From previous post (published in 1997), Bring Down the Powers of Heaven’. . . .whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil; for after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one; neither do his angels: neither do they who subject themselves unto him.” (Moroni 7:16-17.) . . .
Continuing Elder Eyring wrote: “I plead with you to take that seriously. The world will become more wicked. You will need the help of heaven to keep the commandments. You will need it more and more as the days go on. Satan will expand the space that is not safe. He will try every way he can to persuade you that there is no danger in trying to come as close as you can to the dividing line. At the same time he is trying to persuade people that there really is no line at all. Because he knows that you know it is there, he will say to you, “Come closer to the line.”
But you can bring the protective powers of heaven down on you by simply deciding to go toward the Savior, to wait on him. Satan will tell you, as he has done regularly for ages, that you will not be happy in safety, that you must come near his ground to live the happy life. Well, that is a clear choice, too. Here it is, put about as plainly as you will get it, in the words of Nephi: “Wherefore men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great mediator of all men, or choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.”
As long as we are being plain about choices, there is another way you can decide to wait upon the Lord. Again, it is a choice to move to safety by doing your duty. It takes a decision about how to use your time and where to put your ego. You can use it in the next week.
Here it is again from that plain speaker, President Harold B. Lee:
Now the only safety we have as members of the Church is to do exactly what the Lord said to the Church in that day when the Church was organized. We must learn to give heed to the words and commandments that the Lord shall give through his prophet, “as he receiveth them, walking in all holiness before me; . . . . as if from mine own mouth, in all patience and faith” the promise is that “the gates of hell shall not prevail against you; and the Lord God will disperse the powers of darkness from before you, and cause the heavens to shake for your good, and his name’s glory” (Doctrine and covenants 21:6). (Conference Report, October 1970, p.152.)
I’ll add a promise to you of my own. If you will wait upon the Lord the next time you listen to General Authorities of the Church, if you will forget about them as human personalities and listen for the Lord’s voice, I promise you that you will recognize it in the words spoken by his servants. You will have a quiet reassurance that those human beings are called of God and that God honors their calls.
~Henry B. Eyring, To Draw Closer to God (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1997), p. 98-100
