America Is A Choice Land

                The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday is the simple fact that America is located on land that is choice above all other lands.  It is land that was preserved and protected by God through thousands of years and will continue to be blessed and protected as long as the people worship Jesus Christ.  America is a unique and beautiful nation.  

                 The Book of Mormon – Another Testament of Jesus Christ contains the histories of several groups of people who were brought to the American continents by God.  They were blessed and prospered as long as they worshipped the God of the Land, even Jesus Christ, and were swept off the land when they ripened in iniquity and sin.

                An ancient American prophet by the name of Ether wrote about one of the groups.  “And the Lord would not suffer that they should stop beyond the sea in the wilderness, but he would that they should come forth even unto the land of promise, which was choice above all other lands, which the Lord God had preserved for a righteous people.

                “And he had sworn in his wrath unto the brother of Jared, that whoso should possess this land of promise, from that time henceforth and forever, should serve him, the true and only God, or they should be swept off when the fulness of his wrath should come upon them.

                “And now, we can 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 shall come upon them.  And the fulness of his wrath cometh upon them when they are ripened in iniquity.

                “For behold, this is a land which is choice above all other lands; wherefore he that doth possess it shall serve God or shall be swept off; for it is the everlasting decree of God. And it is not until the fulness of iniquity among the children of the land, that they are swept off.

                “And this cometh unto you, O ye Gentiles [He was writing to us!], that ye may know the decrees of God – that ye may repent, and not continue in your iniquities until the fulness come, that ye may not bring down the fulness of the wrath of God upon you as the inhabitants of the land have hitherto done.

                “Behold, this is a choice land and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, who hath been manifested by the things which we have written” (Ether 2:7-12; emphasis added).

                A prophet of God, even President Joseph Fielding Smith, proclaimed that the above quoted “scriptures from the Book of Mormon are true; this nation is not exempt, and the people, if they continue to pursue the course of evil and ungodliness that they are now treading shall eventually be punished.  If they continue to disregard the warning voice of the Lord, deny their Redeemer, turn from his gospel unto fables and false theories, and rebel against all that he has through his servants in this day declared for the salvation of man; and if they increase in the practice of iniquity, I want to say to you, that if they do these things, the judgments of the Lord will come upon this land, and this nation will not be saved; we will not be spared from war, from famine, from pestilence and finally from destruction, as a nation.

                “Therefore, I call upon the people … throughout the whole land to repent of their sins and to accept the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our Redeemer and the God of this land.  Turn from your evil ways, repent of your sins and receive the fulness of the gospel through the waters of baptism and obedience, that the judgments which shall be poured out upon the ungodly may pass you by” (Doctrines of Salvation, Vol. III, pp. 321-322).

                President Smith made this statement in October 1916, nearly one hundred years ago.  Our nation has changed mightily in that time and is currently undergoing a “fundamental change” under the direction of Barack Obama and his minions.  President Thomas S. Monson, the current prophet of God on earth and President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the Apostles who serve with him, have recently lowered the age for missionary service for both young men and young women.  The Prophets and Apostles are in fact sending a “surge” of missionaries into the world to assist the Lord in gathering all the righteous people out of the world.  The Lord is hastening His work and making preparations for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. 

Will Americans heed the voice of President Smith and repent or will we continue down the road we are taking until our government is destroyed?  I suppose that only time will tell the choice of the majority of Americans, “but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15)