Sabbathought: Independence Day---" . . . Awake to a Sense of Your Awful Situation . . . ."

Independence from whom? I often would ask my American seminary students or Sunday School youth when the subject came up, or at this time of year. Independence from what or from whom?

Very few had a ready answer.

Measured against the original Declaration of Independence from the tyranny of King George and the rule of Great Britain it seems past time for a return to the founding principles of this once great nation. We need a declaration of independence again today.

"If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."  Note the condition: "If" . . . .

There is an appalling ignorance, even among Latter-day Saints, of the founding origins of America. Today, 2 July, it has been sad to read even LDS-website and e-mail messages that celebrate the Constitution. The founding document of this nation was in fact the Declaration of Independence, written principally by Thomas Jefferson and finally approved by Congress on 4 July 1776. That is the focus of this celebration.

The Constitution of the United States---the foundation of laws for this new republic---was adopted after much deliberation and divinely inspired diligence by the Founding Fathers in September 1787, eleven years after the Declaration of Independence from Britain. We get confused because we don't know our stuff.

The details of these events, and the documents themselves, do not get examined, explored, and taught in the schools and colleges of America very much anymore---certainly not in their true inspired context and with the awe and reverence that they deserve. As we say, even among the Saints there is a deficiency, a lack of clarity of vision and understanding on these vital matters.

The prophet-historian Moroni, writing some sixteen centuries ago, warned us of the secret combinations and spiritual wickedness in high places that would abound across the globe in the Last Days, and specifically on this choice land of the Americas when he wrote to us:

"Wherefore, the Lord commandeth you, when ye shall see these things come among you that ye shall awake to a sense of your awful situation, because of this secret combination which shall be among you . . . ."

He went on to describe the origins of evil in this combination, and its purpose, "to overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations, and countries; and it bringeth to pass the destruction of all people, for it is built up by the devil, who is the father of all lies."

Some clear doctrinal background is necessary:

We know from scripture that it was the purpose of Satan "to destroy the agency of man . . . to deceive and to blind" mankind, "to lead them captive at his will." Satan "knew not the mind of God" and God's plan for man's happiness and salvation, "wherefore he sought to destroy the world" (see Moses 4).

"Satan . . . sought to destroy the agency of man"

We most often think that Satan's design was one of compulsion, of force, of intimidation to obey. An idea of, "I'll beat you up if you don't do it. I'll compel you to obey."

Think of it: Can you imagine one in three of our Father's children voting for such a plan of coercion?

Neither can I.

Agency is the power to act, far more than just the power to choose.

The root word agency produces this family of words: agent, act, action, actor, actual, and active. Far more than a passive choice, a mental assent, a nod of the head, a raise of the hand in a vote of approval, agency has to do with action. Positive action. Doing. Acting, or being true, loyal, showing through active works where your heart lies and who you truly are.

All Satan had to do to destroy the agency of mankind would be to deny them the privilege of acting on their own initiative, of working by the sweat of their brow, of diligent obedience, of seeking excellence by their own will.

"I'll take care of it," says he. "You won't have to struggle and sweat at all. In this way I'll save every one of you. And surely I will do it!" he said, "and the glory and the credit will come to me."

And thus he would have destroyed the agency of man, the liberty of man to act in his own best interests, the freedom to work out his own salvation in fear and trembling, always relying on the merits and mercy and atoning blood of the Redeemer.

As you look around you today at the growing dependency society that has dominated in Europe for decades and which is now well advanced in the great nation of the United States, does something look and sound familiar when you measure it against the doctrine? . . .

Free lunch? Entitlement society? Dependence on the government? Social plan of safety and security? Guaranteed benefits? . . .

Mankind's best plans for a utopian society are not the same as the Lord's for Zion. The two are not the same---not even close.

Can you see the great pressing need to know "the very points of [the Savior's] doctrine", so that even the humble followers of Christ, the elect according to the covenant, will not be deceived by the father of all lies?

From our observation most of us are not very aware of these things: of good sound doctrine, of the truth that is in Christ, even the doctrine of Christ, of the reason and purpose for the founding of this nation, for the Declaration of Independence from tyranny and despotic laws, for the Constitution---"And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land," said the God of this land, who is Jesus Christ [see Ether 2:12], "by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood"---, and the sequence and the order, and the vital necessity of it all.

These things are not incidental . . . nor coincidental, nor random, nor by caprice. They all belong together. So that we see in 1877 the Founding Fathers of these United States and other eminent men and women appearing to Wilford Woodruff in the Saint George temple to claim their temple blessings at the hands of the priesthood of God:

"Every one of those men that signed the Declaration of Independence, with General [George] Washington, called upon me as an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the Temple at St. George, two consecutive nights, and demanded at my hands that I should go forth and attend to the ordinances of the House of God for them" (Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, pp. 160--6).

Which he did.

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President Ezra Taft Benson taught: "The Book of Mormon exposes the enemies of Christ. It confounds false doctrines and lays down contention. (See 2 Nephi 3:12.) It fortifies the humble followers of Christ against the evil designs, strategies, and doctrines of the devil in our day. . . . God, with his infinite foreknowledge, so molded the Book of Mormon that we might see the error and know how to combat false educational, political, religious, and philosophical concepts of our time" (A Witness and a Warning [1988], p. 3).

Shall we be subtle here or shall we be bold? . . . As Joseph said, "Truth cuts its own way."

Most of us in the Church do not know much about the Book of Mormon---its purpose, its doctrine, its value, its message. We should know it inside out. We don't.

We are for the most part in the same standing on the Book of Mormon as we are on the founding of this nation. Profoundly ignorant.

The enemy has succeeded in keeping us a good distance from a clear understanding of the founding doctrines and documents of both the Church and this nation.

Our hearts and minds are riveted on other things.

At the bicentennial celebration of the founding of America and its Declaration of Independence, in July 1976, the prophet and President of the Church, Spencer W. Kimball, gave us an article in the June 1976 Ensign entitled, "The False Gods We Worship".

In it he said: "I use the word 'idolatry' intentionally. . . . This I find to be a dominant theme in the Old Testament. Whatever a man sets his heart and his trust in most is his god, and if his god doesn't also happen to be the true and living God of Israel, that man is laboring in idolatry."

Is it time for me and you to wake up? It is past time. Past time to "awake to a sense of your awful situation."

God bless us all to do so.

Feel free to share this with others, and to send me your thoughts.

Steve