The Holy One

During the quiet moments of this Christmas Eve night, I have pondered on the holiness of the infant born on the holy night about which we sing:

O holy night! The stars are brightly shining.
          It is the night of the dear Savior's birth.

          Silent night! Holy night!
          All is calm, all is bright
          Round yon virgin mother and Child.
          Holy Infant, so tender and mild,
          Sleep in heavenly peace;
          Sleep in heavenly peace.

That Holy Infant, Jesus Christ, was the promised Messiah—the Great Jehovah, the God of the Old Testament—whose birth, life and mission had long been prophesied.

Some of the greatest prophecies of the Savior’s birth were given through Isaiah, the prophet of the Old Testament:

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14).

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).

Another name by which Isaiah frequently referred to the Savior is the Holy One of Israel. According to the LDS Bible Dictionary, “Holy One of Israel” is a name for the Savior that was used 34 times in the Old Testament—28 of those times by Isaiah.

The name “Holy One of Israel” is also used frequently in the Book of Mormon, especially by Nephi and his brother Jacob. (For Nephi's references, see 1 Nephi 19:14-15; 22:5, 18, 21, 24, 26, 28; 2 Nephi 25:29; 30:2. For Jacob's references, see 2 Nephi 2:10; 6:9,10,15; 9:11, 12, 15, 18, 19, 23, 25, 26, 40, 41, 51.)

I have wondered why Nephi, Jacob and Isaiah used the term “Holy One of Israel” so often to refer to the Savior. Maybe Nephi and Jacob referred to the Savior as the Holy One of Israel simply because they had often read the words of Isaiah, who referred to the Savior by that name. Nephi and Jacob had also heard their father, Lehi, refer to the Savior as the Holy One of Israel (see 2 Nephi 1:10; 3:2). However, as I have pondered on this question, I remembered that Nephi mentioned something significant that he, Isaiah and Jacob all had in common:

And now I, Nephi, write more of the words of Isaiah, for my soul delighteth in his words. For I will liken his words unto my people, and I will send them forth unto all my children, for he verily saw my Redeemer, even as I have seen him.

And my brother, Jacob, also has seen him as I have seen him; wherefore, I will send their words forth unto my children to prove unto them that my words are true. Wherefore, by the words of three, God hath said, I will establish my word. Nevertheless, God sendeth more witnesses, and he proveth all his words.

(2 Nephi 11:2-3; emphasis added.)

I believe Nephi is telling the truth – Isaiah and Jacob saw our Redeemer as Nephi did. (For that matter, so did Lehi, in a vision; see 1 Nephi 1:8-9.) The Spirit also whispers to me that when Isaiah, Nephi and Jacob each saw the Lord, one thing they understood very clearly was that the Savior is holy – and also that we are not. Perhaps that is why each of them so often and so reverently referred to the Lord as the “Holy One of Israel.”

As I have studied other scriptures on this topic, I have learned that holiness is a prime attribute of godliness. In Moses 6:57, the Lord tells Adam:

Wherefore teach it unto your children, that all men, everywhere, must repent, or they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God, for no unclean thing can dwell there, or dwell in his presence; for, in the language of Adam, Man of Holiness is his name, and the name of his Only Begotten is the Son of Man, even Jesus Christ, a righteous Judge, who shall come in the meridian of time.

(Emphasis added.) Thus, in the language of Adam, the very name of our Father in Heaven is “Man of Holiness,” and the name of his Only Begotten Son is “Son of Man” (i.e., “Son of Man of Holiness”).

The scriptures also make clear that although God’s children are not holy, God wants us to be sanctified and be made holy like He is, through the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

Leviticus 11:44 says (emphasis mine):

For I am the Lord your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy.

