The War in Heaven

The Bible and other ancient scriptures teach us that in the preexistence there was a war in heaven:

“And there was war in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought against Michael. And the dragon prevailed not against Michael….

Neither was there place found in heaven for the great dragon, who was cast out; that old serpent called the devil, and also called Satan, which deceiveth the whole world; he was cast out into the earth; and his angels were cast out with him.

Woe to the inhabiters of the earth, yea, and they who dwell upon the islands of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

Therefore, the dragon was wroth with the woman [her seed], and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (JST Revelation 12:6-8, 12, 17).

“Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down;

And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice” (Moses 4:3-4).

The preceding verses have clearly explained that the reason for this war was over one principle, free agency.

Apparently our elder spiritual brother, our Savior, had different plans from those of the Adversary. Up to the time of the war in heaven, the spirits who were brought into existence under Michael, their father, did have this privilege of free agency (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 157 & 167).

They were given the freedom to choose whether they would follow the Savior’s plan, in which they would continue this principle when these spirits were born on this earth with a physical body, or whether they would choose the Adversary’s plan, in which they would come down to the earth without having this privilege.

The Adversary’s plan was that every one of the spirits coming down to the earth would be redeemed without the principle of having a choice. The Savior’s plan was that each spirit would have the right to choose as he or she pleased. Only those who worked diligently would have glory given to them or be redeemed to a glorified status, each according to their efforts. That is what the war in heaven was all about.

Those who chose to follow the Adversary found out quickly that they had made the wrong choice because, as soon as their minds were made up to follow this course, they were denied the privilege of obtaining a physical body through birth.

One third of the spirit children of Michael actually made this choice. So what happened to them? We are told that they were cast down to the earth as spirits, not having the right to be born and receive a physical body. Most of them likely were just of a lazy nature; they did not want to work for their salvation but wanted it handed to them on a platter. By their choice they had completely lost their ability to progress. In other words, they were damned.

The other two thirds of Michael’s children agreed to come down to the earth and have the right to make choices. Among these two thirds were the few who were extremely enthusiastic; because of their attitude, they were chosen to be our leaders.
Another large number were quite happy about this plan and shouted for joy. Then there was a multitude that were a mix of every kind, some fairly in agreement and some not totally so.

Because of their varying attitudes, they were assigned different circumstances here on the earth for which they were most suited. This was a just and perfect system so that, when we would arrive on the earth, we would be placed in the most advantageous place in which we could be for our individual progression.

This Same War Continues Today

With this understanding of the pre-existence, we can see that we are still fighting this same war! And right now the Adversary, knowing his time is short, is using every means possible to gain as many followers as he can.

So this war in heaven occurred over one main principle, free agency. Today this same principle is at stake.

After reading the two aforementioned scripture references (and we could quote many more), does it not dawn on you that the main objective of this one third of heaven’s hosts is to steal our bodies from us? They don’t have a body, and the only way they can get one is to steal one of ours. And they have a right to do this if we willfully disobey God’s commandments.

“…And to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice” (Moses 4:3-4).

They can achieve this goal of stealing our bodies by getting us to rebel against God. This is their main objective. They do this in very subtle ways. So do you think that this could not possibly happen to you? Think about this: Are we not rebelling against God by going along with the status quo?

Are we going along with and find satisfaction with the present political system? Are we accepting the present school curriculum? Are we going along with the present medical system which is being forced upon us? Are we going along with the present food choices placed so temptingly before us? And finally, are we going along with the banking system?

If we are going along with all of the above corrupt institutions, backed and controlled by big government, then we have already been taken over by the Adversary. And if we are doing nothing to rectify the situation, then already that evil spirit has taken over our bodies by controlling every aspect of our lives. We are following the Adversary’s way by voluntarily giving up most of our free agency. In the following discourse we make our best effort to expose the ways and means that the Adversary is using these institutions to enslave us.

