July 4, 2024

Episode #138: Renewing The Covenant 4th Of July 2024

Episode #138: Renewing The Covenant 4th Of July 2024
Episode #138: Renewing The Covenant 4th Of July 2024
The Mormon Renegade Podcast
Episode #138: Renewing The Covenant 4th Of July 2024

An Exploration Of The American From The Scriptures And Early American History.

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We as Mormons believe that
America is a special place.

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We always have a lamb that was
set aside by God for a place

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where his children might enjoy
the liberty to make solemn

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covenants with him.
And from our earliest days, this

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was always understood.
This country has done both

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amazing things as well as
horrible things.

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But through it all, we've always
tried to stand and to get

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better.
Now, 248 years later, the

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country that has been gifted to
us from Patriots past stands at

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a precipice and is in danger of
falling.

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But are we doomed?
Is there really no hope left?

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Well, on this 4th of July, I'm
going to share with you

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something that I put together
for a previous conference that

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should not only give you hope,
but also help you to understand

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that we have a calling as
Mormons in preserving the

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Constitution of the United
States.

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Join me now on this episode of
the Mormon Renegade Podcast.

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All right, today's July 4th and
I wanted to do something today,

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but I wasn't sure on what to do.
And as I thought about it, I, I

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kind of was reminded that about
a year ago, I gave a talk at the

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Restoration Tour conference on,
on America's place in the

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Restoration.
And I tried to extract some of

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that audio and it just turned
out horribly.

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So I wanted to go ahead and re
record that now and just

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republish that.
And, and I thought today would

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be a good day for that because
quite frankly, I think we need

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to hear hear more messages about
America and what America's

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really about.
And so that's what we're gonna

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do today.
It's just gonna be me and you.

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I can't see this going much more
than about an hour pretty quick.

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But I just wanted to do
something for the 4th.

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So that's that's kind of where
I'm at.

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So let me go ahead and let me
share these slides with you here

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real quick.
My life is a series of

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inflection points.
You know, obviously accepting

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the gospel, becoming a Mormon.
Both times were were huge

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inflection points.
Meeting my wife, getting

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married, having kids, meeting my
wife Tanya, All of these were

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inflection points.
But one inflection point came to

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me over all things, a football
game.

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Me and my buddy, we decided to
fly out to Philly to see Green

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Bay and Philadelphia play on a
Monday night.

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And we started looking at it and
we're like, you know what, we

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should, we should just go ahead
and fly out there maybe a little

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bit early and then we can kind
of take in the sights and those

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sorts of things.
So we went ahead and and we flew

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out.
And having a spiritual

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experience wasn't necessarily
the first thing on my radar.

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Really.
I was more excited about the

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football game than seeing any of
the sites.

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Now, I, I was always into
history, but it was mainly

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history like Western sieve,
right?

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It was never really American
history.

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And so I was kind of set aback
when when, when I'm about to

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explain to you happened, we
walked into this building.

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This is Independence Hall in
Philadelphia.

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Now, Independence Hall is
important for so many reasons.

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This is where the Declaration of
Independence was signed.

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This is where the Constitutional
Convention was held, where we

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were given what is now the
Constitution and the Bill of

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Rights.
This is where Congress would

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meet for for a little while
after, after we've adopted the

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Constitution.
So a lot of important things

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happened here.
Now, when I stepped in, I was

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not ready for what I was about
to see.

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This is a view of the inside of
Independence Hall.

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And up there on the stand in the
center chair is where George

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Washington said Ben Franklin
records something right before

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they voted on the OR right after
they had voted to adopt the

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Constitution.
And he shares this story.

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He says, gentlemen, I, and I'm
paraphrasing here, but

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gentlemen, I have watched this
convention happened and I've

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always looked at the general's
chair up there on the stand and

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notice there was a half sun and
I couldn't tell if the sun was

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setting or if it was rising on
the American experiment.

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He then says with this vote, I
am now confident that the sun is

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rising.
I think today we are in a

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similar place where we are
probably wondering to ourselves,

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is that a setting sun or is that
a rising sun?

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My hope is, is that after this
little presentation you can see

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that there's still hope for
America and that God's not

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finished with America.
But I stood in this place and I

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sat in this place and the Spirit
whispered to me as strong as at

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Martin's Cove or Nauvoo or Adam
on Diamond, that it was just as

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strong.
And it said something important

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happened here and you need to
figure out what happened here.

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I mean, it was really powerful
and really overwhelming.

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I get goosebumps now thinking
about it.

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So the tour goes on a little
further and I just stay there.

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And I can just imagine in my
mind's eye that first the

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founders getting together at the
at the the at Congress right

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before signing the Declaration
of Independence and just doing

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something crazy, which is
performing perhaps what is the

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most audacious act of treason
ever enacted into the world up

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to that point.
A group of men put their names

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on a document and said, you know
what?

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We no longer need a monarch.
We don't need tyranny any

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longer.
Man can rule himself and we can

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do this better than a monarch or
a tyrant.

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I imagine him coming back years
later after the revolution to

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hammer out the Constitution, a
document that so far in a a

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system of government that in the
world today is the oldest

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continually operating form of
government.

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And these men who are doing this
are in like their, you know, 50s

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and 60s at the oldest.
There's a lot of 30 something

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year olds in this in this
convention and they get it done.

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Well, I walked out of there.
And when I walked out of there,

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the park Ranger who was there,
he kind of stopped me.

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He said, you know, look,
normally we're, we're very

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strict on everybody has to
follow the group.

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But I could tell you we're going
through something and I wanted

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to leave you there.
And I'm thankful that he did,

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because I walked out of there
determined that I was gonna

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learn everything I could about
the revolutionary period.

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So much so that just about less
than a year later, I moved my

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whole family out to the Eastern
Shore of Maryland so we could be

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right in the middle of all this
history.

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All right, this is more than
just a little presentation.

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I think there's some things that
we can take away here to help

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keep the spirit of America alive
and maybe even renew the

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American experience, the renew
America again, so to speak.

