"And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence."
Isaiah 4: 5
It is easy to mistake the Church as the be-all, end-all in matters of God's earthly kingdom.
This is not so.
Likewise, it is easy to mistake the Priesthood of God as only the means of governing the Church, of outlining lines of authority, which, in weaker minds can easily be overtaken by worldly notions of "chains of command."
The Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God is much more than this.
Most people familiar with the basics that have been revealed regarding the "Doctrine of the Priesthood" primarily consider Priesthood as it pertains to the Church, with its family-oriented functions and obligations as mere appendages or even secondary to those of the Church.
However, the great culture and society to be built up, known as Zion, involves a restoration of the Patriarchal order of the Priesthood, based on righteous exercise of God's power and authority in the family.
Though every Church assignment has an end, the work we do to build and strengthen families will never end.
We most often define God by His role as our Father. There will never come a time when we "move on" past family life onto other things. Exaltation is God's life, is family life. The practice we do here on Earth to prepare for eternal life is part of our eternal life, even now!
The Church is not the fundamental unit of God's kingdom. Wards are collections of these fundamental units, but a ward is not the fundamental unit. Stakes are collections of wards, to which these fundamental units gather.
Home-centered, Church-supported, self-reliant households are the fundamental units of the Zion society we are striving to build.
There is much we can do to be worthy and ready for God's sustaining, enlightening, and protecting influence. As we make our homes like tabernacles in the wilderness of Gentile culture and society, He promises to dwell among us. (John 14: 18-23)
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I use the term "Kingdom of God" as did Brigham Young:
"It may be asked what I mean by the kingdom of God. The Church of Jesus Christ has been established now for many years, and the kingdom of God has got to be established, even that kingdom which will circumscribe all the kingdoms of this world. It will yet give laws to every nation that exists upon the earth. This is the kingdom that Daniel, the prophet, saw should be set up in the last days. What Daniel saw should come to pass in the latter times is believed by nearly all the religious societies of Christendom. The only great difference between us and them is in the method of its establishment. The mother Church, in trying to establish it, expected that they had to make holy Catholic Christians of everybody who lived on the earth.
If the Latter−day Saints think, when the kingdom of God is established on the earth, that all the inhabitants of the earth will join the church called Latter−day Saints, they are egregiously mistaken. I presume there will be as many sects and parties then as now. Still, when the kingdom of God triumphs, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ, to the glory of the Father. Even the Jews will do it then; but will
the Jews and Gentiles be obliged to belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter−day Saints? No; not by any means. Jesus said to his disciples, "in my Father's house are many mansions; were it not so I would have told you; I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am, there ye may be also," &c. There are mansions in sufficient numbers to suit the different classes of mankind, and a variety will always exist to all eternity, requiring a classification and an arrangement into societies and communities in the many mansions which are in the Lord's house, and this will be so for ever and ever. Then do not imagine that if the kingdom of God is established over the whole earth, that all the people will become Latter−day Saints. They will cease their persecutions against the Church of Jesus Christ, and they will be willing to acknowledge that the Lord is God, and that Jesus is the Savior of the world."
Journal of Discourses, vol. 11: p. 275-276, December 23, 1866
The United States of America has been working to fulfill the prophetic charge to take its blessings to all the world, "for out of Zion (America) shall go forth the law." (Isaiah 2: 3)
We can see examples of this fulfillment in the way foreign nations have taken the U.S. as their guide in establishing democratic republics designed to empower their citizens with greater freedom in exercising their God-given moral agency.
Presidents Monroe and Truman come to my mind as the promulgators of influential foreign doctrines that seek to protect the land of Zion at home and contain the spread of Communism abroad, one of Satan's counterfeits to a Zion society.
Our understanding that the founding of the United States was directed by God (Doc. & Cov. 98; 101; 134) may lead us to a misunderstanding regarding the continuance of its role in bringing about the full Kingdom of God.
The United States of America is among those earthly kingdoms seen by Nebuchadnezzar in his dream of the Kingdom of God overcoming all worldly potentates. (Daniel 2)
The United States of America will be cleansed and destroyed, to be replaced by Zion, a new culture and society.
When the time of the Gentiles reaches a fullness, we will see the hostile Gentile culture falter and die, as a result of its sins against the eternal truths God has revealed regarding the family. These Gentile inheritors will be swept off the land by their rebellion against God’s laws, particularly with regard to issues of chastity, as expressed in the sexual perversions that plague us, which have already caused the downfall of several previous civilizations throughout the world.
