The War in Heaven Today
By Ezra Taylor
President Ezra Taft Benson once said:
“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)
The doctrine of a war in Heaven is not exclusive to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In Revelation 12:7-9, we read:
And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 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.
Though all Bible believing religions recognize a war in Heaven, the knowledge of what the war was all about is exclusive to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We read in Moses 4:3,
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;
Above, we read the words of Ezra Taft Benson explaining the need to be on the right side of that war now. That war is not over. 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.”
From the words of the Prophets we see that battle isn’t over, and where the battle lines are drawn today. We see that 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,
“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.”
The Lord made us free, and He instituted governments to protect us in our freedoms (See D&C 134). Is there a specific governmental structure that He has created to fulfill his purposes in this regards?
The Lord tells us in D&C 101:77-80
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…And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land…
. Reiterating the Constitutions 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)
Unfortunately sometimes we think this is engaging in politics. President Joseph F Smith had something to say in those regards:
“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
The Constitution is the word of the Lord, why would we want to skim by, or ignore such a thing as this?
Why do we need to be united in “upholding and defending the Constitution”? 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. of the First Presidency said. “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
President Clark taught us here that our freedom is under attack. What is the cause of such a threat to freedom?
President Benson said,
“Concerning the United States, the Lord revealed to his prophets that its greatest threat would be a vast, worldwide “secret combination” which would not only threaten the United States but also seek to “overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations.”- Conference Report, October 1961
Expounding on this, President Benson said:
“Joseph Smith said that the Book of Mormon was the “keystone of our religion” and the “most correct” book on earth. (DHC, vol. 6, p. 56.) This most correct book on earth states that the downfall of two great American civilizations came as a result of secret conspiracies whose desire was to overthrow the freedom of the people.
Now undoubtedly Moroni could have pointed out many factors that led to the destruction of the people, but notice how he singled out the secret combinations, just as the Church today could point out many threats to peace, prosperity, and the spread of God’s work, but it has singled out as the greatest threat the Godless conspiracy. There is no conspiracy theory in the Book of Mormon—it is a conspiracy fact. And along this line I would highly recommend to you a new book entitled, ‘None Dare Call It Conspiracy’.”(Gen. Conf. April, 1972)
The scriptures describe this latter-day conspiracy that seeks to destroy the freedoms of all lands, nations and countries Ether 8:23-25 teaches us that this Latter-Day conspiracy seeks to:
- Get Power (Vs. 23)
- Get Gain or Money (Vs. 23)
- Murder (vs. 24)
- Overthrow Freedom in all Lands, Nations, and Countries (vs. 25)
- Bring Destruction to all People (vs. 25)
As was shown before, the Lords prophets have admonished us to “do all we can to preserve freedom”. Moroni pleads for the same here as well. He says that when we “awake to our awful situation,” that we must
- Repent of Our Sins (vs. 23)
- Not Allow This Conspiracy to Get Above You (vs. 23)
If we do allow it, it will prove our destruction just as it did the Jaredites and the Nephites.
We are still involved in this Satan vs. the Lord battle, and Latter-day Saints are Satan’s biggest obstacle to accomplishing his plan, so we are his major focus. Satan tries to trick Latter-day Saints not to “get involved” in the freedom battle.
In General Conference of April 1965, then Elder Benson, exposes those tactics of the evil on;
“We really haven’t received much instruction about freedom,” the devil says.
This is a lie, for we have been warned time and again… Last conference I spoke of a book embodying much of the prophets’ warnings on freedom…which I commend to you. It is entitled Prophets, Principles, and National Survival.
“You’re too involved in other church work,” says the devil.
But freedom is a weighty matter of the law; the lesser principles of the gospel you should keep but not leave this one undone. We may have to balance and manage our time better.
“Don’t worry,” says the devil “the Lord will protect you, and besides the world is so corrupt and heading toward destruction at such a pace that you can’t stop it, so why try.” Well to begin with, the Lord will not protect us unless we do our part. But many of the prophecies referring to America’s preservation are conditional. That is, if we do our duty we can be preserved, and if not then we shall be destroyed. This means that a good deal of the responsibility lies with the priesthood of this Church as to what happens to America and as to how much tragedy can be avoided if we do act now.
“Don’t do anything in the fight for freedom until the Church sets up its own specific program to save the Constitution.”
To those slothful servants who will not do anything until they are “compelled in all things.” Maybe the Lord will never set up a specific church program for the purpose of saving the Constitution.
The Prophet Joseph Smith declared it will be the elders of Israel who will step forward to help save the Constitution, not the Church.
ETB Gen Oct 1966
Just live the gospel; there’s no need to get involved in trying to save freedom and the Constitution (says the devil)….
Of course, this is dangerous reasoning, because in reality you cannot fully live the gospel without working to save freedom and the Constitution…
Now that we understand there are no good excuses and we need to be actively engaged, what are we to do?