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The first thing we got to do is
we got to look at the covenant.

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There's an actual covenant that
goes along with America and

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being an American, and we're
going to cover that next.

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We've got to be able to start
fostering and raising men and

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women of virtue and character.
It's not enough just to talk

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about this.
We have to have people who are

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willing to live these
principles.

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Now, hopefully, once we've
renewed that covenant, once we

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have provided an environment in
which men and women of character

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can be raised and nurtured, the
hope is is that it sparks,

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sparks another Great American
awakening.

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Now, that's going to be a
unfamiliar term to some.

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And let me break down what this
is.

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Every time America has done
something important, it has been

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preceded by an awakening.
The first one obviously comes

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prior to the Revolutionary War,
where the ideas start to get

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floated around, hey, maybe we
can do this ourselves.

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Maybe we can govern ourselves.
The next is during the Civil War

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when when we're forced to
recognize and realize, do you

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think he meant all men are are
created equal and have the right

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of self determination?
And so to me, there's only

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really two Great American
awakenings.

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Scholars will say three or up to
five.

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And that might be right.
But to me, I can only really see

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two.
But take it for what it's worth.

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We need another Great American
awakening.

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And quite frankly, I, I think I
believe, and I could be wrong.

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I'm not prophesying here by any
stretch.

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I think an American away,
another Great American awakening

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needs to happen before the
Savior returns.

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Because let's not forget he
comes here first, right?

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He comes to Adam Ondi Almond.
OK, I get asked a question a lot

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whenever I do an episode like
this that deals with freedom and

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liberty and the preservation of
the Constitution.

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And the question always is
something like this, what does

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this have to do with the
restored gospel?

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My question to that is it has to
do with everything with the

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restored gospel.
I can't do this podcast without

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protections of the 1st
Amendment.

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Just can't.
We can't gather together as

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Mormons and do something
completely different without the

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Constitution and without those
rights that are granted, or I

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should say, enumerated in the
Constitution and the Bill of

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Rights.
And the next question I'll get

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you know what, things are just
gonna happen regardless, so I'm

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not even gonna worry about
getting involved.

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Well, you could definitely go
that direction, but my question

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would be twofold. 1 is, are we
supposed to do that?

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Is that something we should do?
And then two, are we denying

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maybe our responsibilities here?
I believe the preservation of

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the Constitution is an act of
priesthood's responsibility and

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service.
This comes from the Journal of

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Discourses volume to page 182
from Brigham Young.

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And he says when the
Constitution of the United

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States hangs, as it were, upon a
thread, they will have to call

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for the Mormon elders to save it
from utter destruction.

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OK, so when the Constitution is
hanging by a thread, they're

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going to call for the elders.
There's no way around it.

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Not enough.
Let's take a look at another

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one.
This is Journal of Discourses

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volume 12, page 204, again by
Brigham Young.

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How long will it be before the
words of the Prophet Joseph will

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be fulfilled?
He said if the Constitution of

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the United States were to be
saved, it must be by this

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people.
It will not be many years before

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you see these words come to
pass.

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Notice what he says there.
The Constitution must be saved

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by this people.
Now, to my knowledge, during

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this time, Brigham's not talking
to a whole lot of Baptists, not

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talking to a whole lot of
Catholics.

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He's talking to his people.
He's talking to the Mormons.

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Now, there are a lot of great
Catholics and a lot of great

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Baptists and a lot of great
Methodists and a lot of great

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Presbyterians.
And we should certainly welcome

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them in helping to preserve the
Constitution.

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But understand we play a central
role in this.

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Those aren't my words.
Those are Joseph's words and

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Brigham's words.
So we can't deny this.

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This is as part of Our Calling
as anything else we do as

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followers of the restored
gospel, the Lord through his

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let's address the the other
issue here where where he says

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was it matter?
You know what it's it's going to

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to fall apart no matter what.
Let's just sit back and watch it

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burn from our front porch.
I don't think this is Brigham's.

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This is something Brigham would
have got on board with going to

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Journal of Discourses, volume
seven, page 15, where he says,

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will the Constitution be
destroyed?

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No, it will be held inviolate by
this people.

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And as Joseph Smith said, the
time will come when the destiny

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of the nation will hang upon a
single thread.

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At that critical juncture, this
people, again talking to

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Mormons, will step forth and
save it from the threatened

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destruction.
It will be.

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So Brigham is telling you it's
not going to fall.

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It will be upheld and it will be
upheld by this people.

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All right, so with that, let's
let's put a bow on those two

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questions.
Why should we continue to fight

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for for the Constitution?
And I'm not talking about

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physical fight there.
There is no call for violence

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right now.
We have plenty of opportunity if

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we're willing to put forth the
effort and really get out and

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not just vote, but be vocal with
our leaders.

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There's no call for violence,
and I can't espouse that.

225
00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:44,800
So again, it's our
responsibility.

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00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:48,760
And two, it's been prophesied
that the Constitution will not

227
00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:51,240
fall, that this people will save
it.

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00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:54,440
OK, That takes care of those two
questions.

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00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:58,640
So now I wanna move on to, to
the national covenant here.

230
00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:03,160
And this national covenant I
think is best summed up in

231
00:15:03,160 --> 00:15:06,640
second Nephi chapter one verses
3 through 9.

232
00:15:06,960 --> 00:15:12,800
Now I wanna make it clear that
there's other places in the

233
00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:15,920
scriptures that talk about this,
this American covenant.

234
00:15:16,280 --> 00:15:20,760
It's just, I think it's summed
up best here in in second Nephi.

235
00:15:20,760 --> 00:15:24,320
So again, at Second Nephi
chapter one, verses 3 through 9,

236
00:15:24,320 --> 00:15:29,240
and I'm gonna read that now, it
says, And he spake unto them

237
00:15:29,240 --> 00:15:33,000
concerning the land of promise
which they had obtained, how

238
00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:36,400
merciful the Lord had been in
warning us that we should flee

239
00:15:36,400 --> 00:15:40,200
out of the land of Jerusalem.
For behold, said he, I have seen

240
00:15:40,200 --> 00:15:43,400
in a vision in which I know that
Jerusalem is destroyed.

