BYU-Hawaii devotional: Wheelwrights speak on the power of purity
LAIE, HAWAII
It was a team approach in more ways than one as BYU-Hawaii President Steven C. Wheelwright and his wife, Sister Margaret S. Wheelwright, spoke Jan. 13 on the power of purity in the university's first devotional of 2009.
Besides sharing alternating segments of a combined address, President and Sister Wheelwright also used video clips of addresses by President Gordon B. Hinckley; President Boyd K. Packer, president of the Quorum of the Twelve; Elders M. Russell Ballard, Richard G. Scott and Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve; and Sister Elaine Dalton, Young Women general president.
They also quoted extended excerpts from Presidents Spencer W. Kimball and Ezra Taft Benson and Book of Mormon prophet Nephi.
The Wheelwrights cited the ancient and latter-day prophets' call to put on "the whole armor of God," calling it the greatest power of protection in perilous times against Satan's attacks and underscoring the importance of moral purity.
"Contrary to what the world would have you believe, moral purity is not a sliding scale," President Wheelwright said. "It is a constant, a timeless standard the Lord has set."
Just as a medieval knight's armor protected his physical body, one's moral armor protect against Satan's tried-and-true tactic to attack bodies, said President Wheelwright, who then quoted a statement 80 years ago by Elder Melvin J. Ballard: "All the assaults that the enemy of our souls will make to capture us will be through the flesh, because it is made up of the unredeemed earth, and he has power over the elements of the earth. The approach he makes to us will be through the lusts, the appetites, the ambitions of the flesh" (Melvin J. Ballard, "The Struggle for the Soul," Tambuli, Sept. 1984, p. 30).
The Wheelwrights encouraged the BYU-Hawaii audience to stand in holy places — particularly the temples — and to be worthy of the guidance of the Spirit.
"But the whole armor of God is even more than just a defense," said Sister Wheelwright, "it can also be an offensive weapon, a means to further the cause of righteousness. What stage of life you are in — single or married, young or old — there are powerful blessings promised to those who are morally pure."
Added President Wheelwright: "As we make choices consistent with eternal truths and in keeping with the laws of God, we deny Satan an opportunity to pick the battlefield. Rather, we make him fight on our terms, where we have the advantage. This is one of the great blessings of avoiding evil and concentrating on activities that strengthen our commitment to virtue and purity."
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