). Imagine living in a state of brotherhood and love for that long…..without criticism, judgment and intolerance of one another.

This was doable, this was possible, this was achievable only because ‘Enoch and all his people walked with God’ (v 69) in whose heart was the ‘pure’ love of Christ.

Since the people of this city ‘walked’ with God (Moses 7:69), they were ‘true’ followers of Jesus Christ and there is something very important that happens to true followers of Jesus Christ……they become endowed with this ‘pure’ love (Moroni 7:48).

This is a love that we cannot develop on our own. Moroni tells us that we must seek and pray for this love so that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him (Moroni 7:49)….and here’s the reason why: When the Saviour returns, Enoch’s city will return with Him to live with Zion, the New Jerusalem (Moses 7:62). This is us. They will meet us there and “we will fall upon their necks, and they shall fall upon our necks, and we will kiss each other” (Moses 7:63)….it will be a meeting of hearts knit together with the pure love of Christ. The Saviour is at the door….the Millennium imminent. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Divine Companion by Yongsung Kim)

CONVERSION OF INTEGRITY

 

When Ammon and his brothers brought King Lamoni, his father and their subjects to the knowledge of the truth, their conversion was so deep that they buried their weapons of war as a token of their repentance, never to be used again for the shedding of blood. This token also extended to their desire to be distinguished from their brethren the Lamanites whereby they sought to take upon themselves a new name. Being more Lamanites by their biological nature and more Nephites by the changed nature of their hearts, they chose the name of Anti-Nephi-Lehies (Alma 23:16,17). This name also suggests the joining together of the descendants of Nephi and Lehi's other posterity, meaning they were now one. The prefix ‘Anti’ does not suggest opposition as it does in our English language. It rather suggests a reflex of the Egyptian nty meaning 'he of’ or ‘the one of''. Thus, rather than having the sense 'against', the name means 'the one of Nephi and Lehi'" (Stephen D. Ricks, "Anti-Nephi-Lehi", in Dennis L. Largey, ed., Book of Mormon Reference Companion [2003], p 67).

When the Lamanites came upon them to slay them, the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi did not prepare for war, nor did they run away. They stayed put, buried their weapons and subjected themselves to slaughter. We tend to always reflect on the main reason they did this, that reason being a sign of their covenant with God (Alma 24:18) that they would kill no more but that reason does not end there.

During the massacre of the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi, the number of Lamanites who were converted and ‘saved’ was greater than one thousand and five of them who were slain (Alma 24:22,26). So the sacrifice of the ‘innocent’ brought about the salvation of the ‘sinful’. In other words, one thousand and five of them went willingly to their deaths for the sake of the salvation of others. How is that possible? Here is how: We are told that the people Anti-Nephi-Lehi LOVED their brethren who sought to kill them (Alma 26:32).  Does all this remind you of someone?

The love these converts possessed towards their brethren was not ordinary love but ‘the pure love of Christ’. This was a deeper love than loving your neighbour as yourself (Matthew 19:19). This was to love ‘as I have loved you’ (John 13:34), this was the love the way HE FEELS IT, not the way we do. This love sends you to the altar of sacrifice to lay down your life for another, as was the case of the people of Ammon whose self-sacrifice mirrored the sacrifice of the Son of God. This love cannot be developed by us but can only be a gift to the true followers of Christ who prayerfully seek it (Moroni 7:47,48) AND who are deeply committed to the covenants they have made. Only the integrity of the conversion of our hearts qualifies us for this love.

The lesson and example of Anti-Nephi-Lehies’ resonates throughout history but their greatest legacy? 2,000 stripling warriors….but of that later….