241
00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:47,400
And had we remained in
Jerusalem, we should also have

242
00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:50,000
perished.
But, said He, notwithstanding

243
00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:53,040
our afflictions, we have
obtained a land of promise, a

244
00:15:53,040 --> 00:15:56,560
land which is choice above all
other lands, a land which the

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00:15:56,560 --> 00:16:01,840
Lord God have covenanted with me
to be a land for the inheritance

246
00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:04,800
of my seed.
Yeah, the Lord have covenanted

247
00:16:04,800 --> 00:16:10,280
with this land unto me, and to
my children forever, and also

248
00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:14,000
all those who should be LED out
of other countries by the hand

249
00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:17,520
of the Lord.
Wherefore I Lehigh prophecy

250
00:16:17,600 --> 00:16:20,680
according to the workings of the
Spirit which is in me, that

251
00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:23,680
there shall none come into this
land, save they shall be brought

252
00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:26,520
by the hand of the Lord.
Wherefore this land is

253
00:16:26,520 --> 00:16:30,160
consecrated unto Him, who we who
He shall bring.

254
00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:32,960
And if it so be that they shall
serve Him according to the

255
00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:36,040
commandments which He hath given
them, it shall be a land of

256
00:16:36,040 --> 00:16:39,040
liberty unto them.
Wherefore they shall never be

257
00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:42,880
brought down into captivity.
If so, it shall be because of

258
00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:45,840
inequity.
For if inequity shall abound,

259
00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:48,800
cursed shall be the land for
their sakes, but unto the

260
00:16:48,800 --> 00:16:52,520
righteous it shall be a blessed
it, it shall be blessed forever.

261
00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:57,360
And behold, it is wisdom that
this land should be kept as yet

262
00:16:57,360 --> 00:16:59,000
from the knowledge of other
nations.

263
00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:02,520
For behold, many nations would
overrun the land, and there

264
00:17:02,520 --> 00:17:04,520
would be no place for an
inheritance.

265
00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:07,680
Wherefore I, Lehigh, have
obtained a promise, that

266
00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:11,160
inasmuch as those whom the Lord
shall bring out of the land of

267
00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:15,280
Jerusalem shall keep his
commandments, they shall prosper

268
00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:18,800
upon the face of this land, and
they shall be kept from all

269
00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:22,160
other nations, that they may
possess this land unto

270
00:17:22,160 --> 00:17:24,920
themselves.
And if it so be that they shall

271
00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:28,240
keep the commandments, they
shall be blessed upon the face

272
00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:32,440
of the land, and there shall be
none to molest them, nor to take

273
00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:35,560
away their land of their
inheritance, and they shall

274
00:17:35,560 --> 00:17:40,120
dwell safely forever.
OK, There is a lot going on in

275
00:17:40,120 --> 00:17:44,480
those six verses.
First, he's telling you, OK,

276
00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:51,200
anybody that comes here and I
would say legally right is

277
00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:54,120
coming here because they've been
moved upon by the Spirit of the

278
00:17:54,120 --> 00:17:56,280
Lord.
So we can go back to those early

279
00:17:56,280 --> 00:17:59,800
colonists.
We can look at the Mayflower

280
00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:03,560
folks.
We can look at at even guys like

281
00:18:04,360 --> 00:18:06,320
like we'll go over later, like
Whitfield.

282
00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:12,160
They're brought here because the
Lord has has told them to come

283
00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:14,720
here.
OK, that's the first part.

284
00:18:14,960 --> 00:18:18,280
Now, if you go into verse 9,
he's very clear.

285
00:18:19,120 --> 00:18:23,560
If you keep his commandments,
not only will you have liberty,

286
00:18:23,560 --> 00:18:26,080
but you'll be prospered upon the
face of the land.

287
00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:29,400
Now, some people will say, well,
I'm really poor.

288
00:18:29,920 --> 00:18:33,080
I think this is where we need to
put into context what poor

289
00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:37,840
really is.
The poorest among us live a

290
00:18:37,840 --> 00:18:42,240
better lifestyle than some of
the well to do in Europe or in

291
00:18:42,240 --> 00:18:45,360
other countries.
We are a very blessed people,

292
00:18:46,280 --> 00:18:50,880
but those blessings are
dependent upon us honoring this

293
00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:54,560
American covenant and
understanding that this American

294
00:18:54,560 --> 00:19:00,160
covenant is so important.
OK, so that's, that's what the

295
00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:03,120
covenant is.
Do what He asks you to do,

296
00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:08,640
follow His commandments, and you
will have liberty, freedom, and

297
00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:14,080
you'll be prospered in the land.
Now I think it's important here

298
00:19:14,080 --> 00:19:17,400
that we realize God isn't going
to be mocked in this.

299
00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:21,160
So if you think I'm here, I can
just kind of fit in with

300
00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:24,720
everybody else and just kind of
reap the benefits from quote

301
00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:26,520
associating with the right
people.

302
00:19:27,040 --> 00:19:28,600
I don't think that's going to
fly.

303
00:19:29,320 --> 00:19:35,520
If we go to 3rd Nephi Chapter 9
verse 12, the Lord is pretty

304
00:19:35,520 --> 00:19:40,960
clear why certain people didn't
make it at his coming to the new

305
00:19:40,960 --> 00:19:46,040
world.
And that's found in in 3rd Nephi

306
00:19:46,040 --> 00:19:49,800
912 where he says and many great
destructions have I caused to

307
00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:53,120
come upon the land and upon this
people because of their

308
00:19:53,120 --> 00:19:55,200
wickedness and their
abominations.