We are now at a point in time in which this one third of the host of heaven, knowing that their time is extremely short, is making every effort to obtain a body by stealth. And how do they do this? Under the direction of the Adversary, they do all in their power to take away this very special gift by putting us under bondage. The Adversary has been very successful so far, as one can easily ascertain.

It is our goal and responsibility to explain as briefly as possible how the Adversary has been so successful and how we can thwart his efforts. Some believe it is too late for this, but it is not.

Now how do we come under bondage? We come under bondage by rejecting God’s law and accepting the precepts of the Adversary. Joseph Smith made this clear when he gave a message to the Saints on January 5th, 1841:

“All beings who have bodies have power over those who have not. The [Adversary] has no power over us only as we permit him. The moment we revolt at anything which comes from God, the [Adversary] takes power” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 181).

So when we reject God’s commandments, then the Adversary has power over us without us even knowing it!

We priesthood holders and also every member of the Lord’s true church must be made aware of the conspiracies that do exist.

What are these conspiracies, and how do they affect our lives? We will try to make you aware of the main ones. These larger conspiracies, along with many of the smaller ones (which we are unable to cover), if left to complete their course, will leave us as mere slaves, burdened with untold taxes and unprincipled, dictatorial laws, which is the Adversary’s plan. If this is what we want, we should then do nothing!

We, however, have faith that, as God’s people, we will not let this happen. This great conspiracy has influenced not only our own church, which we believe is the only one recognized by God as His true representation on the earth today, but it also involves the country we live in.

There are four major organizations which have been totally infiltrated by the Adversary. Number one is the government, the second one is the banks, and, believe it or not, the third and fourth are the food and medical establishments. The Adversary has taken hold of these four consortiums and is using them to literally enslave us.

Government

The Founding Fathers, we believe by divine guidance, established a constitution closer to God’s laws than any other government since the establishment of the Israelite nation under Moses and Joshua. The only other nation that developed a government as close to God‘s laws as the Israelites was that one established anciently by the twelve apostles under the Savior here in the Americas.

What has happened to this constitution developed by the Founding Fathers? The central government was designed to have powers limited to seeing that existing laws are properly and equally enforced, that the military protects against outside invasion, and that interstate matters (i.e. traffic, roads, and boundaries) are properly mandated. All other matters involving the states’ jurisdiction, such as education, should be left alone by the federal government.

God did not intend that the central government should become so large. Big government requires dictatorial powers to keep it big. The Founding Fathers realized that if this were to happen, the God-given gift of free agency would be slowly eroded, continually restricted, and eventually done away with, resulting in these powers dictating every aspect of our lives.

Such a situation has now come about. The main reason is that there are, at the present time, more people who want to be led in this manner than those who don’t. This means that they want to be slaves rather than free agents. Just look at how they vote for those politicians who promise more and more free privileges without the voters having to work for them. This is the primary reason why big government has taken over.

The same scenario as what happened in the pre-existence is being re-enacted now. The two thirds of Michael’s children, who accepted the principle of being a free agent and who previously had the power to expose the Adversary in his plan, are now willingly embracing these same principles. To overcome this, we must do all we can as priesthood holders to expose the Adversary and his tactics by rejecting huge coercive government and restoring the Founding Fathers’ principles based on God’s laws.

The Adversary’s goal has always been to take from us our free agency in every respect. He has done this by infiltrating every major influence in our lives. We have been totally deceived and have unwittingly accepted the same plan presented to us by the Adversary in the pre-existence!

If we continue on in this path, will we not then reap the same reward as those who have been denied entering this existence by the birth process? We will lose our own body by allowing it to be taken over by one of those spirits. Watch out! Would you like this to happen to you? It may have already happened without you even knowing about it.

One of the ways the Adversary has done this is by infiltrating the government. But until we realize that this has happened because of the people’s desires, this condition will continue to accelerate, resulting in a global government based on total control and containment of the people.

Right now the majority of the people of the world want this to happen. They are compromising their free agency to give them a supposed promised security. Is this what we want? We have to make a choice. It is that simple and that crucial.

