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Close Topic OptionsWhat Christ Fought For Part One
What Christ Fought Part One - Mormon Doctrine Studies - Posted: 17th Jan, 2008 - 6:40pm
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Post Date: 17th Jan, 2008 - 6:40pm / Post ID: #
What Christ Fought For Part One
What Christ fought for, continues to fight for and asks us to fight for:
PART ONE
President Ezra Taft Benson once said:
| QUOTE |
| "Every person on the earth today chose the right side during the war in heaven. Be on the right side now." (Assembly Hall, Temple Square, Feb. 1966) It is hard to imagine something as horrible as war happening in Heaven. What was it all about? The Bible speaks of this great battle. In Revelation 12 v7-9, we read: 7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And then in, Moses 4:1-2 the Lord went into even more detail. That Satan, whom thou hast commanded in the name of mine Only Begotten, is the same which was from the beginning, and he came before me, saying-Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor. But, behold, my Beloved Son, which was my Beloved and Chosen from the beginning, said unto me-Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever. Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down; This struggle between the forces that seek to destroy the agency of man and those that seek to preserve it has been going on since that great council. President David O McKay said: There are 'two Contending Forces. Those forces are known and have been designated by different terms throughout the ages. "In the beginning" they were known as Satan on the one hand, and Christ on the other"¦ In these days, they are called "domination by the state," on one hand, "personal liberty," on the other." |
So we see, that battle isn't over, and where the battle lines are drawn today.
So, what Christ has fought for, continues to fight for and asks us to fight for is freedom of the individual, "personal liberty".
In fact, John Taylor said,
| QUOTE |
| "Besides the preaching of the Gospel, we have another mission, namely, the perpetuation of the free agency of man and the maintenance of liberty, freedom, and the rights of man." |
-General Conference April 1882
To magnify this point, the February 2006 Ensign magazine, had an article written by Elder Shirley D Christensen of the Seventy, entitled, "I, the Lord God, Make You Free." In it he said;
"Are we doing all that we should to preserve freedom wherever we live?... The Lord has placed upon His children the responsibility of preserving their precious freedoms."
How do we preserve our freedom? What freedoms do we have a right to preserve?
President Benson said:
To magnify this point, the February 2006 Ensign magazine, had an article written by Elder Shirley D Christensen of the Seventy, entitled, "I, the Lord God, Make You Free." In it he said;
"Are we doing all that we should to preserve freedom wherever we live?... The Lord has placed upon His children the responsibility of preserving their precious freedoms."
How do we preserve our freedom? What freedoms do we have a right to preserve?
President Benson said:
| QUOTE |
| "Let us first consider the origin of those freedoms we have come to know are human rights. There are only two possible sources. Rights are either God-given as part of the Divine Plan, or they are granted by government as part of the political plan. Reason, necessity, tradition and religious convictions all lead me to accept the divine origin of these rights. If we accept the premise that human rights are granted by government, then we must be willing to accept the corollary that they can be denied by government. I, for one, shall never accept that premise." |
(Salt Lake City, Feb. 1968)
In D&C 134:1 we read a little more about that
What are those God given rights?
D&C 134:,2
says that government should enact laws that protect an individuals life from harm by others, their right to own and control property, and their right to believe as the consciences dictate, as long as that belief doesn't support sedition or conspiracy to destroy the freedom of others. It then says that to be able to do this they are justified in creating officers capable of fulfilling the task. These are the basics on which all freedoms are based.
U.S. CONSTITUTION
The Lord made us free, and He instituted governments to protect us in our freedoms. Is there a specific governmental structure that He has created to fulfill his purposes in this regards?
We find our answer in D&C 101:77-80
In D&C 134:1 we read a little more about that
What are those God given rights?
D&C 134:,2
says that government should enact laws that protect an individuals life from harm by others, their right to own and control property, and their right to believe as the consciences dictate, as long as that belief doesn't support sedition or conspiracy to destroy the freedom of others. It then says that to be able to do this they are justified in creating officers capable of fulfilling the task. These are the basics on which all freedoms are based.
U.S. CONSTITUTION
The Lord made us free, and He instituted governments to protect us in our freedoms. Is there a specific governmental structure that He has created to fulfill his purposes in this regards?
We find our answer in D&C 101:77-80
| QUOTE |
| the laws and constitution of the people, which I have suffered to be established, "¦ That every man may act in doctrine and principle pertaining to futurity, according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment. Therefore, it is not right that any man should be in bondage one to another. And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood. |
Then in D&C 98:7 the Lord says regarding the Constitution; "And pertaining to law of man, whatsoever is more or less than this, cometh of evil."
Mans agency must be preserved and for this purpose, or Heavenly Father raised up wise men and gave us the Constitution of the United States of America. Because of its importance, President David O McKay said, and recently, Elder L Tom Perry reiterated:
"Next to being one in worshiping God there is nothing in this world upon which this Church should be more united than in upholding and defending the Constitution of the United States" (BYU, Sept. 1987)
I think that it sometimes seems that we haven't heard much from the Lord through His Prophets on these matters, but really there could be nothing further from the truth! We have heard much, in fact, here is just a minute sample of such writings. Show stack of books on this subject. Another problem that I think we face is that we think that we can't really talk about such things in Church, because we aren't supposed to talk about politics in Church. President Joseph F Smith had something to say in those regards:
| QUOTE |
| "There has been a tendency among some Latter-day Saints, even when the Constitution is mentioned, to say, "There he goes talking politics." I am not talking politics. I am quoting the words of the Lord." |
Joseph F. Smith CR April 1946
A couple of years later, George Albert Smith, in the April 1948 General Conference followed up those remarks with the following;
"The Constitution is as much from God as the Ten Commandments."
The Constitution is the word of the Lord, and it is as much from God as the Ten Commandments. Why would we want to skim by, or ignore such a thing as this?
If we do, it will be the same as if we ignored our Temple work, missionary work, or any other gospel duty.
Why do we need to be united in "upholding and defending the Constitution"? Why is it on of our duties to "maintain liberty freedom and the rights of man"? Why does it need defending? No one would want to attack or weaken it"¦ would they?
The prophets have some revealing insight on the matter. In Gen Conf. President J. Reuben Clark Jr. or the First Presidency said.
A couple of years later, George Albert Smith, in the April 1948 General Conference followed up those remarks with the following;
"The Constitution is as much from God as the Ten Commandments."
The Constitution is the word of the Lord, and it is as much from God as the Ten Commandments. Why would we want to skim by, or ignore such a thing as this?
If we do, it will be the same as if we ignored our Temple work, missionary work, or any other gospel duty.
Why do we need to be united in "upholding and defending the Constitution"? Why is it on of our duties to "maintain liberty freedom and the rights of man"? Why does it need defending? No one would want to attack or weaken it"¦ would they?
The prophets have some revealing insight on the matter. In Gen Conf. President J. Reuben Clark Jr. or the First Presidency said.
| QUOTE |
| "I say unto you with all the soberness I can, that we stand in danger of losing our liberties, and that once lost, only blood will bring them back; and once lost, we of this Church will, in order to keep the Church going forward, have more sacrifices to make and more persecutions to endure than we have yet known, heavy as our sacrifices and grievous as our persecutions of the past have been." |
-Conference Report, April 1944
 Message Edited...Persephone: Please learn how to use the Quote Tags here. See our Constructive Posting Policy. |
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TOPIC: What Christ Fought For Part One