309
00:19:56,240 --> 00:20:02,160
Just as a side note and verse
nine, he also says that he had

310
00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:08,080
caused a lot of people to be
burned and to be buried because

311
00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:12,360
of the secret murders
combinations for if they had if

312
00:20:12,360 --> 00:20:16,240
they.
If they did this for they excuse

313
00:20:16,240 --> 00:20:19,840
me for they did destroy the
peace of my people and the

314
00:20:19,840 --> 00:20:24,320
government of the land, and
therefore I did 'cause them to

315
00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:28,600
be burned and to be destroyed.
OK, the Lord's clear here.

316
00:20:28,600 --> 00:20:31,600
You don't abide by these things.
You can expect to be brought

317
00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:36,480
into some sort of bondage or
maybe even wiped off the land if

318
00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:39,440
that's what it takes.
If you, if, if repentance will

319
00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:42,000
not happen.
The Lord is clear here there is

320
00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:45,360
a responsibility with being an
American and living in America

321
00:20:45,760 --> 00:20:49,000
and he's not going to be mocked.
So those are the terms of the

322
00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:52,160
covenant, the American covenant.
Do what he says.

323
00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:54,360
You're prospered and you have
liberty.

324
00:20:54,640 --> 00:20:57,280
Don't do what you say.
You're brought down to captivity

325
00:20:57,680 --> 00:21:00,200
and you're not prospered and you
may.

326
00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:02,440
Things could get worse from
there.

327
00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:09,040
All right.
I want to talk now about this

328
00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:12,240
covenant further.
Do we have any historical

329
00:21:13,120 --> 00:21:15,240
accounts of this working?
Well, yeah, we have it

330
00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:19,200
definitely with with the
Nephites.

331
00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:23,880
But if this is a true principle,
we should see it play out in

332
00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:28,520
other ways, right, That we
should see that pattern kind of

333
00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:30,400
of repeat.
Do we see it?

334
00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:34,240
We do.
Who's this guy?

335
00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:39,440
Anyone want to take a guess?
His name is John Winthrop.

336
00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:42,720
Now, Winthrop's an interesting
character.

337
00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:46,840
He's fascinating.
Winthrop is really kind of

338
00:21:46,840 --> 00:21:49,640
affluent back in Europe where
he's raised.

339
00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:53,600
His dad's an attorney.
Winthrop, if I'm not mistaken, I

340
00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:57,840
could be wrong, I think he
becomes an attorney, has plenty

341
00:21:57,840 --> 00:22:02,080
of money, but yet there's this
this hole inside of him that

342
00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:07,360
he's seeking to fill with God.
And it's in this process that

343
00:22:07,360 --> 00:22:13,720
that he kind of starts following
with a, a group of Christians

344
00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:15,480
that aren't real popular in
Europe.

345
00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:18,560
And so he understands, OK, if we
wanna practice our religion,

346
00:22:18,560 --> 00:22:19,840
we're gonna have to get out of
Europe.

347
00:22:19,840 --> 00:22:21,320
And he's heard about the New
world.

348
00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:24,360
Well, there's a lot of
persecution that happens.

349
00:22:24,360 --> 00:22:27,800
And it takes him a long time
before him and his followers are

350
00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:29,760
ready to make the jump to the
new world.

351
00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:32,880
They.
Finally get all that, God

352
00:22:32,880 --> 00:22:35,520
blesses them enough that they
can can make that journey.

353
00:22:35,880 --> 00:22:41,040
And somewhere in that
transatlantic crossing from

354
00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:45,240
England to America, he's
inspired to not only make a

355
00:22:45,240 --> 00:22:49,600
covenant himself, but put those
in his congregation under a

356
00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:52,280
covenant.
And this covenant can be found

357
00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:55,360
in what would be known as the
City on the Hill sermon.

358
00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:58,480
Sermon And I'm going to read a
part of that to you right now

359
00:22:58,480 --> 00:23:02,120
because I think it's fascinating
and it further goes into

360
00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:04,560
illuminating this American
covenant.

361
00:23:05,560 --> 00:23:09,120
It says now the only way to
avoid this shipwreck and to

362
00:23:09,120 --> 00:23:13,240
provide for our posterity is to
follow the counsel of Micah, to

363
00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:16,680
do justly, to love mercy, to
walk humbly with our God.

364
00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:21,000
For this end, we must be knit
together in this work as one

365
00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:23,320
man.
We must entertain each other in

366
00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:26,200
brotherly affection.
We must be willing to abridge

367
00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:29,120
ourselves of our superfluities
for the supplies of other's

368
00:23:29,120 --> 00:23:32,720
necessities.
We must uphold familiar commerce

369
00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:35,840
together in all meekness,
gentleness, patience, and

370
00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:38,360
liberality.
We must enlighten each other,

371
00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:42,160
make others conditions our own,
rejoice together, mourn

372
00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:45,480
together, labor and suffer
together, always having before

373
00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:48,600
our eyes our Commission and
community in the work.

374
00:23:48,920 --> 00:23:52,880
As members of the same body, so
shall we keep the unity of the

375
00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:56,360
spirit and bond of peace.
But Lord will be our God, and

376
00:23:56,360 --> 00:24:00,520
delight to dwell amongst us as
His own people, and will command

377
00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:04,480
a blessing upon us in all our
ways, so that we shall see much

378
00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:07,760
more of his wisdom, power, and
goodness and truth than formerly

379
00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:10,360
we've been acquainted with.
We shall see.

380
00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:14,040
Excuse me, we shall find that
the God of Israel is among us

381
00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:18,360
when ten of us shall be able to
resist 1000 of our enemies, when

382
00:24:18,360 --> 00:24:21,400
He shall make us a praise and a
glory that men shall say of

383
00:24:21,400 --> 00:24:24,920
succeeding plantations.
May the Lord make it like that

384
00:24:24,920 --> 00:24:29,040
of New England, For we must
consider that we are upon we are

385
00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:33,720
as upon a city upon a hill, the
eyes of all people are upon us.

386
00:24:34,160 --> 00:24:37,560
So that if we deal falsely with
our God, and this work we have

387
00:24:37,560 --> 00:24:41,360
undertaken, and so cause him to
withdraw his present help from

388
00:24:41,360 --> 00:24:43,960
us, we shall be made a story and
a byword.