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Anti-Nephi-Lehies by Del Parson)

WITHOUT HIM

 

“The greatest definition of ‘the pure love of Christ’ is not what we as Christians try but largely fail to demonstrate toward others but rather what Christ totally succeeded in demonstrating toward us. True charity has been known only once. It is shown perfectly and purely in Christ’s unfailing, ultimate, and atoning love for us. It is Christ’s love for us that ‘suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not’. It is His love for us that is not ‘puffed up, not easily provoked, thinketh no evil’. It is Christ’s love for us that ‘beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things’. It is as demonstrated in Christ that “charity never faileth”. It is that charity – His pure love for us – without which we would be nothing, hopeless, of all men and women most miserable. Truly, those found possessed of the blessings of His love at the last day – the Atonement, the Resurrection, eternal life, eternal promise – surely it shall be well with them….”  (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant [1997], 336-37)

 

If You were not,

I would not be,

Silence would have wept at Calvary!

 

If you were not,

I would not be,

As death would claim me eternally.

 

If You were not,

I would not be,

Joyless would be my destiny.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: Christ in Reflection by Greg Collins)

AGAINST THE WIND

We very often say that we ‘should’ be Christlike. In fact, the world even judges us Christians by this edict. What we overlook sometimes is that we cannot be Christlike if we do not ‘become’ like Christ by engaging Him in the process of our becoming. When we don’t rely on His enabling power, we are just walking against the wind wishing for the impossible.

Some of us have brought with us spiritual gifts we developed in pre-existence like compassion, patience, tolerance, love, forgiveness. Even if we have these attributes under our belt, they can never equal the level of them that the Saviour possesses. His level is the level of perfection. For instance, I often hear that we should forgive our enemies and those that hurt us abominably like the Saviour did whilst on the cross. I ask, how many of us are capable of such forgiveness in the midst of such excruciating agony? This kind of forgiveness is a higher level that we cannot reach on our own. Forgiveness is central to Christ’s character but not to our own. Comparing us to Christ is like comparing apples to oranges. I had a conversation with a dear sister recently who told me it took her 12 years of intense therapy to forgive someone. I reflected on my own experience of much needed ability to forgive whilst in excruciating pain some years ago, which took only months to obtain through fervent and persistant appealing to the power of the Atonement. By virtue of our discipleship and by being faithful and keeping our covenants, we have ‘increased access to the power of Jesus Christ’ and need not suffer unduly. We can still become free when forgiveness is beyond us. (President Russell M Nelson, “Overcome the World and Find Rest”, Liahona 2022, p 96)

Another example of being ‘Christlike’ is in regards to charity or the pure love of Christ. This is not something that we are capable of, ever, and this is why: The ‘pure’ love means something significant. It means that the Saviour had no motive for self-gratification, self-advancement or self-aggrandizement but that His love motivated Him to put others before Himself, hence the ability to atone for us sinners, as opposed to Satan who wanted advancement of self and nobody else (Moses 4:1-2). Because we are fallen, the natural man tends to gravitate toward focus on ‘self’ rather than others. Also, It is not charity, the pure love LIKE Christ, it is charity, the pure love OF Christ. It is a love that only He is capable of. It is His unique love. We cannot develop it but we can aspire to it through prayerful seeking of it and it will be bestowed upon us if we are ‘true followers of Christ’ (Moroni 7:48). Charity or pure love of Christ is a gift. It is beyond our power to develop for ourselves.

If we don’t focus on the Saviour and His enabling power, we will sink into a river of debilitating ‘shoulds’. We beat ourselves up by our ‘shoulds’ which make us blind to the solution which is always in Christ and His power to heal, deliver, strengthen and endow with such attributes as are needed for us to rise to eventual perfection. He alone can make us like Him.

You enliven my spirit,

You enrich my impoverished heart.

You are the God of power and might;

You make of me what I alone could never be,

You light my way into eternity.

• CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Artist: Against the Wind by Liz Lemon Swindle)

 

LOVING AS CHRIST LOVES

 

Some years ago I was very stressed so I made a trip to the temple to receive some peace. I unfortunately sat next to two sisters who I later learnt had a ‘get-together’ standing outing to the Temple. As I sat there waiting for the session to begin peace eluded me because the sisters next to me chatted incessantly. My stress escalated until I angrily and tersely told these unfortunate sisters to desist with their chatter. My outburst upset them so much that they left the endowment room and in tears complained to the Temple matron. I was called out of the room and reprimanded for which I apologised. I knew even back then that this hurt I had caused someone else would one day find me because I believe that you shouldn’t do to others what you don’t want them to do to you. This theory of mine proved to be true. As I posted a spiritual message in a Ward Newsletter as part of my calling this year, it was misunderstood by one sister who very unkindly replied to my message telling me that people are in a lockdown and that my message was suicide worthy. As we conversed and I tried to make my message clearer she remained hostile and indignant. In the end I had to just tell her that she had broken my heart by her attack on me and that I hoped I would never hurt a sister in Zion like she had hurt me…..hmmmmm.  I reflected on this incident and I realised that this sister had acted poorly towards me due to the stress she was under due to one of our severe Australian lockdowns. It was exactly what I had done in the temple some years prior. Is it possible to treat others lovingly even when under duress? Is it possible to treat others lovingly under ANY circumstances?

 

Consider the story of people called Anti-Nephi-Lehi. You cannot get greater duress than this. 

As we know, when the Lamanites came upon them to slay them, these people of Ammon did not prepare for war, nor did they run away. They stayed put, buried their weapons and subjected themselves to slaughter. We tend to always reflect on the main reason they did this, that reason being a sign of their covenant with God (Alma 24:18) but that reason does not end there. So profound and deep did their conversion become that  rather than ‘take away from a brother, they would give unto him’ (Alma 24:18).  And not just another, but even the sinner who would hate them, revile them, and even kill them.  But there is more….they also LOVED their brethren who sought to kill them (Alma 26:32). 

 

The lesson of the massacre of Anti-Nephi-Lehies doesn’t stop there. The number of Lamanites who were converted and ‘saved’  was greater than one thousand and five of them who were slain (Alma 24:22,26). So the sacrifice of the ‘innocent’ brought about the salvation of the ‘sinful’. How is it possible that these people could kneel in front of their executors and willingly go to their deaths for the sake of the salvation of others? There is only one answer. The love that they possessed towards their brethren was not ordinary love but ‘the pure love of Christ’. This was a deeper love than loving your neighbour as yourself (Matthew 19:19). This was to love ‘as I have loved you’ (John 13:34), this was the love the way HE FEELS IT, not the way we do. This love sends you to the altar of sacrifice to lay down your life for another, as was the case of people of Ammon whose sacrifice mirrored the sacrifice of the Son of God. This love cannot be developed by us but can only be a gift to the true followers of Christ who prayerfully seek it (Moroni 7:47,48). 

 

This Christmas may we contemplate the birth and the condescension of a God who lowered himself to the dust of this earth so He can bind us one to another and to the Father through His unfathomable sacrifice born out of the deepest recesses of His heart.  And may we love one another as He has loved us……

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

Art by Liz Lemon Swindle

IN SIMILITUDE OF HIS HEART

 

The greatest challenge in the world today is not surviving the pandemic, lack of entitled freedoms or even financial ruin. The greatest challenge in the world today is to love one another. The corroding sociologically programmed traits of self-centerdness, victim mentality, differing political convictions, and rampant sinful tendencies have come to undermine the neighbourly concerns we once had for each other and have hardened our hearts towards the tide of humanity. As the world has become less and less attractive, I have been failing of late not to be swept up in that tide. 

I am presently re-visiting the book of Exodus. Those of you who have studied this book will be familiar with the 'stiffnecked' children of Israel (Exodus 33:5). Over and over these people failed to respect the God who delivered them out of bondage. But who I want to talk about here is the person who 'led' them out of bondage, and this person is Moses. I cannot say enough about this man who has earned my ardent admiration....but I'll try to be brief. Moses was brought up knowing the Hebrews were his people (Exodus 2:11). He forsook Egypt when 40 years old, in faith, believing God would by his hand deliver the Hebrews (Acts 7:23-25), preferring God to the riches of Egypt (Hebrews 11:24-27). He went from the privilege of his Egyptian upbringing to slavery and then to being a shepherd for 40 years (Acts 7:23-30) before God deemed him ready for his pre-destined calling. 