In General Conference, October 1987, President Benson, as President of the Church laid out these steps:
First and foremost, we must be righteous
Second, we must learn the principles of the Constitution in the tradition of the Founding Fathers
Third, we must become involved in civic affairs to see that we are properly represented…
Fourth, we must make our influence felt by our vote, our letters, our teaching, and our advice.
Then in the General Conference of October 2003, Elder M Russell Ballard said:
“’The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.’ We need to raise our voices with other concerned citizens throughout the world in opposition to current trends.
Elder Christensen, in the February 2006 Ensign, emphasized this as well when he said,
What a sacred privilege and responsibility is ours to participate with other like-minded people to ensure that basic freedoms are preserved wherever we reside.
In addition to certain things we can do on our own, we have a “Responsibility” to join and work with others to reverse current trends and preserve freedom. Elder Christensen recommends working with those of “like-mind”. Those groups of like-minded people should understand the Constitution in the tradition of the Founding Fathers, and that its biggest threat is a conspiracy that seeks to destroy every land and country.
In the June 2007 Ensign President Hinckley said,
“That war (the War in Heaven), so bitter, so intense, has never ceased. It is the war… between agency and compulsion, between the followers of Christ and those who have denied Him. His enemies have used every stratagem in that conflict. They’ve indulged in lying and deceit. They’ve employed money and wealth. They’ve tricked the minds of men. They’ve murdered and destroyed and engaged in every kind of evil practice to thwart the work of Christ.”
Those enemies of Christ have sought to destroy His work, but those efforts are in vain. In the end, the Lord wins! President Benson testified,
The Lord has declared that before the second coming of Christ it will be necessary to “destroy the secret works of darkness” in order to preserve the land of Zion” the Americas. (2 Nephi 10:11-16.) – General Conference, Sept. 1961
Those that seek to destroy freedom in America must be defeated. They will be defeated. The only question that remains is; which side of the fence will we be on?
Great article! Thanks for sharing that with us all. I will do my part to share it.
I think that the vast majority of people will agree. The problem though is that many people believe that they have certain rights when they really don’t. For example do we have a right to –
a job
healthcare
housing
education
welfare
etc…
all at others’ expense? NO!!!!! We have to inform people that they have the right to do as they wish so long as they don’t trample on other’s property, person, or rights. The above aren’t rights because they infringe upon / take my property ($).
We need to inform other LDS that we don’t a right to outlaw things we deem morally wrong….We have no right to outlaw –
Shopping on Sundays
Recreating ” ”
gambling
adultery
polygamy
drug use
prostitution
etc….
for those who are of legal age and who are voluntarily participating of their own free will and choice. In none of those things does a person trample on the person, property or rights of others. Sure, we can outlaw driving while drunk and stoned because the activity DOES threaten to injure the person and property of others. Drinking/Doping isn’t outlawed…only the irresponsible driving.
We have no right to have White and Colored drinking fountains even though the Blacks aren’t objectively harmed since they still have equal access to the same government granted priviledges (water)as Whites. We can’t deny same-sex couples the civil right to have a legal marrriage, even though they may still have equal access to the same government granted priviledges as heterosexual couples.
We need to know what are legitimate rights and which are merely claims on the person, property or rights of others.
One of the biggest threats to our freedom and liberty is one of our own. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada and Senate Majority Leader. Yet, he is extolled as a faithful saint and invited to speak to lds students at BYU. This is not a party issue anymore. It is good vs. evil. Obeying the laws of the land will become harder and harder due to non-leaderhip by folks like Harry Reid. Our Rebublican politicians are not much better since they fall all over themselves to please Ted Kennedy and other worthless politicians. They should all be standing for truth and righteousness instead of seeing what they can do to stay in office and secure more power–and money.
Well-written! It helps to see the words of the prophets reminding us of our civic duty. We preserve our liberty by being aware of what is going on: the secret combination that seeks world domination is real and was prophesied of in the Book of Mormon. Very helpful to see the actual steps we need to be taking to combat this, especially as we see signs that the net is closing and more and more of our freedoms are lost and will have to be regained. Thank you for an inspiring article.
Harry Reid is a church member? Does he have a recommend?! He is a modern day King-man! And we all know what they did to those Nephites who refused to support the Title of Liberty!
As I have read the above statements, and I feel that there is a lot to be said and should be spoken more often. The constition, is from God and to preserve this law we must do our part and that is not lay around and do nothing like Satan would have us to do. The Book Of Mormon tells of the future as Moroni has seen and has warned us of the same events but more to distruction of mankind (famlies). The veterns of wars past knows the price to pay and what to fight for. Our government senate and cogressional is a deceitful and tracherous, cumnning and tyranny is showing it’s colors now and has been through out the years, Wars and rumours of war of liberity and liberty is at stake. Does Herry Reid have a temple recommend? They are interviewd and to be honest in your word, but be deceiving the Lord will deal with him in his time of His choosing. Like all polictions that of unrighteous actions,they will pay for it, if not here they will there. The rightous will reign for the right cause and that is to follow the Lords prophets. to safety. Raise the banner for Title of Liberty and justice for all. .Pray for support of help from Heavenly Father to win this battle over Satan and his elect If we fall, we all fall with our nation and the purpose of life that we are sent here to uphold the lords purpose of life. and liberty. The choice is ours to make?
