Lessons from the Doctrine and Covenants 2025
Lesson No. Two

Situational Awareness in the Final Battle Between Good and Evil

In D&C 1 the Lord warns all the inhabitant of the earth to prepare for His Second Coming: “Wherefore the voice of the Lord is unto the ends of the earth, that all that will hear may hear: Prepare ye, prepare ye for that which is to come, for the Lord is nigh” (Vs 11-12; also 1-2). The Lord gave this warning in 1831. President Russell M. Nelson recently gave the same warning: “Brothers and sisters, now is the time for you and for me to prepare for the Second Coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ” (The Lord Jesus Christ Will Come Again, October 2024 General Conference). If the coming of the Lord was “nigh” in 1831, we are 194 years closer today. President Nelson’s sermon should be carefully studied.

We are in the final days of the battle between good and evil. The Lord explained: “For I am no respecter of persons, and will that all men shall know that the day speedily cometh; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand, when peace shall be taken from the earth, and the devil shall have power over his own dominion. And also the Lord shall have power over his saints, and shall reign in their midst, and shall come down in judgment upon Idumea, or the world” (Vs 35-36). Today, there is no doubt, that the hour has arrived, and that “peace has been taken from the earth, and the devil has power over his own dominion. And also the Lord has power over his saints.

Situational awareness is primarily a military term, and it is a critical skill in this final battles of the latter days. Situational awareness is the ability to perceive, understand, and effectively respond to one’s situation. It is the ability to avoid mistakes, and the ability to recognize and take immediate corrective action when mistakes are made. For those who want to be on the Lord’s side in this great battle it is the ability and desire to keep the Lord’s commandments and avoid the devil’s enticements. Breaking covenants is a loss of situational awareness, and when it is lost, even momentarily, serious problems often result.

Those with good situational awareness will understand that on the worldwide battle field the outcome is certain; the Lord wins, Satan loses. In the battle field for individual hearts the outcome is not certain, but it is predictable. People with good situational awareness, who can orient themselves on the battlefield of mortality, will be on the Lord’s side.

Those with good situational awareness will know that the Lord “called upon my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and spake unto him from heaven, and gave him commandments.” They will also know that the Lord has given commandments to others, which includes each of us, “that they should proclaim these things unto the world; and all of this that it might be fulfilled, which was written by the prophets” (Vs 17-18). The Lord has spoken and His prophets have written about how the gathering of Israel will take place in the latter days:

- “The weak things of the world shall come forth and break down the mighty and strong ones, that man should not counsel his fellow man, neither trust in the arm of flesh.

- “But that every man might speak in the name of God the Lord, even the Savior of the world;

- “That faith also might increase in the earth;

- “That mine everlasting covenant might be established;

- “That the fulness of my gospel might be proclaimed by the weak and the simple unto the ends of the world, and before kings and rulers” (Vs 19-23).

Those with good situational awareness will know that “these commandments are of [the Lord], and were given unto my servants in their weakness, after the manner of their language, that they might come to understanding” (Vs 24). Those with good situational awareness will know by personal experience the following:

- “And inasmuch as they erred it might be made known;

- “And inasmuch as they sought wisdom they might be instructed;

- “And inasmuch as they sinned they might be chastened, that they might repent;

- And inasmuch as they were humble they might be made strong, and blessed from on high, and receive knowledge from time to time” (Vs 25 -28).

Those with good situational awareness will know that Joseph Smith had power to translate the Book of Mormon through the mercy of God and by the power of God (see Vs 29).

Those with good situational awareness will know that Joseph Smith and those who worked with the Prophet were given “power to lay the foundation of this church, and to bring it forth out of obscurity and out of darkness, the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth, with which I, the Lord, am well pleased, speaking unto the church collectively and not individually” (Vs 30). Those with good situational awareness will rejoice that they are part of this great work as it stands independent from the world, and as it expands throughout the earth.

Those with good situational awareness will know that the Lord’s commandments “are true and faithful, and the prophecies and promises which are in them shall all be fulfilled” (Vs 37).

Testimony: I testify that those with good situational awareness will “search these commandments for they are true and faithful, and the prophecies and promises which are in them shall all be fulfilled” (Vs 37). Those with good situational awareness will know that, “What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same” (Vs 38).

Released on January 11th. 2025.