389
00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:48,520
Through the world we shall open
the mouths of our enemies to

390
00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:53,680
speak evil of the ways of God,
and all professors of for God's

391
00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:57,320
sake.
We shall shame the faces of many

392
00:24:57,320 --> 00:25:00,080
of God's worthy servants, and
'cause their prayers to be

393
00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:04,080
turned into curses upon us, till
we be consumed out of the good

394
00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:05,600
land.
Whether we are going.

395
00:25:06,760 --> 00:25:09,200
There is a.
Lot there, but I want to point

396
00:25:09,200 --> 00:25:13,680
out a couple of things.
One, that first part where he

397
00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:21,840
talks about mourning together
and learning together or

398
00:25:22,560 --> 00:25:26,240
mourning together.
It should sound kind of familiar

399
00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:28,840
to you.
Let's go to Mosiah 1810 real

400
00:25:28,840 --> 00:25:36,080
quick because I think this will
be really where where you can

401
00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:39,400
see some similarities.
So Mosiah chapter 18, we're

402
00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:42,680
gonna go verses 8 through 10.
This is familiar to everybody.

403
00:25:43,720 --> 00:25:45,840
This is when.
Alma's about to baptize that the

404
00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:48,240
waters of Mormon.
And he says, And it came to pass

405
00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:51,840
that he said unto them, Behold,
here are the waters of Mormon,

406
00:25:51,840 --> 00:25:55,120
for thus they were called.
And now as ye are desirous to

407
00:25:55,120 --> 00:25:58,880
come into the fold of God, and
be called his people, and

408
00:25:59,120 --> 00:26:02,680
willing to bear, and are willing
to bear one another's burdens,

409
00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:06,200
that they might be light, ye are
willing to mourn with those that

410
00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:08,320
mourn.
Yeah, and comfort those and

411
00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:11,320
stand in need of comfort and
stand as a witness of God at all

412
00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:15,040
times and all things in all
places, that ye may be even unto

413
00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:20,480
death, that ye may be redeemed
of God and be numbered with

414
00:26:20,480 --> 00:26:23,880
those of the first resurrection,
that they may have eternal life.

415
00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:30,600
OK Mourn with each other, suffer
together.

416
00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:34,320
Is this sounding familiar?
OK, the next thing I would point

417
00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:41,920
out is that in this American
covenant he promises blessings.

418
00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:43,920
And here are some great
blessings, right?

419
00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:48,640
I mean, first, he says, if we do
this, the time will come when

420
00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:51,920
ten of us will be able to
withstand 1000 of our enemies.

421
00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:54,360
That's huge.
Did we see that?

422
00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:57,320
We did see that.
We saw that in the Revolutionary

423
00:26:57,320 --> 00:27:02,040
War where we were able to
basically kick out the world's

424
00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:05,520
best army and Navy off this
land.

425
00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:08,680
And we did it because we lived
up to the covenant.

426
00:27:09,520 --> 00:27:11,480
We lived up to that American
covenant.

427
00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:16,920
Next, he says, we shall see
wisdom, power, goodness and

428
00:27:16,920 --> 00:27:19,320
truth more than we've been
formally acquainted with.

429
00:27:19,640 --> 00:27:22,720
Have we seen that?
Well, I'd say the restoration

430
00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:25,960
fits all those bills.
Right the.

431
00:27:25,960 --> 00:27:29,840
Restoration showed us more
truth, more power, more goodness

432
00:27:29,840 --> 00:27:32,560
than than our predecessors had
been acquainted with.

433
00:27:33,360 --> 00:27:38,120
So that was fulfilled.
Then he makes a grand statement.

434
00:27:38,120 --> 00:27:42,680
We shall find that the God of
Israel will dwell amongst us.

435
00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:45,400
Did we see that?
Yes, we did.

436
00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:49,560
Jesus came back, He visited the
boy Joseph in the Grove, and

437
00:27:49,560 --> 00:27:51,240
then he came to the Kirtland
Temple.

438
00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:54,400
And I would.
Imagine other visits.

439
00:27:55,040 --> 00:27:57,600
So yes, those have been
fulfilled.

440
00:27:57,600 --> 00:27:59,800
Those that part of the covenant
was fulfilled.

441
00:28:00,080 --> 00:28:04,760
There is power in this covenant
and this is what the country was

442
00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:07,960
started with.
OK.

443
00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:10,840
The Founders understood this
covenant.

444
00:28:11,520 --> 00:28:14,680
OK.
So often people want to make out

445
00:28:14,680 --> 00:28:18,480
the founders as believing in the
God of the Deus, which is a God

446
00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:21,560
that is simply a clockmaker.
He just winds the universe up

447
00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:25,160
and then watches it go with no
other intervention.

448
00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:27,440
The founders believe something
different.

449
00:28:27,440 --> 00:28:31,080
What you're seeing here on the
screen now, this is the first

450
00:28:31,080 --> 00:28:33,720
seal of the United States of
America.

451
00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:38,720
It's.
It says rebellion to tyrants is

452
00:28:38,720 --> 00:28:42,240
obedience to God.
And then if you look at the

453
00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:45,960
seal, what this is, is this is
showing Moses as he's led the

454
00:28:45,960 --> 00:28:48,160
children of Israel across the
Red Sea.

455
00:28:49,160 --> 00:28:54,400
There you see Pharaoh and all of
his Chariots and army being

456
00:28:54,400 --> 00:28:57,680
drowned in the Red Sea, and you
can see the pillar of fire and

457
00:28:57,680 --> 00:29:02,840
the cloud of smoke.
The founders knew very well that

458
00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:06,960
we needed the protection of
divine Providence, and they

459
00:29:06,960 --> 00:29:10,640
understood that the only reason
that we were winning battles was

460
00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:12,920
because we were on the Lord's
side.

461
00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:17,560
So this goes beyond just a
passing idea.

462
00:29:18,080 --> 00:29:23,400
It seems many people have have
renewed this covenant time and

463
00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:27,120
again when it comes to America.
OK, that.