The same battle as what occurred in the heavens is now being re-enacted upon the earth. The form of government we have is really in our hands. Do we have the gumption to stand up against the forces of the Adversary? Yes, we do, and we must do it correctly and now.

Medical

We have pointed out the coercive devices used by big government, but there are also forces being used to give up our agency in every other aspect of our lives. There is indisputable evidence that man can live very successfully for at least one hundred years or longer. This was prophesied:

“In those days there shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days; for the child shall not die, but shall live to be an hundred years old….” (JST Isaiah 65:20).

The medical establishment, because of the direction it has taken, prevents this prophecy from happening. The object of the present medical system is to keep the people alive long enough to subject them to as many medical procedures and pharmaceutical drugs as possible, thereby extracting the maximum amount of money from the people all along the way. We must remove ourselves from this present system.

Medical professionals have totally disregarded God’s express direction in these matters. God has directed the use of herbs and mild foods which, when understood correctly, are able to cure all diseases.

In order for big corporations to make money, their discoveries must be patented. Since they cannot patent an herb, they try to synthesize God’s creations and, in so doing, create not a perfect copy but a pseudo replication that causes many side effects. Even though these drugs somewhat help the victim’s problems, they weaken and compromise other parts of their body, progressively causing irreparable damage resulting in horrible, excruciating, painful deaths.

We have, in opposition to these mainstream horrors, a few brave doctors who are following the true path of locating herbs, healing foods, and natural procedures that prevent and cure all the maladies that men have to face during their existence on this earth.

Even then, these brave efforts are somewhat thwarted by the Evil One who infiltrates these good efforts by encouraging a few greedy men to try to capitalize on them. These men do so by feigning true research and presenting false claims for substances that have no recognizable medical benefit, all in the name of making a profit.

So we have the Adversary coming from all sides by taking over the medical establishment, not to benefit man but to make us suffer. At the same time the medical establishment makes huge profits on account of our suffering. We allow ourselves to be easily fooled by the Adversary because we desire the promise of security over self-determination and free agency.

When we go to a medical professional today, we no longer have freedom to choose. When a doctor tries to use the herbs that God has provided, his efforts are thwarted on all sides because the money we have paid to the health insurance company is not permitted to be released in order to cover this doctor’s services. People who cannot afford these services without insurance reimbursement have forcefully had their freedom of choice taken away and are compelled to contend with the established medical system. Again we have given up our free agency for the promise of security.

Banking

So far we have covered only two aspects of compromising our free agency for this so-called security. We need to cover two more major influences in our lives that we have allowed to be frittered away. The next one is the handling of our finances.

Because of our greed and desire for self-gratification, we have compromised our free agency by oppressive debt. Does anyone disagree that debt is extremely oppressive and coercive? I don’t think so. The Adversary has infiltrated and corrupted all good things including the present monetary system.

Now we can go to our banks and lending institutions, and, if we compromise the things we already own by placing a mortgage on them, we can obtain money for practically anything we want. Our desires have taken over our common sense to the point that, except for a few wise people, we have lost additional free agency by going into extreme debt. And we pay dearly for this privilege!

Instead of simple interest, we pay compound interest. How many people understand the difference between the concepts of simple interest and compound interest or have even heard of the difference between the two?

Yes, a person should get a little remuneration for providing a service that the banks provide. This is only fair; however, charging interest on anything other than the principal amount (by adding interest on the interest before charging further interest) is not according to fairness and justice. Interest should only be charged on the initial amount with no further interest being charged until each payment is deducted first. This concept can hardly be understood today, and people are so indoctrinated in the system that it doesn’t even come to their minds.

Many of the older generation understood the concept that the cost of compound interest being charged on a large mortgage is considerable. But today most of us have been indoctrinated by the system. It is a simple matter to make the change; deduct the payment from the principal amount before charging additional interest.

