Lessons on the Book of Mormon 2020
Lesson No. Twelve
The Book of Mormon and War Against Spiritual Terror
Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) – At the time of the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001 I was the Commander of the Utah Air National Guard (UTANG). One of the units in the UTANG was the 169th Intelligence Squadron which became an important asset of our national War on Terror.
The C-130 aircraft used by the 169th was equipped with sophisticated monitoring and gathering equipment. The C-130 carried a large “box” that had workstations for language specialists. The ISR mission of the 169th was to intercept enemy communications from a variety of ground, air, and sea sources. The linguists on the crew would listen to these communications and determine if they had military value. If they did then appropriate military units were informed.
In war time it is very important to have good ISR assets to be able to learn in advance what the enemy is planning so that we can defend ourselves and/or take effective counter measures. There is now a great war going on. It is a war against spiritual terror, a war of Christ against anti-Christ.
“The Book of Mormon brings men to Christ through two basic means” (Ezra Taft Benson, A Witness and A Warning, p. 3.). President Benson then explained the first and well recognized way the Book of Mormon brings us to Christ: “First, it tell in a plain manner of Christ and His gospel. It testifies of His divinity and of the necessity for a Redeemer and the need of our putting trust in Him. It bears witness of the Fall and the Atonement and the first principles of the gospel, including our need of a broken heart and a contrite spirit and a spiritual rebirth. It proclaims we must endure to the end in righteousness and live the moral life of a Saint” (Ibid).
The Book of Mormon is a very important ISR asset in the war against spiritual terror – The second way the Book of Mormon brings us to Christ is more surprising and less understood: "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. The type of apostates in the Book of Mormon is similar to the type we have today. 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" (Ibid).
"Now, we have not been using the Book of Mormon as we should. Our homes are not as strong unless we are using it to bring our children to Christ. Our families may be corrupted by worldly trends and teachings unless we know how to use the Book to expose and combat the falsehoods in socialism, organic evolution, rationalism, humanism, and' so forth." (Ibid p. 6.)
Satan also has devised cunning plans to ensnare the hearts of men (see Alma 28:13) – The Book of Mormon exposes Satan's plans (see 2 Nephi 9:28-29; 28:3-9), and if we know Satan’s plans we can defend ourselves. The Book of Mormon teaches us how to do this. (See 2 Nephi 9:42 and Mosiah 3:19).
Sherem, a Book of Mormon anti-Christ, was a prototype of modern anti-Christs – By knowing Sherem’s approach and what he taught we can identify many modern anti-Christs. Sherem denied the coming of Christ and taught that the law of Moses was sufficient for salvation. (Jacob 7:7). Like all anti-Christs he denied the need for Christ or for repentance and redemption. All anti- Christs teach people to look elsewhere for answers and happiness.
Modern anti-Christs – President Benson warned against what he termed godless conspiracies. He referred specifically to communism. (Ensign, July 1972, p.60) Now the threat posed by godless conspiracies is stronger and more subtle. They include any form of repressive government that believes it has the answers to the people’s needs and thereby restricts the free exercise of religion. Modern anti-Christs also includes secularists, agnostics and atheists. President Boyd K. Packer said: "Atheists and agnostics make nonbelief their religion and today organize in unprecedented ways to attack faith and belief. They are now organized, and they pursue political power. You will be hearing much about them and from them" (Ensign, August 2010, p. 20-25).
The importance of the Book Mormon – The Prophet Joseph Smith taught "the Book of Mormon is the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book" (Book of Mormon, Introduction).
If a person can get nearer to God through the Book of Mormon than by any other book, and if the Book of Mormon exposes spiritual terrorist and the enemies of Christ, it is not only the most correct book on earth it is also the most important book on earth.