Ezra
Taft Benson
13th President
1985–1994
The
United States
Constitution
The
Bill of Rights
Declaration
of
Independence
Survival
and the
American Way
of Life
Civic
Standards for
Faithful Saints
Not
Commanded
In All Things
Righteousness
Exalteth A
Nation
Not
Commanded in All Things
In
1831 the Lord said this to his church:
For
behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is
compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant;
wherefore he receiveth no reward.
Verily
I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things
of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness.
For
the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And
inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward.
But
he that doeth not anything until he is commanded, and receiveth a
commandment with doubtful heart, and keepeth it with slothfulness, the
same is damned. (D&C 58:26-29.)
The
purposes of the Lord—the great objectives—continue the same: the
salvation and exaltation of his children.
Usually
the Lord gives us the overall objectives to be accomplished and some
guidelines to follow, but he expects us to work out most of the details
and methods. The methods and procedures are usually developed through
study and prayer and by living so that we can obtain and follow the
promptings of the Spirit. Less spiritually advanced people, such as those
in the days of Moses, had to be commanded in many things. Today those who
are spiritually alert look at the objectives, check the guidelines laid
down by the Lord and his prophets, and then prayerfully act—without
having to be commanded "in all things." This attitude prepares
men for godhood.
The
overall objective to be accomplished in missionary work, temple work,
providing for the needy, and bringing up our children in righteousness has
always been the same; only our methods to accomplish these objectives have
varied. Any faithful member in this dispensation, no matter when he lived,
could have found righteous methods to have carried out these objectives
without having to wait for the latest, specific churchwide program.
Sometimes
the Lord hopefully waits on his children to act on their own, and when
they do not, they lose the greater prize, and the Lord will either drop
the entire matter and let them suffer the consequences or else he will
have to spell it out in greater detail. Usually, I fear, the more he has
to spell it out, the smaller is our reward.
Often,
because of circumstances, the Lord, through revelation to his prophets or
through inspired programs designed by faithful members that later become
adopted on a churchwide basis, will give to all the membership a righteous
means to help accomplish the objective; for instance, any member of the
Church a century ago who studied Church doctrine would have known that he
had the prime responsibility to see that his children had spiritualized
family recreation and were taught in the home lessons in character
building and gospel principles. But some did not do it.
Then,
in 1915 President Joseph F. Smith introduced, churchwide, the "weekly
home evening program" with promised blessings to all who faithfully
adopted it. Many refused and lost the promised blessings. Today we have
the home evening manual and other helps. Yet some still refuse to bring up
their children in righteousness.
However,
there are some today who complain that the home evening manual should have
been issued years ago. If this is true, then the Lord will hold his
servants accountable; but no one can say that from the inception of the
Church up to the present day the Lord, through his Spirit to the
individual members and through his spokes-men, the prophets, has not given
us the objectives and plenty of guidelines and counsel. The fact that some
of us have not done much about it even when it is spelled out in detail is
not the Lord's fault.
For
years we have been counseled to have on hand a year's supply of food. Yet
there are some today who will not start storing until the Church comes out
with a detailed monthly home storage program. Now suppose that never
happens. We still cannot say we have not been warned.
Should
the Lord decide at this time to cleanse the Church—and the need for that
cleansing seems to be increasing—a famine in this land of one year's
duration could wipe out a large percentage of slothful members, including
some ward and stake officers. Yet we cannot say we have not been warned.
Another
warning: you and I sustain one man on this earth as God's mouthpiece. We
do not need a prophet—we have one; what we desperately need is a
listening ear.
Should
it be of concern to us when the mouthpiece of the Lord keeps constantly
and consistently raising his voice of warning about the loss of our
freedom? There are two unrighteous ways to deal with his prophetic words
of warning: you can fight them or you can ignore them. Either course will
bring you disaster in the long run.
Hear
the words of President David O. McKay: "No greater immediate
responsibility rests upon members of the Church, upon all citizens of this
Republic and of neighboring Republics than to protect the freedom
vouchsafed by the Constitution of the United States." (Man May
Know for Himself, 1967, p. 377.)