Another major corruption is that the monetary system has changed from the gold standard to a fiat currency. Up to the 1970s, currency was based on the gold standard. Gold had to be available for all printed money in existence. The course of abandoning the gold standard was taken by the government because, even before 1970, there was insufficient gold to account for a small fraction of the money printed.

It was reasonable to admit the façade; consequently the gold standard was abandoned. Now money is printed indiscriminately without thought of the eventual consequences. This system, when unchecked, has proven to eventually result in the total collapse of any monetary system. When this happens to us, money will then be worth only the value of the paper it is printed on. How much is the cost of a small, rag-content piece of paper, 2½ inches by 6 inches, with fancy printing on it?

These are not the only ways the monetary system has been compromised. Mortgages are now extended for up to thirty years, whereas former practices limited mortgages to just seven years. Unfortunately, because of inflated home costs, circumstances now dictate the need for the 30-year extension of home mortgages. Consequently, the interest generated on these mortgages is being compounded at a rate never seen before.

Food

Another major factor of today’s corruption is in the food industry’s desire to place before us convenient, processed foods that make big money for the large food corporations. The chemicals they sneak in around the food inspectors, or even with their knowledge, increase the shelf life but do not preserve the nutritional value. The food appears nutritious and tastes good, but most of the vital nutrition is gone.

There are so many of these chemicals and additives in the grain, cattle, fruit, and vegetable food-chains that it is impossible to point them all out. May I ask you, does this make for a healthy nation? The result is that instead of a healthy nation, we have developed into a very unhealthy one.

To cover this subject in detail would take many more pages. If you want more information, there are many good books on the market that explain the food industry’s deceptions, one of which is Kevin Trudeau’s Natural Cures They Don’t Want You To Know About.

Poor nutrition dilutes one’s ability to reason, so presently we are unable to take up the torch of truth and dispense it to the world. This is the goal we, as priesthood holders, should have. If the Lord, because of our inaction, rectifies this situation Himself, we will be under condemnation and reap the dire consequences. What has He promised? He will set things straight: First the Church, next the state, and finally the nation, as revealed in D&C 85:7 and by the early Church prophets.

Church

We note here that the Church is the first structure that has to be set in order. We are the Church. We have to be set in order.

We have only briefly covered how the Adversary has infiltrated our entire earthly existence with more and more of our freedoms being taken from us every day through the government, banks, medical establishment, and food industry. We have not covered how we, as members of God’s Church, have reacted to these abominations. The question is: Have we fallen hook, line, and sinker for these corrupt practices entrenched in politics, banking, food, and medicine?

Let us look at the evidence to prove whether or not we as a church have accepted these abominations. Right where the Church membership is prominent, such as Utah, southern Idaho, and possibly southern Alberta, Canada, what kind of banks exist? This question is a given. The banks are nearly identical with the rest of the nation.

We have purposely used the word nearly, for there is a slightly larger proportion of credit unions in these areas than in the rest of the nation. But in order to function and compete with the huge banking corporations, these credit unions have had to sacrifice some of their correct aims, abandoning the higher-interest savings accounts, lower-interest loans, and lower-cost services of years ago.

What about medicine? When you require medical attention, where do you go? You realize that if you follow the government-controlled medical system, you will not be able to access any doctor that is not attached to this coercive system. You are controlled by what emotion? Fear. So you go to your doctor whose understanding is influenced and controlled by the system.

If you want to go to a true doctor who is trained in herbal and natural healing (as suggested by the scriptures), whose natural methods are much more likely to cure you, it’s not covered by your health insurance, and you have to pay out of your pocket for this service. You are not given a choice. This medical system forces you to choose the avenue for which you have paid. The whole system is based on fear and force. And the circumstances are amplified because of the patient’s weakened physical condition.

This type of dependency has been used by communism in the past to enslave men. This is very similar to the Adversary’s plan. In a very subtle manner the present government right now has achieved the same goal as the communist system by making us totally dependent, using these coercive devices, as well as the weakened patients’ vulnerability, to force them to accept this corrupted system. So the majority of the LDS people pay into and accept the present medical system, suffering these horrible shackles.

