Gospel topic
America: Cleansing of, Destruction of, etc.
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What about my own nation—the American nation? What can I say more than I have said in times that are past? They have had a great desolating war; a war between the North and the South in which many hundreds of thousands were destroyed. This war was foretold twenty-eight years before it took place; the very place where it should commence was marked out by the Prophet Joseph Smith, that young man of whom I have spoken. By him it was designated that the revolution should commence in South Carolina, and it did so. By him it was pointed out that this war would be great and terrible, and it came to pass although twenty-eight years intervened, before it commenced. These revelations and prophecies have been published by hundreds of thousands and circulated in your midst here in Great Britain. The people are not altogether ignorant about these matters; they have been forewarned. But what about the American nation? That war that destroyed the lives of some fifteen or sixteen hundred thousand people was nothing, compared to that which will eventually devastate that country. The time is not very far distant in the future, when the Lord God will lay his hand heavily upon that nation. “How do you know this?” inquires one. I know from the revelations which God has given upon this subject. I read these revelations, when they were first given. I waited over twenty-eight years and saw their fulfillment to the very letter. Should I not, then, expect that the balance of them should be fulfilled? That same God who gave the revelations to his servant Joseph Smith in regard to these matters, will fulfil every jot and every tittle that has been spoken, concerning that nation. What then will be the condition of that people, when this great and terrible war shall come? It will be very different from the war between the North and the South. Do you wish me to describe it? I will do so. It will be a war of neighborhood against neighborhood, city against city, town against town, county against county, state against state, and they will go forth destroying and being destroyed and manufacturing will, in a great measure, cease, for a time, among the American nation. Why? Because in these terrible wars, they will not be privileged to manufacture, there will be too much bloodshed—too much mobocracy—too much going forth in bands and destroying and pillaging the land to suffer people to pursue any local vocation with any degree of safety. What will become of millions of the farmers upon that land? They will leave their farms and they will remain uncultivated, and they will flee before the ravaging armies from place to place; and thus will they go forth burning and pillaging the whole country; and that great and powerful nation, now consisting of some forty millions of people, will be wasted away, unless they repent. Now these are predictions you may record. You may let them sink down into your hearts. And if the Lord your God shall permit you to live, you will see my words fulfilled to the very letter. They are not my words, but the words of inspiration—the words of the everlasting God, who has sent forth his servants with this message to warn the nations of the earth. The Book of Mormon contains many of these predictions. This book has now been printed forty-nine years, and the prophecies contained in it are being fulfilled with great rapidity; and every prediction yet in the future, recorded in that book, will be fulfilled literally, according to the words that are spoken. The Lord our God has already destroyed two great and powerful nations that once occupied the western hemisphere, because they fell into wickedness and would not repent. We have a record of this. The first nation he brought upon that hemisphere, were a people from the Tower of Babel. They were led by the hand of the Lord. They were located upon the north wing of that continent, and they became a great and powerful nation. They inhabited the land for some sixteen or seventeen centuries after they came from the Tower of Babel. But the Lord made a decree, when he first led them forth to that land, that if they or their descendants should fall into wickedness, and would not repent, that he would visit them with utter destruction. He did so. About 600 years before Christ, that great nation was entirely swept off by the judgments of Almighty God, and their bones were left bleaching upon the plains and mountains of that land—left unburied by the numerous armies that went forth slaying and being slain, and another colony was brought from Jerusalem in their stead, being a remnant of the tribe of Joseph. The same decree was passed respecting one branch of that colony, that was made regarding the first nation. Said the Lord to them, “Inasmuch as you keep my commandments, you shall prosper in the land; but inasmuch as you keep not my commandments in the land, you shall be destroyed from the face thereof.” That was literally fulfilled. After living upon that land till nearly the close of the fourth century of the Christian era, they fell into wickedness and were destroyed, with the exception of a few who went over to the opposite army. And the Lord also made a similar decree, recorded, too, in the same book, in regard to the present great populous nation called the people of the United States. They must perish, unless they repent. They will be wasted away, and the fullness of the wrath of Almighty God will be poured out upon them, unless they repent. Their cities will be left desolate. A time is coming when the great and populous city of New York—the greatest city of the American Republic, will be left without inhabitants. The houses will stand, some of them, not all. They will stand there, but unoccupied, no people to inherit them. It will be the same in regard to numerous other cities, or, in the words of the Lord, “I will throw down all their strongholds; and I will execute vengeance and fury upon them, even as upon the heathen, such as they have not heard.” It will all be fulfilled. But there will be a remnant who will be spared.
