“BECOMING ONE IN THE SPIRIT”  by Elder Vern Allen

For what purpose do Restoration saints gather for worship?  I trust it is with at least some measure of forethought and preparation in expectation that the Holy Spirit's presence will move among us in power.  The process of God's Word becoming flesh begins with individuals, that is, you and I, and blossoms together, acting as one, we collectively embrace the Master's will.  In other words, God's word becomes flesh among the body of Christ when the Saints become united in our commitment to live in accordance with the Father's will.  But why are we focusing our attention on becoming one in the word?  Why?  Because it is God's will - He desires this for His people as we find in Luke 11:29, "Blessed are all they who hear the word of God, and keep it."  When we do this, the Lord tells us that He is bound to bless us with the fulfillment of His promises as found in DC81:3b.

God seeks a people who are totally committed to becoming the body of Christ.  Of course, this goal is realized in a people who grow in spiritual maturity so as to look beyond a fixation on personal well being toward that of the well being of the body of Christ - His church and ultimately, His Zion.  As His word becomes flesh in us we will increasingly become of one heart and one mind.  I’d like to use of an avalanche to illustrate the power of this point.  Envision this:  an avalanche may start when a quantity of snow or ice on a mountainside is dislodged and begins tumbling down the mountainside.  As it tumbles, that bit of snow energizes the snow it touches thereby, launching a chain reaction.   In an instant a massive avalanche fills the valley below.  So it is with a unified, spiritually energized body of believers.  Our testimonies energize one another invigorating the seed of faith planted in each heart by the Holy Spirit.  So shall it be in the last of the last days:  (Genesis 7:70)  "And righteousness and truth will I cause to sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out mine own elect from the four quarters of the earth, unto a place which I shall prepare; an holy city, ...... and it shall be called Zion; a New Jerusalem. 

Enoch's city exemplifies the climax of individual people and families committing their all to opening their hearts to Jesus Christ and to learning and keeping His words.  The result – such a people become one in Christ.  Collectively, such people exemplify the fullness of the gifts and blessings flowing to those who love the Lord as described in Section 59:2a‑b.

"Wherefore I give unto them a commandment, saying thus: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, with all thy might, mind, and strength; and in the name of Jesus Christ thou shalt serve him.  Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."

The oneness of a body of believers who love God with all their might, mind and strength manifests itself in the manner in which they love their neighbors as themselves.  The residents of such a holy community illustrate very well the concept of the Lord's word becoming flesh.  In this God-centered environment, each person exercises his or her agency, each choosing of their own free will the degree to which they will physically and spiritually separate themselves from the world.  That is, they choose to come out of Babylon and cling to the rod of iron as they follow the gospel's light of truth.  Such a people make an absolute and total commitment to the Lord and to the word of God.  Jesus' gospel saturates every fiber of their being.  Similarly, may our commitment to hear the word of God, and to keep it permeate every fiber of our souls, so that we, too, may become on in Him.

As followers of Christ, we are called to be faithful to our covenant relationship with divinity.  Adherence to this covenant involves matters of eternal significance and matters of everyday life.  Obviously, our being followers implies that the scenery of our lives changes from time to time.  My wife, Dottie, and I love to hike the rugged trails in the Great Smokey Mountains near Gatlinburg, Tennessee.  Most of our enjoyment comes from the physical challenge, the mental challenge and viewing the changing scenery as we make our way along the mountain trails. 

Similarly, as we travel along the trails of our lives, the more we come out of Babylon and the more the scenery of our lives changes.  The activities and things dearest to us move increasingly toward those capable of serving as kingdom-building tools ............ building a kingdom in the manner designed of God.  I believe Enoch's City came about and that the New Jerusalem will come about due to the collective response of a unified people seeking to live in compliance with the Celestial Law.  The gifts and blessings of God follow such a unified, committed people.  The Lord's word as found in Section 85 applies to our situation today just as much as it applied to the church in 1832. 