As
important as are all other principles of the gospel, it was the freedom
issue that determined whether you received a body. To have been on the
wrong side of the freedom issue during the war in heaven meant eternal
damnation. How then can Latter-day Saints expect to be on the wrong side
in this life and escape the eternal consequences? The war in heaven is
raging on earth today. The issues are the same: Shall men be compelled to
do what others claim is for their best welfare or will they heed the
counsel of the prophets and preserve their freedom?
Satan
argued that men given their freedom would not choose correctly; therefore,
he would compel them to do right and save us all. Today Satan argues that
men given their freedom do not choose wisely; therefore a so-called
brilliant, benevolent few must establish the welfare government and force
us into a greater socialistic society. We are assured of being led into
the promised land as long as we let them put a golden ring in our noses.
In the end we lose our freedom and the promised land also. No matter what
you call it—communism, socialism, or the welfare state—our freedom is
sacrificed. We believe that the gospel is the greatest thing in the world;
why then do we not force people to join the Church if they are not smart
enough to see it on their own? Because this is Satan's way, not the Lord's
plan. The Lord uses persuasion and love.
President
McKay also said:
Today
two mighty forces are battling for the supremacy of the world. The destiny
of mankind is in the balance. It is a question of God and liberty, or
atheism and slavery. . . . (Church News, July 18, 1953, p. 3.)
Those
forces are known and have been designated by Satan on the one hand, and
Christ on the other.
In
Joshua's time they were called "gods of the Amorites," for one,
and "the Lord" on the other. . . . In these days, they are
called "domination by the state," on one hand, "personal
liberty," on the other; communism on one, free agency on the other.
(Speech at Brigham Young University, May 18, 1960, p. 2.)
Now,
the Lord knew that before the gospel could flourish there must first be an
atmosphere of freedom. This is why he first established the Constitution
of this land through gentiles whom he raised up before he restored the
gospel. In how many communist countries today are we doing missionary
work, building chapels, etc.? And yet practically every one of those
countries has been pushed into communism and kept under communism with the
great assistance of evil forces which have been and are operating within
our own country and neighboring lands. Yes, were it not for the tragic
policies of governments—including our own—tens of millions of people
murdered and hundreds of millions enslaved since World War II would be
alive and free today to receive the restored gospel.
President
J. Reuben Clark, Jr., put it clearly and courageously when he said:
Reduced
to its lowest terms, the great struggle which now rocks the whole earth
more and more takes on the character of a struggle of the individual
versus the state. . .
This
gigantic world-wide struggle, more and more takes on the form of a war to
the death. We shall do well and wisely so to face and so to enter it. And
we must all take part. Indeed, we all are taking part in that struggle,
whether we will or not. Upon its final issue, liberty lives or dies. . . .
The plain and simple issue now facing us in America is freedom or slavery.
. . . We have largely lost the conflict so far waged. But there is time to
win the final victory, if we sense our danger, and fight. (Vital
Speeches, vol. 5 [1939], pp. 174-75.)
Now
where do we stand in this struggle, and what are we doing about it?
The
devil knows that if the elders of Israel should ever wake up, they could
step forth and help preserve freedom and extend the gospel. Therefore the
devil has concentrated, and to a large extent successfully, on
neutralizing much of the priesthood. He has reduced them to sleeping
giants. His arguments are clever. Here are a few samples.
First:
"We really haven't received much instruction about freedom," the
devil says. This is a lie, for we have been warned time and again. No
prophet of the Lord has ever issued more solemn warning than President
David O. McKay.
Second:
"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. Your other church work will be limited
once you lose your freedom, as our Saints have found out in
Czechoslovakia, Poland, and many other nations.
Third:
"You want to be loved by everyone," says the devil, "and
this freedom battle is so controversial you might be accused of engaging
in politics." Of course, the government has penetrated so much of our
lives that one can hardly speak for freedom without being accused of being
political. Some might even call the war in heaven a political
struggle—certainly it was controversial. Yet the valiant entered it with
Michael. Those who support only the popular principles of the gospel have
their reward. And those who want to lead the quiet, retiring life but
still expect to do their full duty can't have it both ways.
Said
Elder John A. Widtsoe:
The
troubles of the world may largely be laid at the doors of those who are
neither hot nor cold; who always follow the line of least resistance;
whose timid hearts flutter at taking sides for truth. As in the great
Council in the heavens, so in the Church of Christ on earth, there can be
no neutrality. (Conference Report, April 1941, pp. 16-17.)