Elder Orson Pratt
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But beyond all that, the Latter-day Saints have a responsibility, that may be better understood when we recall the prophecy of Joseph Smith who declared that "the time would come when (the destiny and) the Constitution of these United States would hang as it were by a thread, and that this people, the sons of Zion, would rise up and save it from threatened destruction" (Journal of Discourses, 7:15). I want to ask you to consider the meaning of that prophecy, in the light of the declaration of the prophets of the Book of Mormon times, who declared that this land was a choice land above all other lands, and would be free from bondage and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of this land, even our Savior, Jesus Christ. This is a people whom the Lord has chosen to preach the gospel of righteousness. We talk of security in this day, and yet we fail to understand that here on this Temple Block we have standing the holy temple wherein we may find the symbols by which power might be generated that will save this nation from destruction. Therein may be found the fulness of the blessings of the Priesthood. Yesterday morning, as we assembled and heard the broadcast from that place, broadcasting to the world a message, it to me was significant of the prophecy that from this place "the law shall go forth to the world, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem". The spires on the eastern towers of the temple are to represent the presidency of the Melchizedek Priesthood; the spires to the west, the presidency of the Aaronic Priesthood; the gilded figure of the angel Moroni symbolizes the preaching of the gospel to the world. The gospel must be preached as a witness under the direction of the holy Priesthood: "Fear God and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come". Therein lies the responsibility of this Church in sanctifying this people and this nation, that they might be spared the judgments that otherwise might come upon them, were it not for the preaching of the humble elders of this Church.
Elder Harold B. Lee
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I think we must be on the optimistic side. This is a great nation. This is a great country. This is the most favored of all lands. While it is true there are dangers and difficulties that lie ahead of us, we must not assume that we are going to lie down and watch the country go to ruin. We should not be heard to predict ills and calamities for the nation. On the contrary, we should be providing optimistic support of the nation. You must remember, brethren, that this Church is one of the most powerful agencies for the progress of the world, and we should all bear our testimonies [so] that we... all sound with one voice. We must tell the world how we feel about this land and this nation and bear our testimonies about the great mission and destiny that it has. It is the negative, pessimistic comments about the nation that do as much harm as anything to the country today. Brethren, we must tell them in a positive way what they should be doing. We should not be so concerned about finding out what is wrong with America, but we should be finding what is right about America and should be speaking optimistically and enthusiastically about America. ... Yes, men may fail, but this nation won't fail. I have faith in America, and you and I must have faith in America if we understand the teachings of the gospel of
President Harold B. Lee
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Eventually America will be the center of the final gathering of God’s people as the Millennium approaches, and our flag will fly right on into that blessed time. Brigham Young said: When the day comes in which the Kingdom of God will bear rule, the flag of the United States will proudly flutter unsullied on the flag staff of liberty and equal rights, without a spot to sully its fair surface; the glorious flag our fathers have bequeathed to us will then be unfurled to the breeze by those who have power to hoist it aloft and defend its sanctity. [Discourses of
Elder Mark E. Petersen
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Elder Gerald N
Elder Russell M. Nelson
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Our belief in divine inspiration gives Latter-day Saints a unique responsibility to uphold and defend the United States Constitution and principles of constitutionalism wherever we live. We should trust in the Lord and be positive about this nation’s future.
President Dallin H. Oaks
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