The following is a talk that I did for Sacrament meeting on the Interdependence of Physical and Spiritual Liberties.
Introduction:
Patrick Henry: “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death” Thomas Paine said these immortal words and asked these questions which got me thinking of a few questions that we need to ask ourselves:
What is Liberty?
What can happen to our liberties?
How do we avoid having our liberty taken away? Or how do we gain it back if we do fall?
First question: What is liberty? John Locke definition... ”Liberty is to be free from restraint and violence from others...For who could be free, when every other man’s humor might domineer over him? But a Liberty to dispose and order freely as he lists his person, actions, possessions and his whole property within the allowance of those laws under which he is, and therein not to be subject to the arbitrary will of another, but freely follow his own.”(Locke: Concerning Civil Government pg#37a)
Mosiah 29:32 “...but I desire that this land be a land of liberty, and every man may enjoy his rights and privileges alike, so long as the Lord sees fit that we may live and inherit the land, yea, even as long as any of our posterity remains upon the face of the land.”
Mosiah 24:11-13 is an account of Alma and his people losing their liberties.
“For Amulon knew Alma, that he had been one of the king’s priests, and that it was he that believed the words of Abinadi and was driven out before the king, and therefore he was wroth with him; for he was subject to king Laman, yet he exercised authority over them, and put tasks upon them, and put task-masters over them.
And it came to pass that so great were their afflictions that they began to cry mightily to God. And Amulon commanded them that they should stop their cries; and he put guards over them to watch them, that whosoever should be found calling upon God should be put to death.
And Alma and his people did not raise their voices to the Lord their God, but did pour out their hearts to him; and he did know the thoughts of their hearts.
And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.”
Liberty is so important to the Lord that even when we have made mistakes and lost our liberty through disobedience. He is always willing to reach out and help us if we choose to let him.
Here is an example of a people that chose to serve God.
Joshua 24:15-16 “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods;”
Because if we serve other Gods we will be brought into bondage physically.
We must retain our liberty spiritually or else we will be destroyed both Physically and spiritually. The Lord warned against this by saying through a prophet.
Mosiah 29:27 “And if the time comes that the voice of the people doth choose iniquity, then is the time that the judgments of God will come upon you; yea, then is the time he will visit you with great destruction even as he has hitherto visited this land.”
The Lord cannot protect us if we are not following his commandments.
Captain Moroni understood this natural law and took action!
Alma 46:8-13 “Thus we see how quick the children of men do forget the Lord their God, yea, how quick to do iniquity, and to be led away by the evil one.
Yea, and we also see the great wickedness one very wicked man can cause to take place among the children of men. Yea, we see that Amalickiah, because he was a man of cunning device and a man of many flattering words, that he led away the hearts of many people to do wickedly; yea, and to seek to destroy the church of God, and to destroy the foundation of liberty which God had granted unto them, or which blessing God had sent upon the face of the land for the righteous’ sake.
And now it came to pass that when Moroni, who was the chief commander of the armies of the Nephites, had heard of these dissensions, he was angry with Amalickiah. And it came to pass that he rent his coat; and he took a piece thereof, and wrote upon it—In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children—and he fastened it upon the end of a pole.”
Another example of taking a stand for freedom was penned by the founding fathers in The Declaration of Independence.
“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
These are examples of nations that turned to God and understood that physical and spiritual liberty are interdependent, They need each other.
- How do we avoid these traps or get back on track when we do fall? By Following the commandments of God and fight for what we believe in.
Examples are The Nephites
Mosiah 9:17-18 “Yea, in the strength of the Lord did we go forth to battle against the Lamanites; for I and my people did cry mightily to the Lord that he would deliver us out of the hands of our enemies, for we were awakened to a remembrance of the deliverance of our fathers. And God did hear our cries and did answer our prayers; and we did go forth in his might; yea, we did go forth against the Lamanites...even until we had driven them out of our land.”
Alma 43:9-10 “And now the design of the Nephites was to support their lands, and their houses, and their wives, and their children, that they might preserve them from the hands of their enemies; and also that they might preserve their rights and their privileges, yea, and also their liberty, that they might worship God according to their desires.
For they knew that if they should fall into the hands of the Lamanites, that whosoever should worship God in spirit and in truth, the true and the living God, the Lamanites would destroy.”
we must always be ready to stand for what we believe in to preserve our freedom at all costs.
Freedom was the Lord’s plan for our happiness and was obtained by our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Mosiah 5:8 “And under this head ye are made free, and there is no other head whereby ye can be made free. There is no other name given whereby salvation cometh; therefore, I would that ye should take upon you the name of Christ, all you that have entered into the covenant with God that ye should be obedient unto the end of your lives.”
I know that we are able to become free from bondage both, spiritually and physically through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. These liberties are interdependent upon each other. If we are free spiritually, we can have the ability to obtain freedom physically and vica versa. Alma and his people were free spiritually and through which they obtained physical freedom. The Nephites retained their Physical liberties through the obedience of spiritual laws.