I have seen the quote from President Benson several times now where he supposedly recommends the book “None Dare Call it a Conspiracy” during general conference in April of 1972. I found the assertion that an apostle would endorse a non-scriptural political book during conference dubious at best so I did some research. When I go back and read the transcript of the talk in question, that particular portion is not to be found.
I would be interested to know the source of that quote since the only references I can find attributing it to Ezra Taft Benson are second hand accounts with no legitimate basis in fact.
Do not misunderstand my position, I believe in the core of your message, I just believe that falsely quoting the prophets and apostles is a slippery slope. If there is in fact proof that this was said in conference I would be quite interested in seeing this.
Chris, you want proof, here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJNMcD2IY_k
In the future you might want to consider doing a little more research before calling a prophet “dubious” and accusing someone of “falsely quoting the prophets and apostles”.
Chris,
Aside from Elder Benson’s recommendation in General Conference, the first endorsement on the back of my copy of the book reads:
“I wish that every citizen of every country in the free world and every slave behind the Iron Curtain might read this book.” Ezra Taft Benson — Former Secretary of Agriculture
The first time I ever heard of NDCC, it was from the audio clip of the video Brian posted here. I searched out the Conference Talk on LDS.org and found that the transcript was missing the entire sentence, “And along this line, I would highly recommend to you a new book called ‘None Dare Call it Conspiracy’ by Gary Allen.” I have since looked it up in the printed Conference Report from 1972 (available at the new Church History Library), and that transcript is the same as the one on LDS.org. As I began reading the book, and wondered about the discrepancy, I had some of the same concerns you have expressed here. While I was trying to resolve those concerns, I had an opportunity to ask Elder Oaks about it. The answer he gave me, as well as I can remember it, was, essentially, “Don’t worry so much about what past Prophets have said, and concentrate on what the current Prophet is saying.” As I have continued to learn about the intricacies of what is happening in our world, I have come to realize just how profound that council is. We sustain these men as Prophets, Seers, and Revelators. They are not uninformed nor naïve. The council they give us, if we will heed and study that council, really does give us the most powerful weapons we have in the battle “against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Eph 6:12)
I think the most simple explanation for why that quote wasn’t included in the printed version of the talk is because the speakers submit their talk in advance, and that statement “And along this line, I would highly recommend to you a new book called ‘None Dare Call it Conspiracy’ by Gary Allen.” wasn’t part of the originally submitted talk. The version that is printed in the Ensign is the version submitted in advance, not an actual transcript of what was said.
i have heard several people say what Seth is saying “don’t worry so much about what past prophets have said”…even some people in my family have given me this same advice. But I have absolutely no idea what to do with that counsel. It’s illogical to me…and impossible for me to sort out and follow. Which past prophets do I ignore? How far back do I go? who decides which past prophets and which advice to ignore? It’s a recipe for utter disaster as far as I can tell. It would be like saying we should ignore the Constitution because it was written by people who are now dead…if we followed this advice we’d have to stop reading the bofm, d&c, the bible, and 99% of all church doctrine written before the advent of the current prophet.
doesn’t anyone else find this difficult to process?
Scott: Yes, it is ridiculous, and is a recipe for pitting the Prophets against each other. Should I get some scriptures that have removable pages and take out all the pages until the current Church President reads from it? Are we midevil Catholics that we cannot understand things for ourselves and have to have the Pope read to us the scriptures and tell us what they mean?
Programs change, principles do not.
@Captain Moroni
I maintain that a child has the right to a loving father and mother, and this is something that can not be duplicated in a “same sex relationship”. A state also has a personal interest in encouraging child-rearing for its own continuance and productivity. Although two men or two women could adopt a child, the principle still stands that they are not physically nor psychologically designed to do so. Indeed, it is incorrect to say that one “bans gay marriage” because it pre-supposes that marriage itself is a bond to satisfy the lusts of adults, rather than bind and continue families and to sacrifice one’s self.
Taking it farther, using the idea that “it doesn’t trample anyone else’s property or life” is insufficient as a sole metric. Anyone who spends time being drunk or high is indirectly impacting others negatively by not serving or being productive. An argument could be made that an otherwise kind man who is an alcoholic and abusive while drunk should be restricted from drinking by law, because his drinking causes harm or fear to his family. Gambling is almost invariably pursued by those who are in the least feasible position for throwing their money away, and these people then must turn to others for their support. Outlawing gambling is an almost direct relief to family, church, and community support systems.
@Focus on living prophets
I think the idea isn’t to discard to disregard what past prophets have said, but rather to keep in mind that modern prophets will have more “up-to-date” information and instruction. Rather than forgetting about that quote or book, I think the intent expressed is the idea that focusing on it may be outdated compared to more recent instruction. One interpretation could be to the effect that “The time for learning about or exposing such as described in that book is past, now our efforts are best spent focusing on something else”.