464
00:29:27,120 --> 00:29:29,400
Takes it.
So that's that's understanding

465
00:29:29,400 --> 00:29:31,600
the covenant.
And.

466
00:29:31,640 --> 00:29:34,200
I'll talk at the end about
renewing that covenant with your

467
00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:36,600
family.
But now we're on to Step 2,

468
00:29:36,760 --> 00:29:38,880
right?
Which is we have to raise men

469
00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:40,600
and women of character and
virtue.

470
00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:44,680
For a long.
Time I looked for political

471
00:29:44,680 --> 00:29:47,400
saviors, right?
For a while I thought it was Ron

472
00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:49,760
Paul.
Then I thought it was maybe Ted

473
00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:54,440
Cruz and and countless others
that just ultimately always left

474
00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:58,440
me disappointed about 18 months
ago.

475
00:29:59,960 --> 00:30:03,640
I had.
This idea that if we want men

476
00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:06,560
and women who have the same
character of the founders, we

477
00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:11,600
were going to have to grow them
ourselves and that requires that

478
00:30:11,600 --> 00:30:14,800
we instill in our kids character
and virtue.

479
00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:22,520
We saw this before with the
early, even before the

480
00:30:22,520 --> 00:30:25,160
revolution.
This guy here, anyone want to

481
00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:28,720
take a guess on who he is?
His name?

482
00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:32,440
George Whitfield.
Now, Whitfield's an interesting

483
00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:35,320
guy.
He is an Anglican minister, but

484
00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:38,600
he's not necessarily liked by
the church or by England.

485
00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:43,520
To give further context, this is
a time in which there was no

486
00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:46,360
separation of church and state,
they were one in the same.

487
00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:49,560
What's going on is that there's
a thing called the divine right

488
00:30:49,560 --> 00:30:53,600
of kings, which basically says
if a king does it, it's good

489
00:30:53,600 --> 00:30:59,520
enough because he was appointed
to be king by God, therefore he

490
00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:02,240
can do no wrong.
Whitfield.

491
00:31:02,240 --> 00:31:06,760
Comes along and he starts to
challenge some of these ideas.

492
00:31:06,760 --> 00:31:10,720
Now, for a lot of people, they
didn't read the Bible.

493
00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:15,400
They they counted on the Bible
being interpreted through

494
00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:19,360
churchmen, whether that was an
evangelist or a priest.

495
00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:23,440
Whitfield has other ideas.
Whitfield says, Well, I think

496
00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:26,440
you can just go to God.
You, you don't need me to stand

497
00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:28,200
in between you and God.
You can go to God.

498
00:31:29,520 --> 00:31:31,840
Well, that's.
Kind of a revolutionary idea

499
00:31:31,840 --> 00:31:35,960
because if you follow it to its
logical conclusion, well, if

500
00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:39,640
God's willing to answer me on
things as important as my

501
00:31:39,640 --> 00:31:43,640
spiritual salvation, well then
why wouldn't he answer me in

502
00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:45,800
terms of just how to live my
life?

503
00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:49,920
And maybe God and I are enough
that I can start my own thing,

504
00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:52,360
my own business, or or rule
myself.

505
00:31:53,800 --> 00:31:55,960
Well.
The Church of, you know, the,

506
00:31:56,040 --> 00:31:58,960
the Anglican Church in England
as well as the English

507
00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:04,440
government, they're not digging
on Whitfield too much, but they

508
00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:07,920
can't just kill him because he's
kind of popular with about half

509
00:32:07,920 --> 00:32:11,120
the population in England.
The other half, like throw feces

510
00:32:11,120 --> 00:32:12,920
at him.
I mean, he was a controversial

511
00:32:12,920 --> 00:32:17,680
guy.
So England and the Anglican

512
00:32:17,680 --> 00:32:22,120
Church there, they come up with
a solution and they say, let's

513
00:32:22,120 --> 00:32:26,320
just send him to the New world.
And so and what would later be

514
00:32:26,320 --> 00:32:32,040
probably one of the most epic
backfires in all of empires,

515
00:32:32,600 --> 00:32:36,360
they decide to send George
Whitfield to the new world.

516
00:32:37,280 --> 00:32:42,880
And what happens is, is that
instantly Whitfield becomes kind

517
00:32:42,880 --> 00:32:45,840
of a rock star, right?
People want to hear him.

518
00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:49,800
They love him in the New world
as he's preaching this message

519
00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:52,760
of going to God directly to get
your answers.

520
00:32:54,720 --> 00:32:57,560
Ben Franklin, who was perhaps
our most.

521
00:32:59,840 --> 00:33:02,680
Most.
Or our least religious founder,

522
00:33:03,800 --> 00:33:07,240
and always somewhat skeptical,
decided he was going to go hear

523
00:33:07,400 --> 00:33:10,560
George Whitfield preach, and
here's his account of that.

524
00:33:10,640 --> 00:33:14,480
He says I happen soon to attend
one of his sermons in the

525
00:33:14,480 --> 00:33:18,280
courts, course of which I
perceived he intended to finish

526
00:33:18,280 --> 00:33:21,880
with a collection, and I
silently excuse me.

527
00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:25,040
I silently resolved he should
get nothing from me.

528
00:33:25,240 --> 00:33:29,440
I had in my pocket a handful of
copper money, 3 or 4 silver

529
00:33:29,440 --> 00:33:33,040
dollars, and five pistolas.
Now pistolas are Spanish coins

530
00:33:33,360 --> 00:33:36,320
and they were always gold.
He says.

531
00:33:36,600 --> 00:33:39,880
As I proceeded, I began to
soften and concluded to give the

532
00:33:39,880 --> 00:33:42,600
coppers.
Another stroke of his oratory

533
00:33:42,600 --> 00:33:46,000
made me ashamed of that, and I
determined to give him the

534
00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:50,880
silver, and he finished so
admirably that I emptied my

535
00:33:50,880 --> 00:33:53,160
pocket wholly into the
collector's dish.

