The Great and Abominable Church: Part 1

In some of the earliest chapters of the Book of Mormon, Nephi sees in vision the formation of the church of the devil. He uses various names to describe this organization including the church of the devil, the great and abominable church and the whore of all the earth. He goes into great detail when speaking about this organization. Nephi includes this vision in his record for our benefit. His people never had the Book of Mormon. He knew it would be critical for us to recognize and avoid deception at the hands of all entities which comprise the church of the devil. If we are unable to do so, we will be grasped with the devil's awful chains. (2 Nephi 28:22) One way that Nephi helps us to recognize and understand the church of the devil is to explain its goals. Understanding the goals of this organization is a key to combating it. Nephi explains its goals as follows:

• To torture and slay the saints of God (1 Nephi 13:5) 
• To yoke the saints and bring them into captivity (1 Nephi 13:5) 
• Material gain (1 Nephi 13:8) 
• Sexual sin (1 Nephi 13:8) 
• Praise of the world (1 Nephi 13:9) 

Over the next few days we will take a closer look at each of these goals and the means used by the devil to accomplish them. Doing so will arm us against the deceptions that, if not identified, will surely lead to our destruction.

Torture and Slaying of the Saints

The physical oppression, torture and martyrdom of those who try and follow the Savior, both in ancient and modern times, is a historical fact. We have record of these occurrences and will continue to see the fulfillment of this prophecy in the future. Now is the great day of the devils power and as the gulf dividing evil from good continues to grow ever wider, the persecutions against the humble followers of Christ will increase in intensity. Elder Bruce R McConkie has taught in his work Mormon Doctrine that, "where the gospel is, there will be opposition and persecution, for Lucifer will not stand idly by while the work of God rolls forward. Hence, the saints have been tormented, pushed about, persecuted, reviled."

Physical death and other forms of persecution however, are not the most terrible threats facing us. The Savior himself taught, "He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." (Matt 10:39) Speaking of the martyrs at Ammonihah, Alma teaches that, "the Lord receiveth them up unto himself, in glory; and he doth suffer that they may do this thing, or that the people may do this thing unto them, according to the hardness of their hearts, that the judgments which he shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just; and the blood of the innocent shall stand as a witness against them, yea, and cry mightily against them at the last day." (Alma 14:11) The Lord also has promised us that , "it shall come to pass that those that die in me shall not taste of death, for it shall be sweet unto them; And they that die not in me, wo unto them, for their death is bitter." (D&C 42: 46-47)

One of the tools used by Satan to thwart our progress is fear. This fear takes many forms. Fear of death, fear of those we deem our enemies and many other manifestations. Our own self love can be a hindrance and a sin if not kept in the proper perspective. The Lord however, has prepared us to withstand the buffetings of the adversary and maintain faith in the face of the terrors and persecutions that will be unleashed by the acolytes of the church of the devil. What are some of these terrors? The Lord has said that, "the enemy in the secret chambers seeketh [our] lives." (D&C 38:28) Citing this verse during the October general conference in 1946, Elder Joseph L Wirthlin explained the following:

I am sure that this revelation, brothers and sisters, pertains to this day and to this time. While our attention is attracted to foreign countries where there have been wars and where there are still wars, there are within the very borders of this great republic those who would change our form of government and who would force upon us the same type of government that Lucifer advocated in the councils of heaven.

One of the ways the members of the church of the devil will try to destroy us is through the force of government. Governments have been responsible for more deaths throughout history than any other organization. It is naive to believe that Satan has abandoned this method of wreaking havoc in the lives of God's children. Those who have been to the temple should know better. The Lord clearly explains, "I tell you these things....that you might escape the power of the enemy...wherefore...you shall be endowed with power from on high." (D&C 38:30-32) Those who have been endowed with power from on high should not be deceived by the cunning wiles of the devil in this regard.

Our trust in government at times becomes reckless and idolatrous. Our fear of those we call enemies clouds our judgment to the point we loose sight of the real enemies of God and allow our diligence in building up the kingdom of God to slacken in order to pursue foreign wars and other ill-advised policies. The Lord stresses the idea that we should worry more about our own beams, and less about the motes of his other children when he says, "ye hear of wars in far countries, and you say that there will soon be great wars in far countries, but ye know not the hearts of men in your own land." (D&C 38:29) President Kimball forcefully taught this on one occasion declaring that,

We are a warlike people, easily distracted from our assignment of preparing for the coming of the Lord. When enemies rise up, we commit vast resources to the fabrication of gods of stone and steel -- ships, planes, missiles, fortifications -- and depend on them for protection and deliverance. When threatened, we become antienemy instead of pro-kingdom of God; we train a man in the art of war and call him a patriot, thus, in the manner of Satan's counterfeit of true patriotism, perverting the Savior's teaching:

'Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven' (Matthew 5:44-45)

We forget that if we are righteous the Lord will either not suffer our enemies to come upon us -- and this is the special promise to the inhabitants of the land of the Americas (see 2 Nephi 1:7) -- or he will fight our battles for us (Exodus 14:14; D&C 98:37, to name only two references of many). (The False Gods We Worship, Ensign, June 1976)

He continues by asking us to forsake our fear and do the Lord's work:

What are we to fear when the Lord is with us? Can we not take the Lord at his word and exercise a particle of faith in him? Our assignment is affirmative: to forsake the things of the world as ends in themselves; to leave off idolatry and press forward in faith; to carry the gospel to our enemies, that they might no longer be our enemies. 

