President Henry B. Eyring: In the bonds of the priesthood
E-mail story
It's easy. Send a link to the story you were just reading to a friend. Just fill out the form on this page and we'll send it along.
Your name and e-mail address are transmitted to the recipient. Otherwise, it is considered private information; see Privacy policy.
President Henry B. Eyring told priesthood holders that they would need bravery and boldness because they are enlisted in the Lord's army in the last dispensation.
"This is not a time of peace," declared President Eyring, first counselor in the First Presidency, in his priesthood session address. "It has been so since Satan arrayed his forces against our Heavenly Father's plan in the pre-existence. We don't know the details of the combat then. But we know one result. Satan and his followers were cast down into the earth. And since the creation of Adam and Eve the conflict has continued. We have seen it intensify. And the scriptures suggest that the war will become more violent and the spiritual casualties on the Lord's side will mount."
President Eyring noted that on a battlefield, the cry "Man down!" is a signal for soldiers or medics to render aid to a fallen comrade.
"Such a feeling of responsibility for others is at the heart of faithful priesthood service," he said. "Our comrades are being wounded in the spiritual conflict around us. So are the people we are called to serve and protect from harm. Spiritual wounds are not easily visible, except with inspired eyes. But bishops, branch presidents and mission presidents sitting before fellow disciples of the Savior can see the wounded and the wounds."
He recalled an occasion when, as a bishop, he looked at the face and posture of a young man of the priesthood and the thought came to his mind so clearly it almost seemed audible: "I need to see him, and soon. Something is happening. He needs help."
President Eyring said, "I would never put off such an impression because I had learned that the wounds of sin are often not felt at first by the one being hurt. Satan seems sometimes to inject something to deaden the spiritual pain while inflicting the wound. Unless something happens soon to begin repentance, the wound can worsen and widen."
He said only an authorized judge in Israel is given the power and responsibility to verify that there is a serious wound, to explore it and then under inspiration from God prescribe the necessary treatment.
"Yet," he said, speaking to priesthood holders generally, "you are under covenant to go to a spiritually wounded child of God. You are responsible to be brave enough and bold enough not to turn away."
An office in the priesthood, whatever it is, carries the obligation "to lift up the hands that hang down and strengthen the feeble knees of those around you," President Eyring said. "You are the Lord's servant covenanted to do for others, as best you can, what He would do."
Posing the question of how priesthood holders can best help those they are called to serve and rescue, he said, "That will depend on your capacities and on the nature of your priesthood relationship to the person who is in spiritual peril."
He suggested a case in which a junior home teaching companion might be inspired with his companion to know what changes to suggest someone make who is in spiritual peril. "If your companion feels an impression to urge change, watch what he does," he said. "You will likely be surprised at the way the Spirit guides him to speak. There will be the sound of love in his voice. He will find a way to tie the needed change with a blessing that will follow."
President Eyring further noted, "Your contribution during the visit may seem to you small, but it can be more powerful than you may think possible. You will show by your face and manner that you care for the people. They will see that your love for them and the Lord makes you unafraid. ... Your humble and simple testimony may touch the heart of a person more easily than that of your more experienced companion."
