Now is the time show who's on the Lord side
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Taking his message from the words of a favorite hymn, "Who's on the Lord's side? Who? Now is the time to show" (Hymns, No. 260), Elder Robert C. Oaks of the Presidency of the Seventy declared at the priesthood session, "The Lord needs to know on whom He can rely."
"Today in the Church there are about 3 million priesthood holders, split evenly between the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods," said Elder Oaks, a retired four-star U.S. Air Force general. "Unfortunately, far too many of these men, young and not so young, are missing, absent without leave, AWOL. One day they each sat humbly while men of authority laid their hands upon their heads and conferred the priesthood upon them. That day they all made a covenant of obedience and service with the Lord."
To illustrate to Aaronic Priesthood holders the importance of those covenants, he pointed out that the Savior Himself administered the first sacrament service of record and John the Baptist conferred the Aaronic Priesthood on Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery.
"What a great act of trust it is on the part of our Father in Heaven to share with us a part of His power, that we might assist Him in His grand work, as it rolls forth to fill the earth," Elder Oaks exclaimed.
He noted that when armies are formed, battles are generally fought on vast battlefields. "But this battle for souls is quite different. The conflict goes on each day in individual lives, and pits the Lord's troops against Satan's forces of greed, selfishness and lust."
There is room for "every stout-hearted soul" in the battle for souls, regardless of physical limitations, Elder Oaks said. "The weapons of eternal worth reflecting the whole armor of God are truth, righteousness, faith, prayer and the word of God. These weapons are wielded in our minds, mouths and movements. Every righteous thought, word and deed is a blow for the Lord."
Hearkening back to his days as a fighter pilot, he reasoned, "If it is good advice to protect comrades in a fighter squadron, it is great advice to stay close to and protect our quorum members as we strive to stand firm on the Lord's side. We should be eager to go out and find them when they stray."
Citing statements of warning from Church leaders about the evils of the world, Elder Oaks declared: "Now is the time to review the covenants we have made with the Lord at the waters of baptism, covenants we made when we accepted the oath and covenant of the priesthood, and covenants we have made in His holy temples."
