The Utility of Opposition

The Utility of40pposition By President Anthony W. Ivins "And Cod said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creep- ing thing that creepeth upon the earth." "So Cod created man in his own image, in the image of Cod created he him, male and female created he them. And Cod blessed them, and Cod said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it." The first direct command given by the Lord to man, whom he had created, is suggestive of opposition. To subdue is to conquer, and bring permanent subjection, either by su- perior force, or to prevail over by kindness, persuasion, or other mild methods, but by whatever means accomplished, to subdue is to bring under complete subjugation. That the agencies acted upon would be in opposition to those acting is obvious, otherwise there would be nothing to subdue. The Lord again said to Adam: "Because thou hast heark- ened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread." Thorns and thistles; noxious weeds and plants are the spontaneous products of the earth. Generally speaking they produce no fruit to satisfy the hunger of man; no material to clothe his body. If desirable plants exist, where the intelli- gence of man has not been applied, a constant war is waged upon them by these evil and worthless weeds and shrubs, and they exist, if at all, only by constant struggle and warfare. This law of contrasts applies to the earth, and all created things which are upon it. Man himself is a dual personality, subject to one or the other of two forces, each of which is striv- ing for the mastery. One of these two conflicting influences is constantly striving to lead man on to higher ideals; the other, exercising the contrary influence. In contrast today, the light of which is so necessary to our welfare which we love so dearly, we have night, whose shadows bring a feeling of de- pression, a time when the powers of darkness appear to hold

984 IMPROVEMENT ERA sway. In contrast to the cheer and blessing of sunshine we have clouds and storm. While in the enjoyment of health, our temporal requirements provided for, with nothing to mar our happiness or peace, we may be stricken down by sickness or accident, our substance may vanish, and we are in dire distress and sorrow, as was Job when so bereft. We love and cherish life, and deplore and fight against death; but, in spite of our opposition to it, we know that sometime it will come to us and those we love — that eyes which beamed with the intelligence of God will become dim, lips which spoke love and hope will be stilled, and hearts which pulsated with emotions of affec- tion and trust will cease to beat. Why are we in this world of contrasts? Why this constant struggle between good and evil, between that which is most desirable, and that which we wish to avoid, but which is con- stantly pursuing us? This is the answer: "And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought againet the Dragon; and the Dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which de- ceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." (Rev. 12-7.) "And this we saw also, and bear record, that an angel of God, who was in authority in the presence of God, who rebelled against the Only Begotten Son, whom the Father loved and who was in the bosom of the Father, was thrust down from the presence of God and the Son, and was called Perdition, for the heavens wept over him — he was Lucifer, a son of the morning." (Doc. and Cov. 76:25-26.) Having been cast down to earth, Lucifer and the rebel- lious spirits who were cast out with him, have exercised all of the power with which they are possessed to gain and main- tain control over it. His is the power which is constantly exer- cised to obstruct the work of the Lord, to pervert the truth. He is the father of lies, he loves darkness rather than light, glories in war, famine, and the distress of the human family, and is the author of death, which came to us through the transgression of our first parents, who yielded to his temptation. His power has been exercised from the beginning to thwart the purpose of the Almighty. He exercised all of his subtle wiles to delude and lead away the Redeemer, that he might nullify the great mission which Jesus came to perform. With the ushering in of the present gospel dispensation his power of opposition was again felt. Let Joseph Smith tell, in his own words, the happenings of a century ago. "After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down,

THE UTILITY OF OPPOSITION 985 and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which en- tirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction. But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction — not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being — just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound." In 1837, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Hyde and others were sent to Great Britain to bear the message of the restored gospel to the people of that country, which was to contribute such strength to the Church. They arrived on the 20th of July. Con- verts were made, and a time appointed when the ordinance of baptism was to be administered to those who had accepted the truth. Sunday was the day when this ordinance was to be solemnized. On Saturday night, the day before the date set for the baptism, Heber C. Kimball says: "While I was thus engaged, I was struck with great force, by some invisible power, and fell senseless to the floor. The first thing I remembered was being supported by Elders Hyde and Richards who were praying for me. I then arose and sat upon the bed, when a vision was opened to our minds, and we could plainly see the evil spirits who foamed and gnashed their teeth at us." Orson Hyde, in a letter written to Heber C. Kimball, at a later date, says: "Every circumstance which occurred in that scene of devils is just as fresh in my recollection as it was at the time of its occurrence. While you were apparently sense- less, and lifeless upon the floor, and on the bed, after we had laid you there, I stood between you and the devils and fought them face to face, until they began to diminish in number, and retreat from the room." In each of these instances, and many others might be quoted, the light of God, which stands unchangeably opposed to the darkness of Satan triumphed, as it always does when we put our trust in Him who is the author of light. Lucifer maintains his power and dominion with gold and silver, with armies and navies, with selfishness and greed, per- sonal ambition, unrestrained license in the gratification of the lust and appetites of men, disregard for law, order, justice or equality. The power and policy by which God seeks to control is light, truth, virtue, mercy, charity, love patience, law. order.

986 IMPROVEMENT ERA equality and justice. Whatever is opposed to this policy we must combat. Opposition to it must never cease. We must pre- vail, or submit to defeat which will bring both temporal and spiritual destruction. The utility of opposition, then, when we contend for that which is right, and oppose that which is wrong, is in the fact that it develops individuality, makes us masters of ourselves, and commits us to the accomplishment of the purposes of the Almighty. It makes man alert, forceful, and manly, while to listlessly drift with the current without opposition to spur him on to effort or resistance, without knowledge of, or with indiffer- ence to, the responsibility which came to him with his knowledge of good and evil, of right and wrong, man, the only one of the creations of God endowed with reason, becomes little better than the brute creation, a thing existing only to satisfy the de- mands of nature, without knowledge of the past, ambition for the present, or hope for the future. For originality and greater light on the subject of the util- ity of opposition, the Book of Mormon is very explicit. This is true also in its dealing with many other doctrines such as infant baptism, the resurrection, atonement, fall of Adam, purpose of man's existence, and the agency of man, and many others. Lehi, addressing his son Jacob, discusses the need of opposition in all things as follows: "For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my first-born in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility. "Wherefore, it must needs have been created for a thing of naught; wherefore there would have been no purpose in the end of its creation. Wherefore, this thing must needs destroy the wisdom of God and his eter- nal purposes, and also the power, and the mercy, and the justice of God. "And if ye shall say there is no law, ye shall also say there is no sin. If ye shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness. And if there be no righteousness there be no happiness. And if there be no righteousness nor happiness there be no punishment nor misery. And if these things are not there is no God. And if there is no God we are not, neither the earth; for there could have been no creation of things, neither to act nor to be acted upon; wherefore, all things must have van- ished away."