The whole article is worth reading and can be found here.

So government is one of the main vehicles that has been used by the devil, and will continue to be used by the devil to torture and slay the saints of God, along with other innocents. Government was the force used to murder millions of dissidents in the Soviet Union and Mao's China. Government was the force used to murder millions of Jews during Hitler's rule in Nazi Germany. Government was the force used to crucify the Savior, slay the innocent in Ammoniah, create an extermination order against the saints in Missouri and  will continue to be used by the adversary as he attempts to supplant agency with tyranny.

Do we always recognize luciferian principles being advocated by our own government? When we speak of our constitutional government, we tend to compare ourselves with Captain Moroni and his people or the sons of Helaman, but the reality is that we have far more in common with the people of King Noah who were, incidentally, responsible for the torturous slaying of the prophet Abinadi.

The people of King Noah became idolatrous because they were misled by their leaders:

Yea, and they also became idolatrous, because they were deceived by the vain and flattering words of the king and priests; for they did speak flattering things unto them. (Mosiah 11:7)

They were taxed heavily, and their taxes were used to support iniquity:

And he laid a tax of one fifth part of all they possessed, a fifth part of their gold and of their silver, and a fifth part of their ziff, and of their copper, and of their brass and their iron; and a fifth part of their fatlings; and also a fifth part of all their grain.

Yea, and thus [the rulers] were supported in their laziness, and in their idolatry, and in their whoredoms, by the taxes which king Noah had put upon his people; thus did the people labor exceedingly to support iniquity. (Mosiah 11: 3,6)

The people engaged in all manner of sexual sin and substance abuse:

For behold, he did not keep the commandments of God, but he did walk after the desires of his own heart. And he had many wives and concubines. And he did cause his people to commit sin, and do that which was abominable in the sight of the Lord. Yea, and they did commit whoredoms and all manner of wickedness.

And it came to pass that he planted vineyards round about in the land; and he built wine-presses, and made wine in abundance; and therefore he became a wine-bibber, and also his people. (Mosiah 11: 2, 15)

The people prepared for war, delighted in bloodshed and boasted of their strength:

And king Noah sent guards round about the land to keep them off; but he did not send a sufficient number, and the Lamanites came upon them and killed them, and drove many of their flocks out of the land; thus the Lamanites began to destroy them, and to exercise their hatred upon them.

And it came to pass that king Noah sent his armies against them, and they were driven back, or they drove them back for a time; therefore, they returned rejoicing in their spoil.

And now, because of this great victory they were lifted up in the pride of their hearts; they did boast in their own strength, saying that their fifty could stand against thousands of the Lamanites; and thus they did boast, and did delight in blood, and the shedding of the blood of their brethren, and this because of the wickedness of their king and priests. (Mosiah 11: 17-19)

So what are we to do? We need to stop supporting the goals of the great and abominable church and spread the gospel more vigorously. (Alma 31:5) We need to focus on the conversion of our enemies as the sons of Mosiah did. We need to be politically active, always making sure to understand and support correct principles of government. We need to avoid the mistakes made by the people of Noah and support righteous leaders. (D&C 98:9)

We must recognize agency as a sacred gift from God and do all in our power to avoid participating in the tyrannical abuse of another's agency. That is Satan's plan. It has not changed from his rebellion at the council in Heaven. Only now, instead of using force to reclaim us, he desires to use force to destroy us. Let us make sure we are not inadvertently worshiping at the alter of force in the devil's church. Let us remember Moroni's stark warning to us:

Wherefore, O ye Gentiles, it is wisdom in God that these things should be shown unto you, that thereby ye may repent of your sins, and suffer not that these murderous combinations shall get above you, which are built up to get power and gain—and the work, yea, even the work of destruction come upon you, yea, even the sword of the justice of the Eternal God shall fall upon you, to your overthrow and destruction if ye shall suffer these things to be.

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; or wo be unto it, because of the blood of them who have been slain; for they cry from the dust for vengeance upon it, and also upon those who built it up.

For it cometh to pass that whoso buildeth it up seeketh 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; even that same liar who beguiled our first parents, yea, even that same liar who hath caused man to commit murder from the beginning; who hath hardened the hearts of men that they have murdered the prophets, and stoned them, and cast them out from the beginning. (Ether 8: 23-25)

It's not too late.  We can learn from past mistakes.  We can avoid participation in any of the schemes of the devil's church and his secret combinations. If we do nothing, or unknowingly build up and support such evil, the blood of those martyred by these combinations will cry for vengeance against us. 

In part two of this series we will discuss the second goal of the church of the devil as witnessed by Nephi. The goal of yoking the saints and binding them down in captivity.