The Righteous Need Not Fear

The topic that I have for today is “The Righteous need not fear”.  I wrote this a few years ago to give as a talk in Church. I was told that there had been a Conference talk that was based on this topic.  However, I did not find that particular talk.  Instead, I found 5 conference talks on this subject, A Silver Lining by Marion G. Romney in April 1977, May the Kingdom of God Go Forth by Ezra Taft Benson in April 1978, For I Will Lead You Along by Neal A. Maxwell in April 1988, Bible Stories and Personal Protection by Dallin H. Oaks in October 1992, and Preparation for the Second Coming in April 2004 by Dallin H. Oaks.

In reading these conferences talks, I found that 4 out of the 5 were about the signs and the preparations for the Second Coming.  The 5^th talk was about using that preparation in daily living.

President Romney pointed out in his talk that the warnings that are causing many people to just start to recognize that the world is heading for disaster have been known to members of the Church since the beginning of this dispensation.  In 1974, Kurt Waldheim, the Secretary-General of the United Nations at that time, said,

“I do not wish to conceal my profound concern about the situation which now prevails in the world, a concern which I know to be shared by responsible people everywhere.  There is an almost universal sense of apprehension about where the tumultuous developments of our time may take us, a sense of deep anxiety at phenomena which we do not fully understand, let alone control.  In all the speculation, much of it depressing about the shape of the future, there recurs a note of helplessness and fatalism which I find deeply disturbing.  This is not a new phenomenon.  Dire prophecies have often before been the symptoms of periods of transition and change in human society.  What is new is the scope and scale of the problems which give rise to these apprehensions….

Today the civilization which is facing such a challenge is not just one small part of mankind – it is mankind as a whole.”

President Romney went on to say that the Lord had already told us the cause of the disaster and also had given us the information needed to avoid the consequences.  This was given to us in Doctrine and Covenants section 1 verses 15 to 18.

President Romney also said that Heavenly Father knew all of this prior to the creation.  He gave instruction to every generation and told them that they would receive blessings for obedience, but would suffer the consequences if they disregarded His teachings.

President Romney went on to talk about the example of Enoch and the City of Zion.  They listened to the Lord and they obeyed His commandments.  They were blessed and consequently were taken away from this corrupted world.

President Ezra Taft Benson taught about the Gospel being spread in the latter days, our period of time.  When President Benson was first ordained an Apostle, average attendance was about 20 per cent of Church members.  In April 1978, average world wide attendance was 41 per cent.  He emphasized that the work of the Church would not be stopped.  It would continue until it filled the earth as prophesied by Daniel and in the Doctrine and Covenants section 65.  Righteousness will grow, must grow, but at the same time, evil will also grow.  The Saints will not be able to avoid being affected by the events.  In Doctrine and Covenants 63, we read:

“I, the Lord, am angry with the wicked.  …

I have sworn in my wrath, and decreed wars upon the face of the earth, and the wicked shall slay the wicked, and fear shall come upon every man;

And the saints also shall hardly escape; nevertheless, I, the Lord, am with them, and will come down in heaven from the presence of my Father and consume the wicked with unquenchable fire.”

But we can have comfort because the Lord has said, “If ye are prepared ye shall not fear” in Doctrine and Covenants section 38 verse 30. 

Elder Neal A. Maxwell talked to us about expecting the Second Coming prematurely.  He said that some of the conditions of the world will be the same as it was in the days of Noah, wickness and disobedience.  However, back then, there was not the global outlook on the world that we have today.  Elder Maxwell says in his talk that:

“Before modern times, global perplexity simply was not possible.  Now, there is a quick transmission of some crises and problems from one nation to others – the consequences of debt-ridden economies, the spreading of diseases, the abuse of narcotics, and, perhaps most of all, a shared sense of near-helplessness in the face of such perplexities.  Today, the assembled agonies of the world pass in reminding review on the nightly news.”

Elder Dallin H. Oaks spoke in Conference of April 2004 and reiterated what the members of the Church have been told for 150 years.  We need to be prepared to withstand the calamities of the signs of the Second Coming and for the Second Coming itself.  We have no idea when it will come, but we have been told it will be soon.  The church members  in 1830 were given the same information.  The leaders of the Church have tried time and again to prepare us.  The Second Coming will happen when Heavenly Father allows it to happen.  In the mean time, we have work to do.

