It’s a frightening world we live in sometimes. Religion against religion, nation against nation, culture against culture, friend against friend and brother against brother. This is a time long prophesied of in the scriptures:
And in that day shall be heard of wars and rumors of , and the whole earth shall be in commotion, and men’s hearts shall fail them, and they shall say that Christ delayeth his coming until the end of the earth.
And the love of men shall wax cold, and iniquity shall abound.
And when the times of the Gentiles is come in, a light shall break forth among them that sit in darkness, and it shall be the fulness of my gospel;
But they receive it not; for they perceive not the light, and they turn their hearts from me because of the precepts of men. (D&C 45:26-29)
War is not new to the world, in fact, it was in existence long before the creation of this earth where we live. The war in heaven, as discussed the other day, was fought and won by the followers of Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father.
Of this very topic, President Gordon B. Hinckley, the living prophet, seer and revelator of this time, said, with all the authority of his office:
The nations of the earth have been divided over the present situation. Feelings have run strong. There have been demonstrations for and against. We are now a world Church with members in most of the nations which have argued this matter. Our people have had feelings. They have had concerns.
War, of course, is not new. The weapons change. The ability to kill and destroy is constantly refined. But there has been conflict throughout the ages over essentially the same issues. . . .
We sometimes are prone to glorify the great empires of the past, such as the Ottoman Empire, the Roman and Byzantine Empires, and in more recent times, the vast British Empire. But there is a darker side to every one of them. There is a grim and tragic overlay of brutal conquest, of subjugation, of repression, and an astronomical cost in life and treasure.
In the course of history tyrants have arisen from time to time who have oppressed their own people and threatened the world. Such is adjudged to be the case presently, and consequently great and terrifying forces with sophisticated and fearsome armaments have been engaged in battle. (Gordon B. Hinckley, “War and Peace,” Ensign, May 2003, 78)
I could scarcely put it more eloquently than he has done. But there is a light, that light spoken of in the Doctrine and Covenants, quoted above, and that light shines forth today, it is the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
It may seem as if Satan rages over all the world, but I assure you there are more good people than bad. Followers of Jesus Christ are found in every land and across the globe, even those under Sharia Law. We as Mormons, love and support all people who are good, of all faiths, cultures and nations. Be you Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim . . . Mormons have no quarrel with any one religion, nor all of them. We stand and we fight against Satan, his armies and those who follow him.
So how do we shed that light over all the world? We go to church. We live what we believe. We become disciples of Christ therein living our lives according to how He lived His in the New Testament. We love our neighbors as we love ourselves, moreso actually. We worship our God. We study the scriptures and apply the saving principles written within those pages. We look to a living prophet, surrounded by the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and we realize the great gift we have of living on the earth at this time and in this place.
Yes, the news is filled with wars and rumors of wars, but never forget that God is in charge and He will only allow Satan to rage so long. The day will quickly come when Jesus Christ will return in triumphant glory, until that day, it is our job to spread His message across the world with all the love, light and hope we hold in our hearts.