One has to realize that in every condition there are two sides, the good and the bad, and many variations in-between. The majority of LDS people have not made themselves aware of these differences and have made little or no effort to correct the existing conditions.

Instead of leading us in an effort to at least make us aware of these conditions, there is no leadership today among the priesthood to rectify it … not yet, but there will be. Why? Because the Lord has said that the Church will be cleansed first. We believe this will happen. Whether the promised Mighty and Strong One is going to accomplish this or whether the Church members will accomplish it themselves, we do not know (D&C 85:7).

So we see that the Church members (you can’t blame the Church leadership as they just follow the members’ wishes) have accepted the status quo in the corrupt financial and medical systems. But what about the political system?

Many prominent Mormons are deeply involved in politics. Because their desire is for prominence and personal glory instead of basic truth, they too have followed mainstream policies, just as Gordon B. Hinckley, in several of his last discourses, has described the LDS Church as doing.

The Lord’s politics is directly opposite to our present system. As priesthood holders, we should search out what God considers correct principles and endeavor to set up His political kingdom instead of the present corrupt form. As of now, we have not been doing this.

Concerning food, yes, there are a few families in the Church who study nutrition and who eat correctly. You may notice that their children are smarter and are less likely to be influenced by the numerous destructive influences with which they have to cope.

Unfortunately most people in the Church also go along with what is being said on TV. They listen to the government’s recommendations, peer pressure, persuasive advertising, and the traditions of their parents. Consequently they eat very poorly and often end up being fat and in poor health. The incidence of obesity in the Church is now at least as bad as the rest of the population.

Concerning education, some families in the Church educate their children at home. These people should be commended for their efforts. This, sadly, is not the norm. Most parents in the Church send their children into the corrupt educational system, exposing them to the multitude of evil influences that abound in these schools.

It is extremely difficult to describe all the corruption that exists. We have done our best to point out that it does exist and that it has fooled nearly every member of the Lord’s church. Who is to blame for this condition? We are, of course. We must decide whether we want to live under the present system or put forth extreme effort to correct the situation.

According to prophecy, the Church has to be corrected first before the state and the nation. So what are we, as priesthood holders, going to do about it? It looks like our present leadership has totally accepted the present political, banking, food, and medical systems as they now exist, even though they are in total opposition to God’s wishes. (See The LDS Awakening.)

If we don’t do something about these abominations right now, then who is at fault? We are, period! Don’t we pray, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven? Does it have any meaning to us at all if we don’t do everything in our power to make it a reality?

We have presented before you, in a simple manner, evidence that clearly shows that the banking, money, and political systems have become completely corrupted. We do not know the year but do know that somewhere along the way, the educational system set up by the Church in the early days was eventually turned over to the state; currently we have a system that is nearly identical to the faulty beliefs of the ethnic mixing and sexual aberrations now forced upon us by the establishment. This, along with the corrupting influences of the media and entertainment industry, we cannot begin to cover.

We have shown that because we, the members of the Church, have nearly completely accepted these establishments, have we not then corrupted God’s true church? What do you think God is going to do with us? I don’t believe He is going to do anything. He makes us aware of, as referenced in the Book of Mormon, the secret combinations. And if we don’t heed His warnings, all He does is withdraw His Spirit and leave us in darkness. Then what happens? We reap the consequences of our complacency and inaction, which include total confusion, despondency, and despair. Why? Because He will no longer hear our cries and lamentations.

Conclusion

This lecture is not meant to detail what is happening out there but is intended to bring to our attention the ways and means the Adversary is using to deceive the whole world without us even being aware of the deceit. He knows that if he can stealthily take from us our freedom and bind us with fetters, he can more easily take from us our free agency. The war in heaven was not a war of club against club but a war of two diametrically opposed ideas, one bringing us unto salvation and the other enslaving us for eternity.