Called Unto Liberty, Spencer W. Kimball: 1974, 20th Century Sermons
This America is no ordinary country . . . . It was consecrated as a land of promise to the people of the Americas, to whom God gave these great promises:
It will be a land of liberty to its people. (2 Nephi 1:7)
They shall never be brought down into captivity. (Idem.)
And there shall be none to molest them. (Ibid., 1:9)
It is a land of promise. (I Nephi 2:20)
It shall be free from all nations under heaven.
There shall be no enemies come into this land.
It shall be free from bondage. (Ether 2:12)
There shall be no kings upon the land. (2 Nephi 10:11)
I will fortify this land against all other nations. (Ibid., 10:12)
He that fighteth against Zion shall perish. (Ibid., 10:13)
But these promises, glorious though they be, desirable as they are, can come only
. . . if they will but serve the God of this land who is Jesus Christ . . . (Ether 2:12)
There is only one way. That infallible cure is simply righteousness, obedience, Godliness, honor and integrity. There is no other cure. Mountains of arms and ammunitions will not guarantee safety, for enemies can also build fortifications and mis siles and bomb shelters. If we would but believe the prophets! For they have warned that if the inhabitants of this land are ever brought down into captivity and enslaved, it shall be because of iniquity; for if iniquity shall abound cursed shall be the land. (See 2 Nephi 1:7)
The prophet exclaims again with fervor:
And now we . . . behold the decrees of God concerning this land, that it is a land of promise: and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall serve God, or they shall be swept off when the fulness of his wrath cometh upon them when they are ripened in iniquity. (Ether 2:9) . . .
Jesus Christ our Lord is under no obligation to save this world. The people have ignored him, disbelieved him, failed to follow him. They stand at his mercy which will be extended only if they repent. But to what extent have we repented? Another prophet said, “We call evil good, and good evil.” Men have rationalized themselves into thinking that they are “not so bad.” Are they fully ripe? Has the rot of age and flabbiness set in? Can they change? They see evil in their enemies, but none in [p. 65] themselves. Even in the true Church numerous of its people fail to attend their meetings, to tithe their incomes, to have their regular prayers, to keep all the commandments. We can transform but will we? It seems that we would rather tax ourselves into slavery than to pay our tithes; rather build protections and walls than drop to our knees with our families in solemn prayers night and morning.
It seems that rather than fast and pray, we prefer to gorge ourselves at the banquet tables and drink cocktails. Instead of disciplining ourselves we yield to urges and carnal desires. Numerous billions we spend on liquor and tobacco. A Sabbath show or a game or a race replaces solemn worship. Numerous mothers prefer the added luxuries of two incomes to the satisfactions of seeing children grow up in the fear of God. Men golf and boat and hunt and fish rather than to solemnize the Sabbath. Old man rationalization is with us. Because we are not vicious enough to be confined in penitentiaries, we rationalize that we are pretty good people; that we are not doing so badly. The masses of the people are much like those who escaped destruction in the ancient days of this continent. The Lord said to them:
O all ye that are spared because ye were more righteous than they (the slain ones), will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you? (3 Nephi 9:13)
The Great Wall of China with its 1,500 miles of unbreakable walls, with its twenty-five feet high impregnableness, with its innumerable watchman towers, was breached by the treachery of man.
The Maginot Line in France, these forts thought to be so strong and impassable, were violated as though they were not there. Strength is not in concrete and reinforcing steel. Protection is not in walls nor mountains nor cliffs, yet foolish men still lean on “the arm of flesh.” . . .
“Experience is a dear teacher but fools will learn by no other.” But we continue on in our godlessness. While the iron curtains rise and thicken, we eat, drink, and make merry. While armies are marshalled and march and drill and officers teach men how to kill, we continue to drink and carouse as usual. While bombs are detonated and tested, and fallout settles on the already sick world, we continue in idolatry and adultery. While corridors are threatened and concessions are made, we live riotously and divorce and marry in cycles like the seasons. While leaders quarrel, and editors write, and authorities analyze [p. 66] and prognosticate, we break the Sabbath as though no command had ever been given.
While enemies filter into our nation to subvert us and intimidate us and soften us, we continue with our destructive thinking: “It can’t happen here.”
Will we ever turn wholly to God? Fear envelopes the world which could be at ease and peace. In God is protection, safety, peace. He has said, “I will fight your battles.” But his commitment is on condition of our faithfulness . . . . God will fight our battles if we honor him and serve him with all our hearts, might, mind, and strength.
This I know, for the Lord has so declared it through the age, and I know he lives and is all powerful.
The cause is not lost. If race tracks were closed on the Sabbath, if gambling ceased, drinking eliminated, work and play confined to week days; if stores were closed and all people went to their sanctuaries truly to worship even as best they know; if taverns never opened, and transgressors all repented, and broken homes were mended, and children were trained in uprightness; if families all knelt in prayer night and morning, if tithes were paid and integrity and worship reigned in the lives of men, the era of total peace would be ushered in. Fear would vanish, and enemies would be subdued.
“I will fight your battles,” says the Lord God Omnipotent. He never fails his promises.
If we are of the masses who are casual, passive, irreligious, irreverent, unholy, immoral, ungodly, then we must “repent or suffer.”
Of course, a one-sided disarmament could be madness if worldliness and materialism continued, but a serious turn of the masses could forestall all military conquests, all tragedies of conflict. God is all powerful.
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Source: Excerpt from Spencer W. Kimball’s Conference Report. October, volume 61:30-34. Spencer W. Kimball served as the 12th President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
