2^C The nature of this adventure we have embarked upon should be considered by us to be our quest, which far surpasses anything Hollywood ever produced; for it is our duty which we must courageously and humbly accept and not shirk; for it is real, it is unprecedented on this earth, and its scope and importance are immense beyond mortal comprehension.

3^E We have imperative foreordained destinies to fulfill in being the instruments for the Lord against the forces of evil.

4^F As these powers of darkness are arrayed against us, the Lord will be our staff; and he will be our stay in overcoming them, both individually and collectively.

5^G-1 Individually, we are striving to overcome the world, and ultimately to come unto Christ to be redeemed.

6^G-3 Likewise, collectively, we are striving to overcome the kingdoms of the world, and ultimately to build up Zion, so that the world might be redeemed.

7^H-1 The struggles that lie ahead will try us to the core. Indeed, as Paul said, No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous.

8^H-2 Nevertheless, even as Abraham, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

9^H-3 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, for the whole purpose of the trials, as Paul further indicated, is that if we do these things, we shall see the Lord.

10^I Great tribulations are the chastisements of the Lord, and are for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.

11^J-1 They will produce a sanctified people worthy to raise up the city of Zion, which is our object collectively.

12^J-2 Individually, the objective is for a person to be faithful so that he will have his calling and election made sure.

13^K-1 In anticipating tribulations like unto Abraham's, the Apostle Paul's remarks are reassuring, wherein he counseled, Despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

14^K-2 Nephi declared that the Lord doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world. What could be of greater benefit than obtaining the blessings of Abraham, having been tried as Abraham?

15^L Therefore, the nearly one third portion of the scriptures that deals with prophecy particularly warrants our careful contemplation, for many of those prophecies focus on the very day in which we live and the crucial trials that we will now encounter.

16^M-1 The challenge ahead is great. Joel called this crucible of time the valley of decision.

17^M-2 In weighing the decision of which he spoke, we should remember that the rewards that follow will more than match the trials accompanying the dreadful events that will shortly unfold around this decision.

18^N-1 The picture that the prophecies paint of that which is just ahead is not pleasant as the kingdoms of the world will prevail for a time.

19^N-2 Yet the main purpose of prophecies is not to frighten us but to stir us up in remembrance of the Lord, through which the saints of God will eventually triumph.

2^N-3 Prophecies are given so that we might believe, repent, understand, and prepare. Nephi saw that the saints thus prepared would be "armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory."

21^O-1 In Third Nephi, Christ prophesied that the time would come in the latter days that the Gentiles would sin against the gospel and reject it because of Satan's alluring alternative.

22^O-2 He said they would be lifted up in the pride of their hearts, being seduced by Satan's arrogant aim that was no different in the pre-existence than it is today. His soothing appeal then, by which the prideful saints are now also beguiled, is that not one soul will be lost.

23^O-3 His plan then, as now, was not in reality a noble solution. He only wants unsurpassed praise above all nations, and above all the people of the whole earth as the autocratic global guardian.

24^P-1.a,f It becomes clear when considering the words of President Benson, the writings of John the Revelator, and the prophecies of many other prophets, and of Christ himself that there is a remarkable parallel between the Nephites and us Gentiles, and between the war in heaven and the repeat of that war now on the earth.

25^P-1.b At the heart of this war is the issue of pride which causes the Gentiles to not repent and hearken unto the Lord.

26^P-1.c Hence, as Satan wages this war yet again on the earth we must be reminded of the warning in the Doctrine and Covenants that states, Beware of pride, lest ye become as the Nephites of old--as salt that hath lost its savor.

27^P-1.d We must remember, as this war is now being waged on the earth, that pride caused the Nephite's utter destruction, they having thenceforth become good for nothing but to be cast out.

28^P-1.e Their pride also brought punishing destructions upon them, to chasten them, as they were trodden under foot, which situation for us will become most intense in the days ahead.

29^P-1.f Because of these parallel conditions we find in the world today and the chastening destructions that await us according to the descriptions of many prophets, this hypocritical Gentile nation shall be trodden down, in this repeat of the war in heaven.

3^P-2.a Freedom is the crux behind the reasons that this awful scene will unfold; and freedom is the crux behind the stance we should take as we enter into it.

31^P-2.b These two points, the reasons and the solutions for the conflict, hinge on this same factor in both the spiritual and the physical arenas.

32^Q Among the membership of the Church, only those saints whose names are written in the book of life will not worship the beast. As for the others their garments are not clean of the degeneration of our society, and they will take upon them the mark of the beast.

33^R-1 In the one hundred and third section of the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord told us that He set us up to be a light unto the world and to be the saviors of men. Instead, according to John's graphic account, these saints fall prey to the influence of this beast.

34^R-2 Succumbing to its deception, these saints have not adequately performed their obligations over the years.

35^R-3 Being allured by the entrapments of this beast as it rises to power, the saints have not been diligent in their duties. Hence, according to the Lord, our world has now fallen to the state that it is in.

