Gospel Doctrine Commentary
Lesson No. Forty-Five

Preserving Our Nation's Christian Heritage

From the history of the Jaredites we learn that repentance and prayer will preserve our land:

• Ours is a “land of promise, which was choice above all other lands, which the Lord God had preserved for a righteous people” (Ether 2:7).
•  “Whosoever should possess this land, from that time henceforth and forever, should serve him the true and only God, or they should be swept off when the fullness of his wrath should come upon them…when they are ripened in iniquity” (Ether 2: 8-9).
• One of the purposes of the Book of Mormon is to warn us to “repent…that ye may not bring down the fullness of the wrath of God upon you (Vs 11).
• “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” (Ether 2:12, emphasis added).
• After the Lord chastised the brother of Jared “because he remembered not to call upon the name of the Lord.  The brother of Jared repented of the evil which he had done, and did call upon the name of the Lord for his brethren who were with him.”  Prayer and obedience are necessary in order to be preserved in “this land choice above all other lands” (Ether 2:14-15).

From the Nephites we learn that obedience will preserve our Christian nation – Captain Moroni “bowed himself to the earth, and he prayed mightily unto his God for the blessings of liberty to rest upon his brethren, so long as there should a band of Christians remain to possess the land –

“For thus were all the true believers in Christ, who belonged to the church of God, called by those who did not belong to the church.

“And those who did belong to the church were faithful; yea, all those who were true believers in Christ took upon them, gladly, the name of Christ, or Christians as they were called, because of their belief in Christ who should come.

“And therefore, at this time, Moroni prayed that the cause of the Christians, and the freedom of the land might be favored…

“And he said: surely God shall not suffer that we, who are despised because we take upon us the name of Christ, shall be trodden down and destroyed, until we bring it upon us by our own transgressions.

“And when Moroni had said these words, he went forth among the people, waving the rent part of his garment in the air, that all might see the writing which he had written upon the rent part, and crying with a loud voice, saying:

“Behold, whosoever will maintain this title upon the land, let them come forth in the strength of the Lord, and enter into a covenant that they will maintain their rights, and their religion, that the Lord God may bless them” (Alma 46:13-16, 18-20).

The Pilgrims and our Founders established a Christian nation and humbled themselves before the Lord –The Pilgrims intended to establish a Christian nation as shown by the introductory phrase of the Mayflower Compact: "For the Glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith."

Like the Pilgrims our Founders “did humble themselves before the Lord; and the power of the Lord was with them” and they “were delivered by the power of God out of the hands of all other nations” (1 Nephi 13:16, 19).  The Founders frequently acknowledge the hand of the Lord in their deliverance.    

Testimony – In the Book of Mormon as we learn about the destruction of the Nephites and the Jaredites because of great wickedness.  We also learn “that the cause of the Christians, and the freedom of the land might be favored” (Alma 46:16) through the prayers and repentance of people who desire righteousness. 

I suggest that we accept a recent invitation to join with the Billy Graham Ministries to repent and to pray for our nation.  This invitation was sent to millions of Americans, and it said in part: “The one sure path to national restoration is through repentance…. Pray for America.  Only the Gospel of Jesus Christ has the power to change hearts, across our nation or anywhere in the world.”  This is absolutely true.

The scriptures are clear that in the last days the wicked will be destroyed as were the wicked preceding the appearance of the risen Lord to the Nephites.  We also know that those who repent and humble themselves before the Lord will be spared, and the Lord will raise up a righteous nation, and “Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent, and Christ will reign personally upon the earth, and, the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory” (Articles of Faith 1:10).