1 Peter 1:15-16 echoes and renews this Old Testament injunction:

But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;

Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

As we prepare to start a new year, I will be thinking about holiness. Thinking about the holiness of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ increases my desire to become more like them and strengthens my resolve to choose well. As I focus more and more on the holiness of God, it becomes easier for me to discern and choose things that are holy (virtuous, lovely, of good report and praiseworthy) instead of things that are unholy (profane, unclean, worldly, prideful). Pondering on the holiness of God inspires me to come unto Christ and be perfected in Him, to enter into and keep covenants with the Lord, and to draw upon the comforting, cleansing, healing, enabling and strengthening powers of his Atonement.

The words of another Book of Mormon prophet named Amaleki, recorded in Omni 1:26, express the desire of my heart:

And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved.

                            *   *   *   *   *

Carol F. McConkie, "The Beauty of Holiness," Ensign, May 2017.

D. Todd Christofferson, "The Living Bread Which Came Down from Heaven," Ensign, Nov. 2017.

Perfectly Clean

Anita and I once volunteered to help clean the Ogden Temple late on a Tuesday night. I signed up to fulfill this assignment during my ward high priests group meeting. As the group leader announced this assignment, one man commented that the last time he went to clean the temple, his cloth didn’t even get dirty—to which another man replied, “It would have, if you’d actually used it!” That got a good laugh.

This wasn’t the first time I had heard someone comment about what it’s like to clean what seems like an already clean temple. The Los Angeles Temple closes twice a year for deep cleaning, and church members from stakes throughout the temple district receive assignments to spend several hours on multiple days either cleaning inside the temple or working to beautify the temple grounds. Several years ago, a friend who had faithfully fulfilled these temple cleaning assignments told me he was done—he wasn’t going back. He said he was unhappy that he had been asked to clean an area of the temple that someone else had just finished cleaning. He said it looked like supervisors were asking people to clean the same things over and over again. After my friend had sacrificed to take time off from work and commit a large part of his day working at the temple, he was unhappy that he had been asked to do something that others had already done—maybe multiple times. I understood why my friend might take offense in that situation. No one wants to be given busy work. No one wants to do something that seems meaningless.

After that, Anita and I volunteered several times to help clean the Los Angeles Temple. I remember the first time I cleaned inside the temple. My job was to dust and polish woodwork. Most of the areas they asked me to clean already seemed pretty clean. It took some effort to find any dust or dirt. Like my friend, I noticed that volunteers were being asked to clean areas I thought had already been cleaned before. I asked myself why so many people might be asked to clean and re-clean the temple. I wondered if there was something I could learn from all of this.

As I worked that day to clean the temple, I felt my love grow for the Lord and for his Holy House. I felt his love and peace as we served him. I was grateful for the chance to become more familiar with the sacred structures and spaces of the temple. I tried to leave clean and bright everything I was privileged to touch. I had similar experiences whenever Anita and I participated in cleaning the Los Angeles Temple.

Additional insights came the night when Anita and I went to help clean the Ogden Temple. We were part of a group of about 40 volunteers from the Ogden area. We all dressed in white and gathered in a room where we received instructions from a member of the temple presidency. He welcomed us and thanked us for coming to serve in the House of the Lord. He commented on the importance of what we would be doing that night. One thing he said stood out for me. He encouraged us to strive to “clean the temple perfectly” and leave the temple “perfectly clean.”

Perfectly clean. Those words stayed with me. I thought about them as I used a canister vacuum to clean the carpet in many hard-to-access spaces in the temple. I noticed that the floor brush attached to the vacuum cleaner wand was designed to clean a swath of carpet just as wide as the tool brush was, and it was made of materials that would not damage furniture or baseboards when I accidentally bumped the floor brush against them. Clearly, someone had taken great care to provide us with equipment we could use to clean, as perfectly as possible, every square inch of carpet in every part of the temple.

I understood that the principal purpose for seeking to keep the temple perfectly clean was to make the temple, which is The House of the Lord, a clean, sacred, holy place where God Himself, the Holy One of Israel, may come and dwell.

However, as I vacuumed, my thoughts turned to what the Apostle Paul has said about us being the temple of God: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” . . . “[T]he temple of God is holy, which temple ye are” (1 Cor. 3:16, 17).

