Give Me Thine Honor

The Lord told Moses of this conversation with Satan in the premortal existence: “That Satan, whom thou hast commanded in the name of mine Only Begotten, is the same which was from the beginning, and he came before me, saying—Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor” (Moses 4:1).  He also told Joseph Smith, “And it came to pass that Adam, being tempted of the devil—for, behold, the devil was before Adam, for he rebelled against me, saying, Give me thine honor, which is my power; and also a third part of the hosts of heaven turned he away from me because of their agency” (D&C 29:36).  Both of those mention how Satan requested of the Father to have his “honor”.  Definitions of the word honor include “honesty, fairness, or integrity in one's beliefs and actions” and “high respect, as for worth, merit, or rank.”  We discussed this a while back in Sunday School and the point was made that one cannot give another his or her honor.  Like faith or love or testimony, you can’t simply hand over to another person your honesty and integrity and goodness and great respect that others have for you.  Satan wanted the honor God had without being the person God was, and that is impossible.  In the second reference above God said that His honor was his power, something I take to mean that God’s power comes to Him because of His absolute goodness and uprightness and integrity.  In short, God’s perfection is what brings Him honor, and Satan could not get the latter without having the former.   

               Having failed at getting God’s honor, Satan came to earth and sought to have us honor and worship him.  Enoch said, “Behold Satan hath come among the children of men, and tempteth them to worship him” (Moses 6:49).  He also tries to get us to seek for the honors of men.  Something in us seems to want to be recognized and admired and set up on pedestal in front of our peers, and Satan tries to convince us that this is the end in and of itself that we should seek.  The Book of Mormon records a time when the Church had this problem: “For there were many who loved the vain things of the world, and they went forth preaching false doctrines; and this they did for the sake of riches and honor” (Alma 1:16).  For the sake of honor—to be seen of men and have the praises of men—some were straying from the truth.  The Lord warned us of this kind of behavior in our day: “Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world, and aspire to the honors of men, that they do not learn this one lesson—That the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness” (D&C 121:35-36).  If we are not careful to constantly check ourselves, we may find that we too are aspiring to the honors of men, at which point we lose the power of God.  Here again we see the connection between honor and power; God’s power can be had only when we don’t seek the honors of men but seek only to do the will of God—and that’s how we get His honor.  Our attitude should be as Captain Moroni’s: “Behold, I am Moroni, your chief captain. I seek not for power, but to pull it down. I seek not for honor of the world, but for the glory of my God, and the freedom and welfare of my country” (Alma 60:36).

               Ultimately honor will come for those who do not seek it but seek only to do that which the Lord requires of us.  He promised, “And thus, if ye are faithful ye shall be laden with many sheaves, and crowned with honor, and glory, and immortality, and eternal life” (D&C 75:5).  He also said, “For thus saith the Lord—I, the Lord, am merciful and gracious unto those who fear me, and delight to honor those who serve me in righteousness and in truth unto the end” (D&C 76:5).  Christ, in contrast to Lucifer, said to the Father, “Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever,” and in thus performing perfectly the will of the Father, the Son has all of the honor of the Father (Moses 4:2).  John told us, “For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him” (John 5:22-23).  As we do in word and deed honor the Father and the Son, ultimately their honor—the goodness and integrity and perfections they have—will flow unto us “without compulsory means” (D&C 121:46).