As you have heard, the term “The Righteous Need Not Fear” usually applies to the Second Coming in conversation.  However, at this point, I would like to take a different route.  We know that the Second Coming is on the way.  We know that it will happen in the near future.  We also know that we need to prepare for it.  My question for you is, how do we prepare for the Second Coming?  The answer is to become more righteous, as righteous as we can possibly become.  We won’t be perfect but the Lord knows that we are incapable of becoming perfect in this life.  So we do the best we can.  That is what The Lord wants.  He will help us do this if we ask Him.  He even provides us with this help through examples of both modern day and ancient records of what others have gone through.

We don’t know what the trials are that we will be asked to go through.  However, we can take comfort that Heavenly Father will not ask us to go through anything that we cannot succeed at.  We will be able to make it through anything if we just follow righteous principles.  However, we need to know what those principles are. 

Some of the comments that I am about to make are based on an article in September’s Ensign, Valiant in the Testimony of Jesus Christ by Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge of the Seventy.  Elder Corbridge used the Apostle Paul as an example.  Paul did everything that was asked of him by the Spirit.  He did not hesitate in doing the missionary work or go where the Spirit led.  He taught the people in many places and set one of the best examples that the world has seen.  Paul said: 

“For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” 2 Timothy chapter 4 verses 6 and 7.

Paul had such faith that he was and is seen as being valiant, both within the Church and within the Christian community as a whole.

What does this mean to us?  Can we be as valiant as Paul was?  How can we be valiant in our busy lives? 

To answer the first question, we can follow Paul’s example and the example of our modern-day leaders.  We can be as valiant as Paul.  We have a tendency to believe that being valiant is hard.  It doesn’t need to be.

Elder Corbridge lists a number of examples of being valiant:

1.       Keep on going when you think you can’t go anymore.

2.      Admit your mistakes and strive to be better.

3.      Pick up the scriptures and put down the TV remote.

4.      Tell the truth when a lie would be easier.

5.      Refuse to do wrong even when everyone else is doing wrong.

6.      Set aside personal interests and postpone education to serve a mission.

7.      Speak no ill of another.

8.      Be honest even when it seems that no one else is.

9.      Choose not to click on a pornographic site.

10.   Smile and help another even when you yourself need help.

11.   Exercise self-control.

12.   Pray with all your heart.

13.   Forgive.

14.   Strive to raise your children in light and truth.

15.   Share the gospel without regard to consequences.

16.   Remember the Lord and keep His commandments.

17.   Don’t count the cost.

Maybe it’s time for all of us to take the time to examine our lives to see how many of these suggestions that we are already following.  Hopefully, we are following more of them than not.  Perhaps we can increase the quality of the effort that we are putting into doing what’s right. 

Most of these suggestions will be part of a change in lifestyle.  Don’t be disappointed that you don’t succeed immediately when you try to change your daily habits.  It will take time to do the necessary changes.  I know that I will have difficulties with some of the changes that I need to make in my life, but I also know that it has to be done.  One of my biggest problems is that I have a tendency to procrastinate.  I will have to ask Heavenly Father for help and I know that He will give me the help that I need.  I cannot do it by myself.

Once we start making the necessary changes in our lives, we can be assured that the Spirit will help us with the trials that we have waiting for us.  We need to be valiant like Paul, like Joseph and Hyrum Smith, like Peter of old, like the Saints who were persecuted in New York state, Missouri, and Illinois and then travelled to the base of the Rocky Mountains, not knowing exactly where they were going until they arrived.  How can we face these precious souls who went before us trusting in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ if we do not develop the same trust and commitment that they had?  The Lord has said that He will have a tried people.  The early members of the Church went through a lot of physical and emotional trauma that we are not presently exposed to.  Our trials may be different from theirs, but, be assured, we will have our trials.  We will come through those trials without any fear if we learn to depend on the Lord and be valiant by following what the Spirit tells us.

I have tried to find the advice from our leaders that applies to life as we know it.  I have also tried to substantiate why we need to follow this advice.  I have tried to show how to become more righteous so that we can have no fear as we face the future.  In a nutshell, the principles that all of these suggestions refer to are:  Choose the right regardless of the consequences and don’t count the cost.  As Elder Corbridge says:

“Whatever the Lord asks is little in comparison with what He has given and in light of what we receive through our small sacrifices.”

I pray that I have written the words that the Lord would have me write and that this topic touches each one of us, including me, in the manner in which the Lord would have it touch us.