The Power of God in Great Glory

President Nelson finished his remarks in the final talk of the most recent general conference with these words: “My dear brothers and sisters, I bear witness that Jesus Christ directs the affairs of His Church. I testify that following Him is the only way to enduring happiness. I know that His power is descending upon His covenant-keeping people, who are ‘armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory.’ I so testify, with my love and blessing for each of you, in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.” His well-known quotation comes from the words of Nephi when he described the vision he had of the last days. After describing the great wickedness of the world and how the “numbers were few” in “the church of the Lamb of God” he said this, “And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory” (1 Nephi 14:14). I believe this verse is extremely important for Latter-day Saints today because it contains a promise to us that as we are truly His covenant people, we will have the power of God to protect us in this very difficult world.

                The importance of this verse is highlighted by the fact that it has been referenced dozens of times in general conference. For example, President Nelson said this in April 2020: “We have front-row seats to witness live what the prophet Nephi saw only in vision, that ‘the power of the Lamb of God’ would descend ‘upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory.’” Elder Bednar also recently spoke about this verse with a talk titled With the Power of God in Great Glory. In those remarks he said this: “I invite you to consider the blessings promised to covenant-keeping disciples of Jesus Christ. For example, Nephi ‘beheld the church of the Lamb of God [in the latter days], and its numbers were few, … the saints of God, were also upon all the face of the earth; and their dominions … were small.’ He also ‘beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, … and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory.’ The phrase ‘armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory’ is not simply a nice idea or an example of beautiful scriptural language. Rather, these blessings are readily evident in the lives of countless latter-day disciples of the Lord.” Thus the relevance of this scripture resides in the fact that if we are truly the Lord’s covenant people, we should see His power and glory in our lives. We should see real evidence that we are indeed armed with righteousness and the power of God—our covenants will give us great strength to spiritually thrive despite the wickedness around us. President Packer referenced this verse when he said this in 2010: “It has been over 180 years since the priesthood was restored. We now number nearly 14 million members. Even so, we are a tiny fraction when compared to the billions of people on earth. But we are who we are, and we know what we know, and we are to go forth and preach the gospel. The Book of Mormon makes it clear that we never will dominate by numbers. But we have the power of the priesthood.” Indeed we have the power of God with us through the priesthood and our covenants, and each of us who honors our commitment to God can have the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost to guide us. We can have the supernal power of Jesus Christ to buoy us up in times of trouble. And we can have the divine love of the Father to carry us through the many challenges of mortality. As we are true to Them, we will indeed be “armed with righteousness and the power of God in great glory.”