The Pure in Heart

In the first revelation that Joseph received after the saints in Jackson County were subjected to severe persecution, the Lord said this about Zion: “Therefore, verily, thus saith the Lord, let Zion rejoice, for this is Zion—the pure in heart; therefore, let Zion rejoice, while all the wicked shall mourn” (Doctrine and Covenants 97:21). In the subsequent revelations that Joseph received over the next year as he tried to understand what to do about the situation in Missouri, the Lord continued to stress the need for a pure and sanctified people. For example, in the revelation Joseph received later that fall in New York he was told this: “And now I give unto you a word concerning Zion. Zion shall be redeemed, although she is chastened for a little season…. Therefore, let your hearts be comforted; for all things shall work together for good to them that walk uprightly, and to the sanctification of the church. For I will raise up unto myself a pure people, that will serve me in righteousness” (Doctrine and Covenants 100:13-16). Zion can only be build up on the principles of righteousness and can only be maintained for the pure in heart who are sanctified before the Lord.  

               In the three subsequent revelations from the Lord dealing with the expulsion of the saints from Jackson County, the Lord continued to emphasized the need for the saints to become sanctified and to hearken unto His commandments. He gave this as at least a partial explanation for the situation there: “For all those who will not endure chastening, but deny me, cannot be sanctified. Behold, I say unto you, there were jarrings, and contentions, and envyings, and strifes, and lustful and covetous desires among them; therefore by these things they polluted their inheritances.” Their wickedness was part of why Zion had not been protected. He further emphasized the need for them to become pure in order to return to Zion: “They that remain, and are pure in heart, shall return, and come to their inheritances, they and their children, with songs of everlasting joy, to build up the waste places of Zion” (101:5-6, 18). In the revelation organizing the Camp of Israel the Lord further explained, “And that those who call themselves after my name might be chastened for a little season with a sore and grievous chastisement, because they did not hearken altogether unto the precepts and commandments which I gave unto them…. Nevertheless, if they pollute their inheritances they shall be thrown down; for I will not spare them if they pollute their inheritances” (103:4,14). The saints in Missouri had not been fully pure and had not hearkened to the precepts of the Lord as He required, letting Zion become “polluted” spiritually. In the revelation that Joseph later received after traveling to Missouri the Lord again emphasized this idea: “Behold, I say unto you, were it not for the transgressions of my people, speaking concerning the church and not individuals, they might have been redeemed even now. But behold, they have not learned to be obedient to the things which I required at their hands, but are full of all manner of evil, and do not impart of their substance, as becometh saints, to the poor and afflicted among them…. And Zion cannot be built up unless it is by the principles of the law of the celestial kingdom; otherwise I cannot receive her unto myself” (105:2-3,5). The message is clear: Zion must be pure, its inhabitants must be obedient to the commandments of the Lord and forsake evil. In short, it must live the laws of the celestial kingdom just as Enoch’s Zion did and were received by the Lord. Surely the requirements for us today have not changed—for us to again build up Zion we must first become pure in heart and learn to be fully obedient to the commands of the Lord.