What impresses me the most about Moses is this. When God appointed him to his calling on Mount Horeb, He told him:  'thou art in the similitude of my Son' (Moses 1:6). This, among other similarities between Moses' life and the Saviour's, has clear reference to Moses delivering the children of Israel out of physical bondage even as Christ would deliver us from spiritual bondage. This physical similitude however, is only a precursor to an even greater one. When the children of Israel committed their grave sin against Jehovah by worshipping the golden calf, Moses' reaction was not one of condemnation. Instead of considering them ripe for destruction and recommending them to Jehovah for extinction, he offered his own life in recompense (Exodus 32:32).  This is being in the true similitude of the Son. 

Moses led 2 million people out of Egypt and loved them through 40 years of unnecessary wandering putting up with their tedious murmuring, lack of faith and spiritual immaturity, even at the peril of his life (Exodus 17:4), yet he still loved them....even as the Saviour has loved us, with our tedious murmuring, lack of faith and spiritual immaturity.  Moses could withstand the frustration of loving imperfect people because he was in the similitude of the Saviour's heart. Could this be possible for us? Could we come to love the humanity that is being swept up in the tide of hate and wickedness and destruction? 

Moroni teaches us of a love without which we are nothing; a love that survives hatred, animosity, harm, racism, sin, abuse, racial difference and all the inhumanity we are capable of; a love that ensures salvation at the last day (Moroni 7:44,47). This love is a gift bestowed upon those who are true followers of Christ (Moroni 7:48) and not a love we are capable of on our own. This love ensures that we become the sons and daughters of God so that we will be like Him at His appearing (v 48). This love will ensure we endure the here and now and in the end it will bring us home. This love is the foundation of the glories of heaven and the cradle of eternity. This love is the pure love of Christ, a love that endures forever and ever.

- Cathryne Allen

(It is recorded in Numbers 1:45-46 that the children of Israel numbered 600,000 men; meaning only men over 20 years and over who were capable of going to war. When women and children are added to that number, the multitude could have been well over 2 million people. (LDS Institute Old Testament Student Manual, p 119)

- Cathryne Allen, Did Not Our Hearts Burn When He Opened To Us The Scriptures?

published 2021 by amazon.com

A DISCIPLE OF CHRIST

If anyone asked you who wrote The Book of Mormon, what would you say? After some thought you would have to answer, Mormon, because he did. Why is it that we usually have to stop to think about this answer? This question is largely confusing because when we read the Book of Mormon, apart from the occasional editorial commentary, the voice we hear is not the voice of Mormon, but the voice of God. How did Mormon successfully accomplish this? Mormon's ability to allow God's voice to be heard throughout the Book of Mormon was not due to his writing skills but to a quality of character he developed from his youth. In describing himself as a 15 year old with a sober mind he says he was "visited of the Lord and tasted and knew of the goodness of Jesus" (Mormon 1:15).

Mormon lived during the most evil period of American history and witnessed the destruction of the entire Nephite civilization. At the tender age of 16 he became the leader of  the Nephite armies (Mormon 2:1,2),  an appointment which began his valiant ministry among the Nephites with firm hopes of circumventing inevitable doom. His frantic and heart wrenching calls to repentance despite his better judgment were for one purpose only - to bring salvation to others.  Likewise, his purpose in writing and compiling The Book of Mormon was not to distinguish himself as a writer but to have us, in our day, "come unto Christ" (Mormon 8:35). When the Saviour lived among men He had a pure motive to save us without a hidden agenda for his own advancement.  It is because of this purity of motive  "which seeketh not her own" that we call His love "the pure love of Christ" (Moroni 7:45,46). Mormon had no wish to further himself in his work among his fellowman, only "to declare His word among His people, that they might have everlasting life" (3 Nephi 5:13). It is his purity of  motive that enabled him to give Christ the voice throughout The Book of Mormon and that guided him to write:

"And behold I am called Mormon.....and I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of  God..."

(3 Nephi 5:12,13).