Fourth:
"Wait until it becomes popular to do," says the devil, "or,
at least, until everybody in the Church agrees on what should be
done." But this fight for freedom might never become popular in our
day. And if you wait until everybody agrees in this church, you will be
waiting through the second coming of the Lord. Would you have hesitated to
follow the inspired counsel of the Prophet Joseph Smith simply because
some weak men disagreed with him? God's living mouthpiece has spoken to
us—are we for him or against him? In spite of our prophets' opposition
to increased federal aid and compulsory unionism, some Church members
still champion these freedom-destroying programs. Where do you stand?
Fifth:
"It might hurt your business or your family," says the devil,
"and besides, why not let the gentiles save the country? They aren't
as busy as you are." Well, there were many businessmen who went along
with Hitler because it supposedly helped their business. They lost
everything. Many of us are here today because our forefathers loved truth
enough that they fought at Valley Forge or crossed the plains in spite of
the price it cost them or their families. We had better take our small
pain now than our greater loss later. There were souls who wished
afterwards that they had stood and fought with Washington and the founding
fathers, but they waited too long—they passed up eternal glory. There
has never been a greater time than now to stand up against entrenched
evil. And while the gentiles established the Constitution, we have a
divine mandate to preserve it. But unfortunately, today in this freedom
struggle, many gentiles are showing greater wisdom in their generation
than the children of light.
Sixth:
"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. This devilish tactic
of persuading people not to get concerned because the Lord will protect
them no matter what they do is exposed by the Book of Mormon. Referring to
the devil, it says: "And others will he pacify, and lull them away
into carnal security, and they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion
prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and
leadeth them away carefully down to hell." (2 Ne. 28:21.)
I
like that word carefully. In other words, don't shake them—you
might wake them. But the Book of Mormon warns us that when we see these
murderous conspiracies in our midst, we should awaken to our awful
situation. Now, why should we awaken if the Lord is going to take care of
us anyway? Let us suppose that it is too late to save freedom. It is still
accounted unto us for righteousness' sake to stand up and fight. Some Book
of Mormon prophets knew of the final desolate end of their nations, but
they still fought on, and they saved some souls, including their own, by
so doing. For, after all, the purpose of life is to prove ourselves, and
the final victory will be for freedom.
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.
And
now as to the last neutralizer that the devil used most effectively—it
is simply this: "Don't do anything in the fight for freedom until the
Church sets up its own specific program to save the Constitution."
This brings us right back to the scripture about the 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. Perhaps if he set one up at this time it might
split the Church asunder, and perhaps he does not want that to happen yet,
for not all the wheat and tares are fully ripe.
The
Prophet Joseph Smith declared that it will be the elders of Israel, not
the Church, who will step forward to help save the Constitution. And have
the elders been warned? Yes, they have. And besides, if the Church should
ever inaugurate a program, who do you think would be in the forefront to
get it moving? It would not be those who were sitting on the sidelines
prior to that time or those who were appeasing the enemy. It would be
those choice spirits who, not waiting to be "commanded in all
things," will use their own free will, the counsel of the prophets,
and the Spirit of the Lord as guidelines and who enter the battle "in
a good cause" and bring to pass much righteousness in freedom's
cause.
If
we had done our homework and were faithful, we could step forward at this
time and help save this country. The fact that most of us are unprepared
to do it is an indictment we will have to bear. The longer we wait, the
heavier the chains, the deeper the blood, the more the persecution, and
the less we can carry out our God-given mandate and worldwide mission. The
war in heaven is raging on the earth today. Are you being neutralized in
the battle?
"Verily
I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things
of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;
"For
the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. . . ."
Jesus
Christ Joseph Smith
Jr.
Brigham Young
John Taylor
Wilford Woodruff
Lorenzo Snow
Joseph F. Smith
Heber J. Grant
George A. Smith
David O. McKay
Joseph F. Smith
Harold B. Lee
Founding
Fathers Spencer Kimball Howard Hunter
Gordon Hinckley First Presidency Elders
Citizens
Rule Book
