In the New Testament the Apostle Paul warned, “lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices” (2 Cor. 2:11).
So that we do not become easy prey due to ignorance, or blindly stumble and fall into one of the many pits dug by our adversary, the same spirit of warning continues today. A modern day apostle, Elder Melvin J. Ballard said, “It is well to know the forces and the powers that are arrayed against us, and their purposes, that we may close our ranks and fortify ourselves” (“Struggle for the Soul,” New Era, March 1984, p. 38).
Satan, also called the adversary or the devil, is the enemy of all righteousness and of those who seek to follow God. Our battle against Satan and sin is by no means a game, but I believe a few simple comparisons to a well known board game can provide useful perspective for understanding and winning our daily battles.
Growing up in southern California my brothers and I were fortunate to live close to our extended family. On many occasions the boy cousins got together for summer sleepovers. We stayed up late talking, wrestling and generally goofing off. Often we capped the night by playing RISK, a game involving stratagem—knowing your opponent's objectives, tactics, strengths and weakness (limitations). To win it was necessary to have a thorough understanding of the board map, the rules of game, the ‘Rules of Engagement’, your opponent’s objectives, assets as well as his limitations. In addition you also needed to skillfully use your assets to defend and advance your objectives.
Satan’s objectives are clearly summarized by Lehi, a Book of Mormon prophet. The devil “seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself” and he seeks the “power to captivate, to bring you down to hell, that he may reign over you in his own kingdom.” (2 Nephi 2:27, 29)
Nephi, another Book of Mormon prophet, has given us additional valuable insight into Satan’s tactics—his modus operandi, how he operates to bring to pass his plan for the misery of all mankind:
“And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.
“And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none—and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance” (2 Ne. 28:21–22).
C. S. Lewis penned a similar observation in a fictional letter where the master devil Screwtape, instructs the apprentice devil Wormwood, who is in training to become a more experienced devil:
“You will say that these are very small sins; and doubtless, like all young tempters, you are anxious to be able to report spectacular wickedness. … It does not matter how small the sins are, provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. … Indeed, the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts” (The Screwtape Letters, New York: Macmillan, 1962, p. 56).
Satan's tactics are often subtle because if they weren't most good people would reject them immediately. His tactics involve slowly turning up the heat little by little, gradually brining the water to a full boil until the unsuspecting sinner's goose is fully cooked. Examples of turning up the heat include, but are in no way limited to, enticing individuals to make small concessions, seemingly insignificant compromises and rationalizations that appear on their surface to be reasonable.
See if any of these sound familiar: “Come see this movie; it only has a few bad words in it”? “You won’t hear anything that you haven’t heard before or that you don’t hear every day at school.” “There is only a little nudity. You cannot see anything—they are under the covers.” My personal favorites are these: “We are adults. We are old enough not to let this or that affect our personal life.” “It is not real; it is only a movie.” And the list goes on and on.
Another common rationalization is: “It is not that bad; everybody is doing it.” Let me assure you that everybody isn’t doing “it.” And since when do we set our standards based on degrees of badness? The questions should be, “Is it that good? Will it make me a better person, without compromising my standards?”
It is important to be aware that Satan is real and that he has many followers, both disembodied and those who have joined his ranks after receiving a physical body. When discussing warfare, or battles, there is no doubt that near the top of the list of our enemy's assets will be their sheer numbers. There is strength in numbers and Satan certainly has many allies in these latter days.
To add chilling perspective to the battle set before us, let’s briefly ponder a calculation shared by Elder Neal A. Maxwell. He estimated that over 70 billion people have come to earth since Adam and Eve entered the lone and dreary world and began to multiply and replenish the earth according to God’s command (see Notwithstanding My Weakness [1981], p. 55).
Add to this approximately 5 billion people who currently live on the earth, and you have roughly 75 billion people who have thus far come to the earth. This of course says nothing of the spirits yet to be born before the millennium. In D&C 29:36-37 we read that the devil rebelled against God, 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.”
A frequent interpretation of “a third part” is that “one third” of the host of heaven exercised their agency and rejected their first estate by following Satan. This would mean approximately 37.5 billion spirits followed Satan and are here on this earth to divert us from the path which leads to eternal life—life which is not only in the presence of God but is like unto His life in all aspects.
Do the math: if there are approximately 5 billion inhabitants on the earth today, we are outnumbered by at least 7 to 1.
Let me share with you a story which will enable you to further visualize the current state in which we live. This is a purely fictitious story; however, it illustrates my point. There once was a man who was lifted up by a heavenly messenger. Much like Ebenezer Scrooge, in Charles Dickens’s classic A Christmas Carol, this man could observe people and their coming and going, but they could not see him.
The first scene he witnessed was of a person walking on a wide path, which gradually sloped downward. Hovering over his head was a small, seemingly insignificant devil. The man observed, “Surely this must be a very righteous person.” The heavenly messenger responded, “Not so. This is a very wicked person, and all that it takes to keep him leisurely walking down the path to hell is one small devil.”
The man was then removed to a second scene in which he observed another person whose back was bent with a heavy burden. The path he walked was straight and narrow and hovering over his head were hundreds of devils—some were very large and menacing. The man said, “Surely this must be a very wicked person,” to which the heavenly messenger replied, “Not so. This is a very righteous person, and even legions of devilish spirits cannot deter him from the path to eternal life.”
I propose that we are like the second person—everywhere we go we are being spiritually assaulted and pummeled from every side. Satan and his army of followers will do all within their power to thwart God’s plan for our eternal happiness. If we are not wary at all times they will be successful and overcome us.
Satan’s forces greatly outnumber the disciples of Christ and like the drag of the rip tide, if we are careless, they will wear us out. They lie in wait to take captive those who are foolish or not prepared. Furthermore, Satan’s minions have no veil to prevent them from remembering what happened in the pre-existence. They know who we are, and they remember the valiant role each of us played in that victory. They know our strengths and our vulnerabilities. In the absence of balancing gospel truths, these factors create the illusion of a paralyzing paradigm, the perception that we are at a serious disadvantage in the ongoing spiritual battles.
We can take comfort in the assurance, even with their unfettered memory of the pre-existence and their superior numbers, they can have no power over us. Elder James E. Faust echoed the words of Elder Ballard: “We need not become paralyzed with fear of Satan’s power. He can have no power over us unless we permit it” (“The Great Imitator,” Ensign, November 1987, p. 35).
Further trumping his apparent numerical advantage is this important rule of engagement, the devil only has the power which you grant unto him. He is a spirit being and doesn’t have a body, therefore he can only do so much.
The prophet Joseph Smith stated, “Wicked spirits have their bounds, limits, and laws by which they are governed” (History of the Church, 4:576).
Some mistakenly believe Satan can make them do bad things. This just is not so. Flip Wilson, a popular comedian when I was a child, was well known for a skit in which his character would do something silly or bad, and then he would say, “The devil made me do it.” While this line was greeted with laughter, the fact of the matter is Satan cannot make you do anything you do not want to do. Sure, he can tempt you, but only you can choose to act for yourself.
—To Be Continued—