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We must be careful when reading the scriptures, to differentiate between the Terrestrial kingdom to be built up prior to and following the Second Coming of Christ, and the Celestial kingdom to be built up around the time of the later destruction at the end of the Millennium. Isaiah, John and Nephi are my primary sources of information regarding these kingdoms, all of which are centered around a capital city considered to be a “new Jerusalem."
The Church will give birth to the Kingdom, and will remain an important part of the Kingdom, but the Kingdom is so much more than a church.
“And there was war in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought against Michael;
And the dragon prevailed not against Michael, neither the child, nor the woman which was the church of God, who had been delivered of her pains, and brought forth the kingdom of our God and his Christ.”
Joseph Smith’s Inspired Version of Revelation 12: 6-7
I don't claim a full understanding. I believe we are not meant to know all things pertaining to these events, to keep us ever walking by faith, relying on the Savior and His shepherding care.
There will yet be "many great and important things" to be revealed, "pertaining to the Kingdom of God." (Articles of Faith 1: 9)
Despite my lack of understanding, one thing that is apparent to me is the importance of keeping Jesus at the center of our worship.
We must not create a false god we call "New Jerusalem" in preference to the Son of God and our reliance on His atoning sacrifice, vitalized in our own life by faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.
Living in a certain place does not lessen the need to make and keep the covenants that bind us to God. The favorable situation we’ve been given by our birth or by geography in no way replaces the need for personal righteousness. (see Matthew 3: 8-10)
We must not worship a city made with hands. We must always keep our focus on God.
To see results never seen before, we must do things we've not done before. But this doesn't justify reinventing any wheels already set in motion through trusting in the Lord and His servants, who instruct us in the ways that make the Church and Kingdom flourish.
The Church's handbooks of instruction are the policies of the Church, written and published by the Lord's very Apostles, who hold all priesthood keys on earth.
We don't need more Church programs, more meetings, more busyness. What we need more of is the teaching and testifying of the doctrine of Christ. We need more ministering, more teaching, more testifying. We need more focus on the family.
We need to focus on people, not programs. Foremost among these people is Jesus Christ, our Master.
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Though its destiny certainly is celestial (Doc. & Cov. 88: 25-26; 105: 5), the coming Kingdom will not be of a fully Celestial order from the beginning. When this earth is destroyed and renewed to usher in the Savior's millennial reign as King of kings and Lord of lords, the Kingdom will be of a Terrestrial character.
All the honorable of the earth will be invited to take part in building this Kingdom. Since all there will be quickened by a portion of Terrestrial or Celestial glory, they will find peaceful contentment in the Kingdom of God and will contribute to its sustainment. The Millennium is not merely for members of one church.
All will acknowledge Jesus as the rightful monarch, and will receive uncountable blessings by their citizenship under His magnificent justice and mercy.
But they may not look or think or act strictly according to the cultural "Mormonist" image that has developed over the last two hundred years of initial unfolding of this great Kingdom to come.
One great challenge for the Latter-day Saints is to give up some of our mores, norms and folkways—notions of "cultural Mormonism"—and allow these stepping stones/stumbling blocks to be replaced by more genuine worship of the Son of God and the promotion of His pure doctrines and principles (see Jacob 4).
Outward ways of applying what I call "Mormon culturalism," as opposed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, will diminish in their appeal, as we see the Lord's elect gather to help build the great Kingdom currently before us.
Let's not confuse the charge to be "anxiously engaged in a good cause... do[ing] many things of [our] own free will... bring[ing] to pass much righteousness" for an ambitious frenzy to feed our own sense of accomplishment in Christian service. (See Isaiah 5: 18-19)
Seek to be helpful, not only to feel helpful, or appear helpful.
It's easy to moralize on great global issues. What are we doing to serve those immediately around us? If all sought to serve those within reach, and only stretched a little farther, the whole world would be changed, without anyone seeking to change the whole world. This thought is beautiful to me.
Will you join with me in building this Kingdom, made of families whose individual members have chosen to become "pure in heart?" (Doc. & Cov. 97: 21)
See also:
Within the Clasp of Your Arms, by Jeffrey R. Holland
“Take Especial Care of Your Family” by Neal A. Maxwell
The Power of the Priesthood, by Boyd K. Packer
The Father and the Family, by Boyd K. Packer
The Doctrine of the Priesthood, by Bruce R. McConkie
The Stone Cut Out of the Mountain, by Gordon B. Hinckley
A More Excellent Way, by Howard W. Hunter