[Sec 85:17, 18a-b] Behold, that which you hear is as the voice of one crying in the wilderness; in the wilderness, because you can not see him: my voice, because my voice is Spirit; my Spirit is truth: truth abideth and hath no end; and if it be in you it shall abound.  And if your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you. Therefore, sanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God”.  We are, indeed, in the wilderness but God seeks to shed truth and light on the way if we will do the “2-Ps” – continue to prepare daily to serve and also, daily, to participate in service as directed by the Holy Spirit.

We are called out of the world to cooperate with God and to build Zion as the Holy Spirit endows us to do so.  The saints have longed for Zion for generations.  Why don't we yet have Zion?  Probably, the most significant reason that we do not yet have Zion is that we are not yet one in Jesus.  That is, we are not yet fully converted to the Lord Jesus and his ministry.  Our condition has a parallel in the scriptures.  Remember the scene in the upper room at the Last Supper?  In Luke 22:31-32, Jesus shared this thought with Peter, "And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired you, that he may sift the children of the kingdom as wheat.  But I have prayed for you, that your faith fail not; and when you are converted strengthen your brethren."  Note, the Lord said to Peter, "When you are converted!!  Despite 3 years of walking with the Lord, Jesus told Peter that he had yet to receive much more light and understanding.  Obviously, Peter did strengthen his brethren and became fully immersed in the gospel.  First, however, Peter had to be converted and endowed.  Similar circumstances exist among God's people today.  That is, the word must yet become flesh in you and in me.  We, like Peter, have yet to be converted.

 

Alma 10:6-7

And now, my brethren, I would that ye should humble yourselves before God, and bring forth fruit meet for repentance, that ye may also enter into that rest; yea, humble yourselves.

          This scripture relates directly to our situation in these latter days.  When we let nothing separate us from the love of Jesus Christ, we present God with not only our sincere repentance but also our humble hearts and reverent spirits even as we symbolically volunteer to serve as agents of change for good among our family and acquaintances.  Via these responses to God’s word, we live in a manner so as to claim the promise of God found in Section 128:8c, that the places we occupy may shine as Zion!  Notice that the scripture refers to these places shining as Zion and does not say that these places are Zion.

At this time Zion is a promise of God envisioned in the mind’s eye but not yet a tangible reality.  Therefore, may one of our immediate spiritual objectives focus on our individual and collective lives beginning to reflect the light originating in our Savior.  May the light of God shine in our lives with increasing brilliance as God’s promises are fulfilled:  setting the church in order, the Great Endowment, and the realization of Zion the beautiful.  Remember again, Section 128:

Section 128:8b-c

“It is incumbent upon the Saints ¼¼¼¼¼.. to be in the world but not of it, living and acting honestly and honorably before God and in the sight of all men, using the things of this world in the manner designed of God, that the places where they occupy may shine as Zion, the redeemed of the Lord.

That is, when we let nothing separate us from the love of Jesus Christ, we present God with not only our sincere repentance but also our humble hearts and minds.  These offerings of repentance and humility better enable us to walk along life's pathway so as to accomplish 2 goals.  First, we remain close to the rod of iron and more attuned to the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit’s influence on our lives.  Second, the lack of contradiction or rather the consistency between our words and our deeds of our lives shine as beacons of Zion.  Therefore, the places that such saints of God occupy are not Zion but the may shine as Zion.  We long for the day when more people, both in and out of the Restoration take heed John's insights as expressed in (1 John 2:15‑17).

"Love not the world, neither the things that are of the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all in the world that is of the lusts of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever."

In essence, the Holy Spirit directed John to warn us against coveting the things and the ways of the world for the world’s ways are temporary and shall pass away but the Word and the way of God endures forever.  For us to claim God's promise and to become His partners in bringing to pass Zion, the word MUST become flesh in our hearts.  That is, we must structure our hearts and minds so that the word of God and the will of God become a dominant part of that which makes up our personalities and the beliefs, which determine how we live our lives.  King Benjamin summarized these thoughts very well with these words:  (Mosiah 2:16‑17)

"And again: Believe that ye must repent of your sins and forsake them, and humble yourselves before God; and ask in sincerity of heart that he would forgive you: 

And now, if you believe all these things, see that ye do them."