The greatest century of advancement in science and technology has just ended, said President James E. Faust, second counselor in the First Presidency. "As we move into a new era, we have only one safe course — to press forward in faith. Faith will be our strong shield to protect us from the fiery arrows of Satan."

As the concluding speaker Saturday morning, President Faust marveled at the dramatic increase in technology that has ushered in a new age of information and said: "I believe the future will be great and marvelous in many respects. Now and in the future, vast amounts of information are becoming more accessible worldwide through electronic devices in the home, the workplace or the local library.

"However, great will be the challenges and endless the problems because with this wave of knowledge life actually becomes more complicated. Brigham Young said, 'It was revealed to me in the commencement of this Church, that the Church would spread, prosper, grow and extend, and that in proportion to the spread of the Gospel among the nations of the earth, so would the power of Satan rise.' " (Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 72.)

Despite the advancements in technology, "darkness prevails in our day as it did many centuries ago when Jesus Christ was about to be crucified. Even so, as the Prophet Joseph Smith said: 'Great blessings await us at this time, and will soon be poured out upon us, if we are faithful in all things, for we are even entitled to greater blessings than they were, because they had Christ in person with them, to instruct them in the great plan of salvation. His personal presence we have not, therefore we have need of greater faith.' " (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 90.)

"This faith will be the sanctuary for our souls," President Faust said.

"Never before in the history of the world has the need for faith in God been greater. Although science and technology open up boundless opportunities, they also present great perils because Satan employs these marvelous discoveries to his great advantage.

"Great challenges lie ahead unless the power of faith, judgment, honesty, decency, self-control and character increase proportionately to compensate for this expansion of secular knowledge. Without moral progress, stimulated by faith in God, immorality in all its forms will proliferate and strangle goodness and human decency. Mankind will not be able to fully express the potential nobility of the human soul unless faith in God is strengthened.

Further, President Faust said, "I do not believe this great outpouring of knowledge happened by chance. I believe that with the appearance of God the Father and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, in 1820 to Joseph Smith, the heavens were unlocked, not only to the great spiritual knowledge revealed in this dispensation, but also to secular knowledge.

"Now comes the challenge to prevent the scientific, technical and intellectual from stifling the spiritual enlightenment in our lives.

"I wish to sound a voice of warning to this people," President Faust said. "I solemnly declare that this spiritual kingdom of faith will move forward with or without each of us individually. Any of us can be left behind, drawn away by the seductive voices of secularism and materialism.

"To sustain faith, each of us must be humble and compassionate, kind and generous to the poor and the needy. Faith is further sustained by daily doses of spirituality that come to us as we kneel in humble prayer. It begins with us as individuals and extends to our families who need to be solidified in righteousness. Honesty, decency, integrity and morality are all necessary ingredients of our faith and will provide sanctuary for our souls.

"Simple faith in God, the Father, His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost is like a super charger operating in our lives," continued President Faust. "Faith intensifies and magnifies our gifts and abilities. There is no greater source of knowledge than the inspiration which comes from the Godhead."

President Faust recounted the faith of Amanda Smith in 1838 after she learned that the entire hip bone of her 7-year-old son, Alma, had been shot away by mobsters who attacked members at Haun's Mill in 1838.

"Oh my Heavenly Father," she cried, "what shall I do? . . . And then I was directed as by a voice speaking to me." She saturated a cloth with lye made from ashes of a fire and applied it to the gaping wound. "Each time," she wrote, as she pulled the cloth from the wound, "mashed flesh and splinters of bone came away with the cloth; and the wound became as white as chicken's flesh."

Having followed the Lord's directions, she prayed again and was instructed further, "as distinctly as though a physician had been standing by speaking to me." She took the boy to a house where she dressed his hip.

Her son lay on the bed for five weeks as he was instructed. A flexible gristle grew over the missing joint and socket. "It is now nearly forty years ago, but Alma has never been the least crippled during his life," she wrote.

"Righteousness is a companion to faith," President Faust continued. "Strong faith is earned by keeping the commandments."

In conclusion, President Faust emphasized four "absolutes upon which our faith must rest." They are that:

• Jesus is the Savior and Redeemer of the world;

• Joseph Smith was the instrument through which the gospel was restored;

• The Book of Mormon is the word of God, and;

• Gordon B. Hinckley holds all the keys and authorities restored by Joseph Smith.