President James E. Faust on the saving forces of righteousness

President James E. Faust (1920-2007) was called as a Seventy in 1976, then as a member of the Quorum of Twelve in 1978. He served as a counselor to President Hinckley from 1995 until his death in 2007 at age 87.

"There are forces that will save us from the ever-increasing lying, disorder, violence, chaos, destruction, misery, and deceit that are upon the earth. Those saving forces are the everlasting principles, covenants, and ordinances of the eternal gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. These same principles, covenants, and ordinances are coupled with the rights and powers of the priesthood of Almighty God. We of this Church are the possessors and custodians of these commanding powers that can and do roll back much of the power of Satan on the earth. We believe that we hold these mighty forces in trust for all who have died, for all who are now living, and for the yet unborn.

"My prayer is that through the spreading of righteousness, the evil hands of the destroyer can be stayed so that he will not be permitted to curse the whole world. I pray that God will overlook our weaknesses, our frailties, and our many shortcomings and generously forgive us of our misdeeds. May He bring solace to the suffering, comfort to those who grieve, and peace to the brokenhearted."

- James E. Faust, "The Forces That Will Save Us," Ensign, Jan 2007, pp. 4-9
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President Faust speaks of a mighty legacy given to members of the Church: the power to control and restrain the influence of Satan in the world. Those "saving forces" rest in the "principles, covenants, and ordinances of the eternal gospel" and in the "powers of the priesthood." It is truly an awesome responsibility to consider that "we hold these mighty forces in trust for all who have died, for all who are now living, and for the yet unborn."

President Faust states that the "evil hands of the destroyer" are stopped as we encourage the spread of righteousness in our lives and our influence in the world. Though we were often weak and error-prone in our behaviors and approaches, God can compensate as we make the efforts to sustain good and promote righteousness.

(Compilation and commentary by David Kenison, Orem, Utah, 2017)