36^S-1 Continuing his above statement--this time specifically referring to the negligent members who are themselves the beast--the Lord said, Inasmuch as they are not the saviors of men, they are as salt that has lost its savor.

38^S-2 Therefore, they are thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out an trodden under foot of men. This beast will make war with the Saints for three and a half years, treading them under foot; then it will be destroyed.

39^T There are four ratifying prophecies of this event which utilize frequent identical wording and analogous imagery: Doctrine and Covenants 103, Third Nephi 16, Revelation 13 and Daniel 7.

40^U The reason our society as a whole is threatened by a secret combination like those of ancient (this one being world-wide, having usurped the virtuous governments, thus causing us to fall from God's favor) is because the salt--even the more part of the righteous--have been seduced until they have come down to believe in the works of this secret combination, losing their savor.

41^V-1 Notwithstanding the promise by the Lord in Doctrine and Covenants 103 that if the saints would hearken to all his counsels, they would prevail against the kingdoms of the world and would never cease to prevail until the kingdoms of the world are subdued under His feet, and the earth be given unto the saints, to posses it forever and ever, to the contrary, the saints have come to despise the word of God, like the Nephites, and they have also cast away the Constitution of the United States, which holds remarkable similarities to the laws of Mosiah.

42^V-2 For these reasons, having been warned that if they would not hearken altogether unto the Lord's precepts and commandments, chastening destructions shall come upon them as the kingdoms of the world prevail against them.

43^V-4 Nevertheless the Lord reassures that a remnant will be delivered, and Zion will be established, no more to be thrown down, when they humble themselves sufficiently and destroy this secret combination from off the face of the land. Therefore, he said that this blessing will come after much tribulation.

44^W In addition to these four prophecies that are so strikingly similar in wording and essence, we discover from the book of Helaman that these same factors (the word and the law of the Lord) laid at the root of a division that occurred among the Nephites.

45^X We must therefore restore our determination to stand firm on both these fronts, so that (according to Daniel) the saints may come to possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.

46^Y Ironically, restoring that determination is a major purpose of the chastisement to come; for Daniel said that before the saints would be given the kingdom, the kingdoms of the world would prevail against them. The symbolic beast he described shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.

47^(Z)A It will also make war with the saints, and prevail against them for three and a half years, whereby the righteous will be tested.

48^(Z)B World conditions today embody these raging conflicts. As we stand on the brink, some facets of these conflicts brew secretly, but as this prophecy comes to fulfillment, they will erupt openly.

49^(Z)C President Benson and Nephi (1 Nephi 14) set forth the two sides of this war. As the issues become clearer and more obvious, all mankind will be required to align themselves either for the kingdom of God or with the kingdom of the devil.

50^(Z)D Among all mankind, people will either belong to the church of the Lamb of God, being convinced unto peace and life eternal, or they will belong to the church of the devil, being delivered to the hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds.

51^(Z')A Isaiah prepares us for this valley of decision so that we might be saved, by laying down the two issues, into which all other issues may be circumscribed, so that we might renew our devotion to them.

52^(Z')C These issues constitute the basic reasons for the chastening destructions that will come.

53^(Z')D The first of these is that we have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, which is our originally inspired and now faltering Constitution as it has eroded before our eyes, for not enough of us have stood up to defend it.

54^(Z')E The second of these is that we have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel which is embodied in the principles of the gospel, for we have not held it up as we should both by sharing it and by the way we live our personal lives.

55^(Z')F-1 These two, the law and the word--the temporal and the spiritual--though related, being closely intertwined, are nonetheless separate things.

56^(Z')F-3 While the members of the church can readily identify the word of the Lord, as it is the gospel of Jesus Christ, they were set up to be a light unto the world on both issues, including the law of the Lord, which, according to Presidents George Albert Smith and Harold B. Lee has to do with the principles of the Constitution of the United States.

57^(Z')G Again, the law of the Lord has to do with the principles of the Constitution of the United States.

58^(Z')G,H The law of the Lord is for the proper government of the masses, while the word of the Lord should be our personal pattern of government.

59^(Z')H No wonder Presidents John Taylor and Ezra Taft Benson said, Besides the preaching of the Gospel, we have another mission, namely, the perpetuation of the free agency of man and the maintenance of liberty, freedom, and the rights of man.

60^(Z')I The word of the Lord deals with individual salvation. In order to achieve personal salvation and overcome the temptations of the devil, which bring spiritual captivity (which, of course, usually has physical manifestations), we must adhere to and not rebel against the principles of the gospel, which are the word of the Lord.

61^(Z')I The law of the Lord deals with the salvation of nations, and is essential in order to establish Zion and overcome the kingdoms of the world which impose literal captivity.

62^(Z')I We must therefore adhere to and not reject the hallowed principles of government which are the law of the Lord.

63^{(Z)D & (Z')I} It is in regard to these two issues, the law and the word of the Lord, that all mankind will either align themselves with the church of the Lamb of God or with the church of the devil.

64^{(Z)D & (Z')I} This decision will determine whether they are convinced unto peace and life eternal on the one hand or if they will be delivered to the hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds on the other, to be brought down into captivity.