Church News - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Elder Dallin H. Oaks

Quorum of the Twelve
Published: Saturday, Oct. 2, 2004

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"Be not deceived, brethren. Heed the ancient and modern prophetic warnings against thievery, drunkenness and all forms of sexual sin. The deceiver seeks to destroy your spirituality by all of these means. Paul warns us against those who lie in wait to deceive 'by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness.' Beware of the slick package and the glitz of a good time. What the devil portrays as fun can be spiritually fatal."

"The Holy Ghost will protect us against being deceived, but to realize that wonderful blessing we must always do the things necessary to retain that Spirit. We must keep the commandments, pray for guidance and attend church and partake of the Sacrament each Sunday. And we must never do anything to drive away that spirit. Specifically, we should avoid pornography, alcohol, tobacco and drugs and always, always avoid violations of the law of chastity. We must never take things into our bodies or do things with our bodies that drive away the Spirit of the Lord and leave us without our spiritual protection against deception."

"I will conclude by describing another, subtle, form of deception — the idea that it is enough to hear and believe, without acting on that belief. Many prophets have taught against that deception."

"It is not enough to know that God lives, that Jesus Christ is our Savior, and that the gospel is true. We must take the high road by acting upon that knowledge."