536
00:33:53,480 --> 00:33:56,600
Golden all.
So Franklin, a guy who's very

537
00:33:56,600 --> 00:33:58,640
skeptical of religion to begin
with.

538
00:33:59,280 --> 00:34:02,400
He believed in God but wasn't
necessarily on on board with the

539
00:34:02,400 --> 00:34:04,760
religion.
He was like.

540
00:34:04,760 --> 00:34:07,720
Wow, this guy's good.
He's he's telling stuff.

541
00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:10,920
And here's the thing, there are
other founders that make mention

542
00:34:10,920 --> 00:34:14,520
of listening to Whitfield.
So Whitfield comes before the

543
00:34:14,520 --> 00:34:17,040
revolution.
And what he does is he sets the

544
00:34:17,040 --> 00:34:20,239
table for that.
He presents the argument on why

545
00:34:20,239 --> 00:34:24,679
this is worth fighting for.
And it it later becomes

546
00:34:25,960 --> 00:34:31,920
imperative to to his to his
message and it becomes

547
00:34:31,920 --> 00:34:36,360
imperative to the revolution.
Now I want to take you to de

548
00:34:36,360 --> 00:34:41,760
Tocqueville, who gave who wrote
a pamphlet called Democracy in

549
00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:45,159
America, and this is kind of him
summing some stuff up here.

550
00:34:46,639 --> 00:34:49,719
De Tocqueville was really
enamored with America.

551
00:34:49,719 --> 00:34:54,440
He felt like America really
could be kind of this new form

552
00:34:54,440 --> 00:34:56,639
of government that could
liberate mankind.

553
00:34:56,639 --> 00:34:58,920
So he wanted to go see what
America was all about.

554
00:34:59,320 --> 00:35:03,760
And he spends like a year here.
And here's his summation on some

555
00:35:03,760 --> 00:35:06,680
things he says.
I saw for the greatness and

556
00:35:06,680 --> 00:35:09,920
genius of America and her
commodious harbors and her ample

557
00:35:09,920 --> 00:35:13,080
rivers, and it was not there.
I sought for the greatness and

558
00:35:13,080 --> 00:35:16,120
genius of America and her
fertile fields and boundless

559
00:35:16,120 --> 00:35:19,120
force, and it was not there.
I sought for the greatness and

560
00:35:19,120 --> 00:35:22,840
genius of America and her rich
minds and vast world commerce,

561
00:35:23,120 --> 00:35:26,480
and it was not there.
I sought for the greatness and

562
00:35:26,480 --> 00:35:29,080
genius of America and our public
school system and our

563
00:35:29,080 --> 00:35:31,760
institutions of learning, and it
wasn't there.

564
00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:34,960
I sought for the greatness and
ingenious of America and her

565
00:35:34,960 --> 00:35:38,400
Democratic Congress and
matchless Constitution, and yet

566
00:35:38,400 --> 00:35:40,960
it was not there.
Not until I went into the

567
00:35:40,960 --> 00:35:44,040
churches of America and heard
the pulpit's flame with

568
00:35:44,040 --> 00:35:47,040
righteousness, did I understand
the secret of her genius and

569
00:35:47,040 --> 00:35:49,920
power.
America is great because she's

570
00:35:49,920 --> 00:35:54,360
good, and if America ever ceases
to be good, she will cease to be

571
00:35:54,360 --> 00:35:57,520
great.
De Tocqueville, this Frenchman

572
00:35:57,920 --> 00:36:02,520
who comes over, he recognizes
where the power of America lies.

573
00:36:03,240 --> 00:36:06,200
It's in the preaching of the
word.

574
00:36:06,240 --> 00:36:10,680
Now going back to Whitfield.
We have to.

575
00:36:10,680 --> 00:36:13,960
Emulate this pattern.
I'll be honest.

576
00:36:13,960 --> 00:36:18,120
I think for a time we've allowed
our youth to be somewhat

577
00:36:18,120 --> 00:36:22,120
subjugated by school systems and
societies.

578
00:36:22,440 --> 00:36:26,160
We have to stop that.
If we want our children to be

579
00:36:26,160 --> 00:36:28,520
men and women of virtue and
character.

580
00:36:28,720 --> 00:36:32,320
We now have to be the George
Whitfield to our children.

581
00:36:33,120 --> 00:36:37,280
We have to preach the gospel to
them and we have to start

582
00:36:37,280 --> 00:36:41,800
connecting dots and say this
principle lines of from the

583
00:36:41,840 --> 00:36:44,360
restored gospel lines up with
this principle in the

584
00:36:44,360 --> 00:36:48,800
Constitution and make those
connections so that they can see

585
00:36:49,400 --> 00:36:53,000
that the restored gospel runs
the gamut of all these things.

586
00:36:53,320 --> 00:36:59,560
We have to be responsible for
for growing, as it were, a a

587
00:36:59,600 --> 00:37:04,720
generation that expects,
entitles, is entitled to and

588
00:37:04,720 --> 00:37:07,800
yearns for freedom.
And that's our responsibilities.

589
00:37:07,800 --> 00:37:11,040
We have to be the Whitfield to
our children.

590
00:37:12,960 --> 00:37:18,520
OK, So once we've done those two
things, the my hope is is that

591
00:37:18,520 --> 00:37:23,920
at that point we can start
another Great American awakening

592
00:37:24,520 --> 00:37:27,800
that maybe this can be a way
that we can save the

593
00:37:27,800 --> 00:37:29,840
Constitution.
Maybe it's in our own homes.

594
00:37:30,240 --> 00:37:33,480
Maybe it's, you know, and people
we just do business with.

595
00:37:33,480 --> 00:37:38,480
But we got to get to that point.
So to wrap this all up I I wanna

596
00:37:38,480 --> 00:37:42,360
say this that.
It's my.

597
00:37:42,360 --> 00:37:45,840
Testimony that God's not done
with the United States, He's not

598
00:37:45,840 --> 00:37:49,600
done with America.
Brigham says it.

