Chapter 33
A Warning and Personal Witness
". . . Come out of her, my people,
that ye be not partakers of her sins,
and that ye receive not of her plagues."
— Revelation 18:4.

For thousands of years God’s prophets have spoken words of warning to the world concerning the gross wickedness and God’s inevitable hand of judgment upon the wicked in the latter times — the times in which we now live. For example, Isaiah prophesied: "The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left. (Isa. 24:3-6.)

John the Revelator wrote, speaking of the great whore of the earth, Babylon, "For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies." (Rev. 18:3.) Most of us think of fornication as immoral and wrongful sexual intercourse. However, scripturally speaking, it has other meanings. Fornication is intercourse, but intercourse in this instance is political and economic intercourse. This nation has committed, and continues to commit, wrongful and wicked intercourse with her enemies with the design of robbing man of his liberties.

In the next verse John wrote, "And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." (Rev. 18:4.) Have we denied Babylon, and come out of her, trusting in God for all our needs instead of man. No! We have not. We still cling to and believe that which we see, hear, and read by way of the establishments controlled new media — TV, radio, and press. We still desire that which is immoral, lewd, base, lascivious, profane, and spiritually depraved.

The Prophet Joseph Smith wrote the words of God who said, ". . .all men shall know that the day speedily cometh; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand, when peace shall be taken from the earth, and the devil shall have power over his own dominion." (D&C 1:35.) On April 4, 1986, President Benson said, referring to this scripture, "We live in that time." And then he said, "It is now."

Again in the Doctrine and Covenants the Lord warns us: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, darkness covereth the earth, and gross darkness the minds of the people, and all flesh has become corrupt before my face." Then He went on to say, "Behold, vengeance cometh speedily upon the inhabitants of the earth, a day of wrath, a day of burning, a day of desolation, of weeping, of mourning, and of lamentation; and as a whirlwind it shall come upon all the face of the earth, saith the Lord." Then He lays it on us in the next two verse: "And upon my house shall it begin, and from my house shall it go forth, saith the Lord; First among those among you, saith the Lord, who have professed to know my name and have not known me, and have blasphemed against me in the midst of my house, saith the Lord." (D&C 112:23-26.) It would be good if we all took stock of these words to see how they might apply to us individually.

We could go on and on citing scriptural prophesy and warning from other people about the coming calamity about to beset the world, but I believe what has already been presented in this book should be enough for the serious minded and spiritually enlightened. For the rest, it will have little effect, if any at all.

Appeasement and Neutrality Is Not the Answer
Many feel that appeasement is the answer; that it is best to take it easy and just go down the middle of the read. But we must realize that by going down the middle of the road, as someone once said, we may be hit by traffic going both ways. Elder John A. Widtsoe gave his views on this topic during a general conference in April of 1941, and he did it very well:

"A milk-and-water allegiance kills; while a passionate devotion gives life and soul to any cause and its adherents. 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. We are, or we are not, on the side of the Lord. An unrelenting faith, contemptuous of all compromise, will lead the Church and every member of it, to triumph and the achievement of our high destiny.
"The final conquerors of the world will be the men and women, few or many matters not, who fearlessly and unflinchingly cling to truth, who are able to say no, as well as yes, on whose lofty banner is inscribed: No compromise with error ...
"Tolerance is not conformity to the world’s view and practices. We must not surrender our beliefs to get along with people, however beloved or influential they may be. Too high a price may be paid for social standing or even for harmony ... The Gospel rests upon eternal truth; and truth can never be deserted safely. Allegiance to truth, as well as tolerance, is of the Lord." (CR, April 1941, pp. 116-17;PPNS, pp. 440-41.)

My wife once wrote down a quote out of one of Louis L’ Amour’s book, Haunted Mesa. In that book he wrote: "We have a saying that power corrupts. It does. Power not only corrupts he who wields the power, but those who submit to it. Those who grovel at the feet of power betray their fellows to hide themselves behind the cloak of submission. It is an evil thing."

Many years ago I was greatly impressed by the words of a great religious reformer in England of the seventeenth century, John Lathrop. Years after running across some of his teachings, I read a biographical novel about John Lathrop entitled, Exiled, by Helene Holt. In her excellent book she quotes some of the same things I was impressed with previously. She points out that John Lathrap felt neutrality was soul-destroying, and he is quoted as saying, "Neutrality is a myth, a glorified myth. Neutrality is a Trojan Horse, professing some advantage, but being inherently full of danger. Neutrality is not neutrality at all. It always favors the despot — adds to his power. Neutrality favors nothing and no one. That is the great myth!" Lathrop went on to say:

"If a man steals from his neighbor, his act is evil. If that man happens to be your employer, his act is still evil. If no one questions the stealing employer, on the ideas it would better to remain neutral, then the employer continues to steal. Neutrality refuses to keep evil in check. Evil unchecked will destroy good. That’s why neutrality is so dangerous. Moreover, real neutrality refuses even to identify evil as evil, in which case there is no activity to promote good as well as no activity to prevent evil. By default, neutrality is the great sympathizer and nurturer of evil. The most deadly enemy of righteousness is not evil, it’s neutrality." (Edited from Exiled (1987), pp. 7-9.)

