THE GLORY OF HIS SPIRIT

 

Most of us have wondered at some stage why the world is so wicked. We usually come up with answers relating to prophecies for our day and Satan’s power over the earth as his dominion. Both of these are true. However, Satan’s power could never had come to this boiling point if it wasn’t for one important warning found in the Doctrine and Covenants that has been ignored by the masses:

“Now the Lord has withdrawn His Spirit from the world. Do not let this thought become confused in your minds. The Spirit He has withdrawn from the world is not the Holy Ghost (for they never had that!), but it is the light of truth, spoken of in our scriptures as the Spirit of Christ, which is given to every man that cometh into the world, as you find recorded in Section 84 of the Doctrine and Covenants.

“Now because of the wickedness of the world, that Spirit has been withdrawn, and when the Spirit of the Lord is not striving with men, the spirit of Satan is. Therefore, we may be sure that the time has come spoken of in Doctrine and Covenants 1:33-35…..Peace has been taken from the earth. The devil has power over his own dominion.

“The Spirit of the Lord has been withdrawn. Not because the Lord desires to withdraw that Spirit, but because of the wickedness of mankind, it becomes necessary that this Spirit of the Lord be withdrawn.  (President Joseph Fielding Smith, The Predicted Judgments, BYU Speeches of the Year [Provo, 21 March 1967] pp 5-6)

I am certain if we look around we will see the madness that surrounds us. People have lost their reason proclaiming bad to be good in the name of human rights and free will. Self-focus has become the obsession as people pursue ‘their truth’ and negate the one and only truth. Men’s hearts have grown cold and hatred rules us. Satan’s power and influence over the world is undeniable.

It would be a bleak world indeed if it wasn’t for one glimmer of hope: “The world is rapidly coming to its end, that is, the end of the days of wickedness. When it is fully ripe in iniquity the Lord will come in the clouds of heaven to take vengeance on the ungodly, for His wrath is kindled against them.” (President Joseph Fielding Smith; D&C 29:9-11)

The Saviour will return and He will bring the glory of His Spirit with Him. The ungodly will be destroyed, Satan will be bound and darkness will no longer cast its shadow on the world.

Consider the privilege it will be for those of us who will be in New Jerusalem enjoying the Saviour’s presence: “When the New Jerusalem is eventually built, and Jesus Christ returns to earth in glory, the need will disappear for the sun and the moon to give light to God’s covenant people. The Lord Himself will be an everlasting light” (Isaiah 60:19-22; Orson Pratt, in Journal of Discourses, 14:355-56).

We will want to be in New Jerusalem then. Hang in there. He is coming…..

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: In Clouds of Glory by Greg Collins)