599
00:37:49,680 --> 00:37:52,240
Joseph says it.
That's good enough for me.

600
00:37:54,120 --> 00:37:55,600
But that.
Doesn't mean that we're not

601
00:37:55,600 --> 00:37:59,960
without responsibility as I just
tried to layout here.

602
00:38:01,880 --> 00:38:04,120
We can do this, but it's gonna
take some work.

603
00:38:05,320 --> 00:38:10,680
So I would challenge you tonight
after you you have the last hot

604
00:38:10,680 --> 00:38:15,320
dog, after you set off the last
firework, take your kids into

605
00:38:15,320 --> 00:38:18,200
your house and and read to them
from Second Nephi.

606
00:38:18,640 --> 00:38:20,520
Tell them about the American
covenant.

607
00:38:20,520 --> 00:38:23,480
Tell them about the history of
America.

608
00:38:24,240 --> 00:38:26,520
Let them understand what this is
all about.

609
00:38:27,200 --> 00:38:33,560
Help them to foster a testimony
of the Divine principles within

610
00:38:33,920 --> 00:38:38,480
the the Constitution read to
them in the Doctrine and

611
00:38:38,480 --> 00:38:42,120
Covenants where it says that the
Lord inspired the Constitution.

612
00:38:42,680 --> 00:38:45,920
We need our children to have
these these principles in their

613
00:38:45,920 --> 00:38:48,760
back pocket.
So again.

614
00:38:49,400 --> 00:38:52,800
After the hot dogs, after the
burgers, after the fireworks,

615
00:38:53,440 --> 00:38:58,360
spend a few minutes in your
families together and talk about

616
00:38:58,360 --> 00:39:01,360
these important principles.
It's my testimony.

617
00:39:01,360 --> 00:39:03,480
God's not done with the United
States of America.

618
00:39:03,480 --> 00:39:06,760
God's not done with us.
We still have things to do.

619
00:39:07,320 --> 00:39:10,240
There's still a calling in front
of us that we have to fulfill.

620
00:39:10,480 --> 00:39:12,200
We have to save the
Constitution.

621
00:39:12,200 --> 00:39:16,200
I believe the Constitution will
stand all the way up until the

622
00:39:16,200 --> 00:39:19,240
end, but we have to do it
ourselves.

623
00:39:19,600 --> 00:39:21,320
But really, I can't think of a
no.

624
00:39:21,840 --> 00:39:23,920
I can't think of a better people
to do it.

625
00:39:24,480 --> 00:39:31,840
I've met so many of you who are
great people and you're a we're

626
00:39:31,840 --> 00:39:34,760
people that are used to having
to live things kind of on the

627
00:39:34,760 --> 00:39:37,960
down low a little bit, trying to
change some of that.

628
00:39:37,960 --> 00:39:43,520
But but if we're already used to
it, we can do the same thing

629
00:39:43,520 --> 00:39:46,640
with the Constitution.
We got a lot of work ahead of

630
00:39:46,640 --> 00:39:49,880
us, but I think we're the people
for the job.

631
00:39:50,800 --> 00:39:54,320
We just have to put our trust in
him, live those principles and

632
00:39:54,320 --> 00:39:57,960
he will prosper us in this.
I hope you have a great 4th of

633
00:39:57,960 --> 00:40:00,360
July.
Enjoy your families, enjoy the

634
00:40:00,360 --> 00:40:07,320
time of celebration, but
remember these principles.

635
00:40:08,240 --> 00:40:11,160
I have stood in the place where
the founders stood.

636
00:40:13,320 --> 00:40:16,480
I have felt the Spirit bear
witness to me that something

637
00:40:17,760 --> 00:40:21,120
important happened, and not just
for Americans, but for the whole

638
00:40:21,120 --> 00:40:23,880
world.
I'm gonna.

639
00:40:23,880 --> 00:40:26,240
Quote a guy I never thought I'd
quote on the podcast.

640
00:40:26,240 --> 00:40:29,240
His name's Bono.
He's the lead singer for U2.

641
00:40:29,560 --> 00:40:33,120
And there's a great clip of him,
and he's sitting down with a

642
00:40:33,120 --> 00:40:38,520
scholar and the scholar asks him
about America and he says, you

643
00:40:38,520 --> 00:40:40,920
know what?
England's a great country,

644
00:40:41,480 --> 00:40:46,120
Ireland's a great country.
France is a.

645
00:40:46,120 --> 00:40:48,520
Great country.
But they're not.

646
00:40:48,520 --> 00:40:53,240
America, America's different
America, is an idea.

647
00:40:56,200 --> 00:41:00,520
I hope.
Tonight at the conclusion of

648
00:41:00,520 --> 00:41:03,320
your these festivities.
That we.

649
00:41:03,320 --> 00:41:06,040
Take a few moments and ponder
those ideas and those

650
00:41:06,040 --> 00:41:08,600
principles, because they're
worth preserving.

651
00:41:09,840 --> 00:41:12,440
And I do know that the whole
world watches America and

652
00:41:12,720 --> 00:41:16,680
they're watching us now.
And there's some who want us to

653
00:41:16,680 --> 00:41:23,200
fall and it looks bleak, but I
have a feeling we're about to

654
00:41:23,200 --> 00:41:26,400
get up off the mat and do some
really great things and we get

655
00:41:26,400 --> 00:41:29,200
to be part of that.
And it's exciting stuff.

656
00:41:30,040 --> 00:41:32,800
Look, I love each and everyone
of you for listening and tuning

657
00:41:32,800 --> 00:41:37,280
in.
I've had the chance to meet many

658
00:41:37,280 --> 00:41:40,280
of you and I just think you're
the best people on earth.

659
00:41:40,440 --> 00:41:43,520
I really do.
I love you.

660
00:41:43,520 --> 00:41:45,400
I, I can't wait to meet more of
you.

661
00:41:46,040 --> 00:41:49,200
Go have a great 4th.
And we'll just plan on seeing

662
00:41:49,200 --> 00:41:51,640
you back here on Saturday.
Bye everybody.