Friday, February 18, 2011

Walking to Zion: Rejecting My Enemy


Satan is my enemy. In the Pre-mortal existence his plan for forced salvation and personal glory were rejected. Christ's plan of agency and the glory being given to our Heavenly Father was chosen. Satan was offended and convinced one third of God's children to follow him. They left the presence of God. They have claimed earth as their playground to seek for the souls of men who kept their first estate. They seek us.

How do they plan to do it? Satan's plan hasn't changed. He still wants the glory. He still wants forced subjection. They seek to stand opposite of Christ in everything. Faith/Fear Peace/War Light/Darkness Righteousness/Wickedness

The Book of Mormon was written for our day. Two great civilizations were destroyed the same way. It is a pattern we must look to and learn from. They both were destroyed because of wickedness. They were both destroyed from secret societies that destroyed them from the inside out.

Mormon gives us a huge discourse on these secret societies in Heleman chapter 6. I quote from versus 21-32.
"But behold, Satan did stir up the hearts of the more part of the hearts of the Nephities, insomuch that they did unite with those bands of robbers and did enter into their covenants and their oaths, that they would protect and preserve one another in whatsoever difficult circumstances they should be placed, that they should not suffer for their murders and their pluderings, and their stealings…
"And thus they might murder, and plunder, and steal, and commit whoredoms and all manner of wickedness, contrary to the laws of their country and also the laws of their God.


"And whosoever of those who belonged to their band should reveal unto the world of their wickedness and their abominations, should be tried, not according to the laws of their country, but according to the laws of their wickedness…

"Now behold, those secret oaths and covenants did not come forth unto Gadianton from the records which were delivered unto Helaman; but behold, they were put into the heart of Gadianton by that same being who did entice our first parents to partake of the forbidden fruit-

"Yea, that same being who did plot with Cain, that if he would murder his brother Abel it should not be known unto the world. And he did plot with Cain and his followers from that time forth.


"And also it is that same being who put it into the hearts of the people to build a tower sufficiently high that they might get to heaven. And it was the same being who led on the people who came from that towers into this land; who spread the works of darkness and abominations over all the face of the land until he dragged the people down to an entire destruction, and to an everlasting hell.

"Yeah, it is that same being who put it into the heart of Gadianton to still carry on the work of darkness and of secret murder; and he has brought it forth from the beginning of man even down to this time.

"And behold, it is he who is the author of all sin. And behold, he doth carry on his works of darkness and secret murder, and doth hand down their plots, and their oaths and their covenants, and their plans of awful wickedness, from generation to generation according as he can get hold upon the hearts of the children of men.

"And now behold, he had got great hold upon the hearts of the Nephities; yeah insomuch that they had become exceedingly wicked; yea, the more part of them had turned out of the way of righteousness, and did trample under their feet the commandments of God, and did turn unto their own ways, and did build up unto themselves idols of their gold and their silver.
"And it came to pass that all these iniquities did come unto them in the space of not many years."
Satan influenced and led the secret societies of the Nephites and the Lamanites. Their creed included no moral code, no accountability to the law of the land, and the rejection of God.

This last dispensation is a gathering of all the good the world has ever know (the restoration of all things) and it is also a gathering of all the evil the world has ever know. While God has been raising up His prophets, Satan has also been raising his army.

Nephi and Moroni both testified of this latter-day built up. Nephi said,

"And the Gentiles are lifted up in the pride of their eyes, and have stumbled, because of the greatness of their stumbling block, that they have built up many churches; nevertheless, they put down the power and miracles of God, and preach up unto themselves their own wisdom and their own learning that they may get gain and grind upon the face of the poor.

"And there are many churches built up which cause envyings, and strifes, and malife.

"And there are also secret combinations, even as in times of old, according to the combinations of the devil, for his the founder of all these things; yea, the founder of murder, and the works of darkness; yea, and he leadeth them by the neck with a flaxen cord, until he bindeth them with his strong cord forever." (2 Nephi
26:20-22)

And Moroni testified about when the Book of Mormon come,
"Yea, it shall come in a day when the blood of saints shall cry unto the Lord, because of secret combinations and the works of darkness.
"Yea, it shall come in a day when the power of God shall be denied, and be lifted up in the pride of their hearts; yea, even in a day when leaders of churches and teachers shall rise in the pride of their hearts, even to the envying of them belong to their churches….

"Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be great pollutions upon the face of the earth; there shall be murders, and robbing, and lying and deceivings, and whoredoms, and all manner of abominations; when there shall be many who will say, Do this, or do that, and it mattereth not, for the Lord will uphold such at the last day. But wo unto such at the last day. But wo unto such, for they are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity.

"Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be churches built up that shall say: Come unto me, and for your money you shall be forgiven of your sins." (Mormon 8:27-32)
Satan's plan for the last day: no moral code, no accountability and the rejection of God. It's the same plan he's always had. Interesting point though is that many of the secret combinations will be in the form of an open religion.

Fast forward to today. Do we see that? Is there a rejection of God? Is there a rejection of moral codes? Is there the belief that no one is accountable?

Here are some modern day definitions:

Moral relativism is the view that ethical standards, morality, and positions of right or wrong are culturally based and therefore subject to a person's individual choice. We can all decide what is right for ourselves. You decide what's right for you, and I'll decide what's right for me. Moral relativism says, "It's true for me, if I believe it." http://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/Secular-Humanism.htm

Secular Humanism is an attempt to function as a civilized society with the exclusion of God and His moral principles. During the last several decades, Humanists have been very successful in propagating their beliefs. Their primary approach is to target the youth through the public school system. Humanist Charles F. Potter writes, "Education is thus a most powerful ally of humanism, and every American school is a school of humanism. What can a theistic Sunday school's meeting for an hour once a week and teaching only a fraction of the children do to stem the tide of the five-day program of humanistic teaching?" (Charles F. Potter, "Humanism: A New Religion," 1930)

Secular Humanism - Main Tool is Evolutionary Thought
Secular Humanism is manifested in Evolutionary Theory. To satisfy the fundamental question of "Where did we come from?" children are taught the doctrine of Evolution. The first plank of the Humanist Manifesto states: "Religious humanists regard the universe as self-existing and not created." The second plank states: "Humanism believes that man is a part of nature and that he has emerged as a result of a continuous process." Certainly, the public school system propagates the Humanist doctrine (clearly an atheistic "religion"), and thus, condemns the concept of God. This is an amazing irony. Creation Science has been successfully kept out of the public schools by organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union (A.C.L.U.) on the grounds that Creation is religious, and the government should not support religion in any fashion. "In fact, evolution became in a sense a scientific religion; almost all scientists have accepted it, and many are prepared to 'bend' their observations to fit with it." (H. S. Lipson, FRS, Professor of Physics, University of Manchester, UK, "A Physicist Looks at Evolution", Physics Bulletin, vol. 31, May 1980, pg. 138).

Humanism: A Belief with no Purpose or Objective Values
Humanism holds that the universe exists for no purpose. We are the result of a blind and random process that does not necessitate any kind of meaning. Humanism differs from the more extreme philosophy of nihilism, in that life can have a meaning if we assign a meaning to it. Life is only worth living if we ourselves make it worthwhile and enjoyable. Humanism maintains that no objective or universal values exist. A person may be moral if he or she creates a system of values and lives according them. A humanist would maintain that no one is obligated to be moral. Therefore, humanism fails to provide moral objections to immoral behavior. Obviously, if no moral absolutes exist, you can't demonstrate that anything is wrong or evil. Thus, in a humanist society, no one can really judge or condemn the choices or actions of others.( http://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/humanism.htm)

 
Humanism: Life Without Real Meaning
Humanism is fostered by the teaching of evolutionary science, materialism and moral relativism in our popular media and public school system. We've removed God from the equations. Without God, we lose any transcendent purpose for the universe in which we live. Without God, we lose any transcendent purpose to give meaning to our individual lives. We are nothing more than bugs struggling with survival until we die. All the achievements, the sacrifices, the good and beautiful acts of some people, the ugly and dark acts of others, are ultimately futile efforts of life. Without God, we lose any possibility for life after death. When you remove the hope of heaven, you remove the ultimate value and purpose of life. What difference would it really make whether we lived like a Billy Graham or an Osama Bin Laden? Everyone's fate would be the same anyway. This is the ultimate outlook of those who base their belief system on humanism. Eat, drink and be merry – for tomorrow we die. (http://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/humanism.htm)

I strongly encourage you to read the "Humanist Manifesto." Here are some of their ten planks:

FIRST: Religious humanists regard the universe as self-existing and not created.
SECOND: Humanism believes that man is a part of nature and that he has emerged as a result of a continuous process.
THIRD: Holding an organic view of life, humanists find that the traditional dualism of mind and body must be rejected.
FOURTH: Humanism recognizes that man's religious culture and civilization, as clearly depicted by anthropology and history, are the product of a gradual development due to his interaction with his natural environment and with his social heritage. The individual born into a particular culture is largely molded by that culture.
FIFTH: Humanism asserts that the nature of the universe depicted by modern science makes unacceptable any supernatural or cosmic guarantees of human values. Obviously humanism does not deny the possibility of realities as yet undiscovered, but it does insist that the way to determine the existence and value of any and all realities is by means of intelligent inquiry and by the assessment of their relations to human needs. Religion must formulate its hopes and plans in the light of the scientific spirit and method.
EIGHTH: Religious Humanism considers the complete realization of human personality to be the end of man's life and seeks its development and fulfillment in the here and now. This is the explanation of the humanist's social passion.
NINTH: In the place of the old attitudes involved in worship and prayer the humanist finds his religious emotions expressed in a heightened sense of personal life and in a cooperative effort to promote social well-being.
TENTH: It follows that there will be no uniquely religious emotions and attitudes of the kind hitherto associated with belief in the supernatural.
FINAL PARAGRAPH: So stand the theses of religious humanism. Though we consider the religious forms and ideas of our fathers no longer adequate, the quest for the good life is still the central task for mankind. Man is at last becoming aware that he alone is responsible for the realization of the world of his dreams, that he has within himself the power for its achievement. He must set intelligence and will to the task. You may not know that Secular Humanism has been ruled a religion since June 19, 1961 in Torcaso v. Watkins (see Understanding the Times by David A. Noebel pg.33 and A Christian Manifesto by Francis A. Shaeffer pg. 55)

Our enemy, Satan, is knocking on our doors. He is all around us. Have we seen him? Do we realize that our society is controlled by his influence? Communism is the political party and humanism is the religion. They are interconnected. Everything they stand for is in exact opposition to Jesus Christ and His plan. I believe that this is the great and abominable church spoken of in the scriptures. Remember everything against Christ is Satan's teachings.  Humanism is the exact opposite of Jesus Christ.

Captain Moroni as taught us how to fight them. He raised the standard of liberty to protect their religion, their lands and their families. This is the opposite plan of Communism and Humanism.

We are in the greatest battle the world has seen so far. Are we fighting in this war as if it was the greatest war? Are we preparing for battles? Are we parrying the blows of the adversary? Sometimes I worry that I am tolerant and apathetic. I realize that there are many days I am being led down to hell by Satan's flaxen cord.

There is great hope for us however. We know that Christ will prevail. It remains though which side will we be found on?

5 comments:

Mr. Smith said...

Thanks, this is very much in keeping with a book I started writing and, sadly, seem less likely I'll ever finish. Perhaps I should pass it along to you and let you handle it. If I ever do finish it, I'd certainly welcome your feedback! :)

This also reminds me of something else I'd like to do. I'd like to put a large flagpole in our front yard that has the U.S. Flag and also a flag that states, "In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children"

Wouldn't it be amazingly wonderful to see that flag raised in yards across the world? I bet that would prompt some missionary opportunities! :)

Rebekah said...

@Mr. Smith, what a wonderful idea about the flag! I would totally do it.

@Deanna, have you read all the humanist manifestos? I used to have I and II in my commonplace book but I cleaned them out and don't know where there are. In searching for them again there is more then one out there.

It's sickening stuff!

Being A Mother Who Knows said...

Mr. Smith-I hope that you are able to write that book!!! Someone in the LDS realm who understands this must write it! I have been thinking about writing a book also along the same lines. I also wonder if it will ever get written. Perhaps our children will do it!

I love the idea about the flag too!

Rebekah-I have read the Humanist Manifestos along with the Communist Manifesto. Very bad indeed! I noticed when I was googling the definitions that there is a Humanist Manifesto III now as well. I have found it very helpful to read their writings so I can see their goals. This helps me to more easily recognize the agendas out there!

Prepare for Peace said...

Love the flag idea! The Title of Liberty flags can be purchased here:

http://www.latterdaybanners.com/shop/index.php?main_page=page&id=1%22

Deanna Householder said...

I have often struggled with feeling that I am not doing enough politically for our nation. Am I calling my senator and house rep enough? Am I up to date on all the bills, etc.? It can be so overwhelming. But then I remind myself that I am engaged in a work with God, which is noble and of highest importance - the nurturing, mentoring and teaching of my children - the future leaders of the church and of our nation! My role and calling is imperative to our future freedoms! If I do not do well in these responsibilities, then I am not concerned about our future either. I cannot do it all. I must focus my best efforts on that which I have most influence and for me right now, I feel that is within my own home in the hearts of my children. I am not saying that being politically engaged is wrong. I certainly wish that I could do it all! I just can't....not to the extent I want to. But I can teach my children the principles of freedom and help them to identify truth from error! I am training God's army - warriors for righteousness and truth and for Christ the Lord! I only pray I am teaching them well enough that they clearly understand who the enemy is, what it/he looks like and give them courage to reject it 100% of the time!

Thanks Deanna for all of these posts! If you or anyone else has any ideas on how I can do small and simple things to help bring great political things to pass, without overtaking my life, let me know!!!