I was overcome by the thought that what I was doing to help clean the Lord’s temple was symbolic of what Jesus Christ does to make my temple clean. As I thought of our efforts to thoroughly and repeatedly clean every part of the Los Angeles and Ogden temples, I humbly recognized my need and desire to submit myself, my temple—every part of me—to the cleansing power of the atonement of Jesus Christ and be made perfectly clean.

Since that night, I have continued to ponder my need to be made perfectly clean. I have thought about the account of Peter and the other original apostles in the upper room with the Savior, when Jesus prepared to wash Peter’s feet and Peter objected, saying, “Lord, dost thou wash my feet?” To which “Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head” (see John 13:4-9; emphasis added).

I have also thought about the process and constant repetition by which the cleansing of my temple occurs:  Exercising faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; repenting; being baptized by immersion for the remission of sins; receiving the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost; and continuing on, yoked with the Savior in covenant relationship, receiving further ordinances and making additional covenants in his Holy House, and weekly repenting and renewing all of my covenants by partaking of the sacrament—week after week, after week, after week.

How grateful I am that the Savior lovingly, patiently, repeatedly and constantly works with me to purify my desires, my thoughts and my actions! He is the author and finisher of my faith (Heb. 12:2). My faith is not finished once I am "pretty clean." As I am willing to humble myself and yield my heart, mind and hands to Jesus Christ, he will continue to teach, mentor, cleanse, purify and sanctify my temple until it is, indeed, perfectly clean.

Seek to Bring Forth and Establish Zion

This blog is devoted to exploring, in both general and specific ways, what it means to “[s]eek to bring forth and establish the cause of Zion” and what it means to be and become a Zion people. I am writing from the viewpoint of a believing Mormon Christian, looking through the lens of my own experience. 

First a few scriptures to set the stage.

In a revelation through the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord delivered the following message to Oliver Cowdery in April 1829:

“Now, as you have asked, behold, I say unto you, keep my commandments, and seek to bring forth and establish the cause of Zion;

“Seek not for riches but for wisdom, and behold, the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto you, and then shall you be made rich. Behold, he that hath eternal life is rich.

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, even as you desire of me so it shall be unto you; and if you desire, you shall be the means of doing much good in this generation” (D&C 6:6-8).

In May 1829, one month later, the exact same revelation, word for word, was given to the Prophet's brother, Hyrum (see D&C 11:6-8). Around the same time, a similar directive, along with a list of prerequisites, was given to Joseph Knight and, significantly, to "all who have desires to bring forth and establish this work":

“Now, as you have asked, behold, I say unto you, keep my commandments, and seek to bring forth and establish the cause of Zion.

“Behold, I speak unto you, and also to all those who have desires to bring forth and establish this work;

“And no one can assist in this work except he shall be humble and full of love, having faith, hope, and charity, being temperate in all things, whatsoever shall be entrusted to his care” (D&C 12:6-8).

In June 1829, a similar charge was given to David Whitmer, accompanied by a great promise:

“Seek to bring forth and establish my Zion. Keep my commandments in all things.

“And, if you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God” (D&C 14:6-7).

As I share my thoughts and experiences on this subject, I do so to leave for my children and their children, and also for others, a witness of some of the enduring lessons I have learned along my way. I want my family and friends to know why I have devoted my life to seeking to establish Zion and why I encourage them to do the same.

I am a witness that all who join in this both lofty and also real world down-in-the-trenches undertaking will experience the blessings prophesied by Nephi about the people of our day:

“And blessed are they who shall seek to bring forth my Zion at that day, for they shall have the gift and the power of the Holy Ghost; and if they endure unto the end they shall be lifted up at the last day, and shall be saved in the everlasting kingdom of the Lamb; and whoso shall publish peace, yea, tidings of great joy, how beautiful upon the mountains shall they be” (1 Nephi 13:37).

________

"Come to Zion," by Elder Todd D. Christofferson:

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2008/10/come-to-zion?lang=eng