Mrs. Holt went on to point out in her book that there can be a difference and a conflict between liberty and loyalty — the conflict of liberty of conscience that inspires one to positive action, in contrast to loyalty to some personality which inspires neutrality, which in turn breeds ignorance and apathy.

Being neutral in a cause shows the most blatant form of permissiveness and cowardliness. Neutrality does no good for the apathetic except allowing the tyrant more freedom to continue his totalitarian rule and wickedness. It allows the oppressor the freedom to take away everyone else’s freedom. God apparently does not like the middle of the roaders, for he would have us take a stand for something be it right or wrong.

I am certain of one thing, there will be no neutralists or middle of the roaders in the Celestial Kingdom of God. Those who inherit that kingdom will have a backbone. The Lord said, "... I would thou were cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth." (Rev. 3:15-16.)

Democracy Is Not the Answer
As pointed out quite clearly in chapter eleven, democracy is not an answer to liberty. Democracy is majority rule; that is, one more than half of those voting. Is following the majority God’s way? I don’t believe so. In Genesis we learn that it was only eight souls that were saved in the ark, not the majority.

Latter-day Saints know that it was not the majority that entered into the promised land. Only Jared and his people were spared the confounding of tongues at old Babylon, only Lehi and his family survived the destruction and captivity of Jerusalem, and it was only Moroni and a handful who escaped the wrath of the Lamanites at the end of the Book of Mormon era. None of these were of the majority.

The Lord was very clear on this matter when He said, "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."(Matt. 7:13-14.) Derek Sharpe once said, "This scripture does not give much hope to the majority. As a matter of fact, it does not give ANY hope to the majority. The Bible clearly and plainly teaches that a few, that means the minority, will be those who find eternal life. Then why do we follow the majority so much?" (The Refreshing Times, Sept., 2001, p. 14.)

A Personal Witness
The original publisher of this book, Northwest Publishing Inc., filed for bankruptcy in 1996. Being somewhat religious in nature, believing in a Divine Creator, I approached the Lord with the problem of what to do about finding a new publisher. It wasn’t long before I received a response to my concern.

The personal spiritual insights I receive from the whisperings of the Holy Spirit are very personal and I do not share them with everyone, for past experience has taught me that not everyone is capable of understanding or even have a desire to do so. But when I do share such things, I do not share them lightly. Therefore, that which I now share I do so with only one purpose in mind, that purpose being that I might press upon you the gravity of the situation at hand in our nation and the world; that is, as least as I understand it.

One August morning of 1996, as my wife and I were having breakfast, I heard and felt a message from the Holy Spirit come into my mind which greatly disturbed me. Without telling my good wife what the problem was, I excused myself from the breakfast table and went into another room where I knelt in supplication to Heavenly Father. I felt I needed a verification of the message I just received. As I petitioned Him concerning the matter, the Spirit whispered the same message once again. It was identical to the impression received at the breakfast table: "Do not worry about having the book republished, for it will not make any difference — the die has been cast. What will transpire will transpire. You have done what you were called to do: you have written the book and had it published, and it has served a purpose."

Now I believe that people can repent, as did ancient Nineveh during the days of the Prophet Jonah, and that if the people of this nation will turn their hearts to God in all humility and diligence, God’s wrath will be abated. But even after Nineveh repented, it wasn’t many years before they slipped back into their sinful ways, and history tells of their demise.

At the time of the Spirits whisperings concerning this subject, I had felt for a long time that things had gone beyond a point of no return with the erosion of our liberties, but this was the first time I actually got the word straight from the Lord. The message disturbed me greatly. All that day I felt as though I wanted to weep because now I knew that things had gone too far. It appeared that there was no turning things around. The message I received that morning seemed to say, "You have done what you were suppose to do — what will transpire will transpire — so sit back and watch it happen." What a sad commentary on our once free and glorious nation.

Turn Our Hearts to God
We learn in the Gospel of Luke that, ". . . as it was in the days of Noe [Noah], so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man." (Luke 17:26.) This being the case, where only a few are saved, we should seriously consider our position with the Lord. Respecting the dastardly intrigues of man in these last days, we need to be prepared temporally and, most of all, spiritually. In the long run, it will make little difference how much food we have stored, how many guns we possess, or how much gold and silver we have stashed away. As vital as these things might seem, yet, if our hearts are not right with God, no amount of these things will save us by themselves. Only God protects and saves, not food, guns, nor gold — history should convince us of that.

A few verses after pronouncing His coming vengeance upon the earth in Doctrine and Covenants 112, the Lord said, ". . . Cleanse your hearts and your garments, lest the blood of this generation be required at your hands." (D&C 112:33.) We need to take seriously God’s commandment of coming out of Babylon, as previously read from Revelation 18:4. We need a total commitment to God, and to His righteous principles. We need to turn our hearts over to Him for His divine protection, not turn them over to the faltering protection that come from man and his prideful way. If the Lord is not number one in our life, it makes little difference what is. Rest assured, God will come out victorious in the end, and so will those on His side, those who put their trust in Him.

God is not the author of fear, but of love — the love of God and His providence. Jesus said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." (John 14:15.)

PSALM 43
JUDGE me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.
For thou art the God of my strength: why dost thou cast me off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto the holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.
Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God.
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.