The War In Heaven
Long ago, at the council in heaven, we each chose to follow the plan of our Heavenly Father. Satan and his followers were cast out of heaven, losing forever their ability to obtain physical bodies for themselves.
Because we chose to follow Jesus, we gained the privilege to come to earth and obtain mortal bodies. We were all excited to obtain these bodies and looked forward to the new experiences having a body would bring. We were charged with the responsibility to take possession of our bodies, and make it our servant. We are to respect our bodies, yet our spirit was intended to be the master over our bodies.
Satan, of course was not happy about any of this. He wanted to overthrow Heavenly Father, and to defeat Jesus. That is why the first battle of the war in Heaven was fought, which resulted in Satan being cast out. (Satan’s plan was foiled.)
Garden Of Eden
Having lost that battle, Satan next tried to defeat Heavenly Father’s plan in the Garden of Eden. He thought that by getting Adam and Eve to partake of the forbidden fruit, that he would foil Heavenly Father’s plan. What actually happened, however, was the Fall of Adam opened the door so that all of Heavenly Father’s spirit children who remained in Heaven, could come to earth to obtain physical bodies. (Satan’s plan didn’t work as he expected in the Garden of Eden.)
Lucifer Vs. Christ in Mortality
Later, Jesus was born, began his mortal ministry, and was tempted of the devil. He tried to appeal to Savior’s physical appetites, and to his pride. Jesus saw right through what Satan was trying to do, and sent the devil away. Later, Satan planted hate, fear and jealousy into the hearts of evil men. They had Jesus arrested on false charges, and had him crucified. Once again, Satan’s plan was foiled. The very purpose that Jesus came into the world was to lay down his life for all mankind, as a sacrifice for sin. By giving up his life, Jesus also was able to break the bands of death when he was resurrected. Through the death and resurrection of Christ, all mankind will be resurrected and live again. Through the atonement of the Savior, we may all be forgiven of our sins if we will repent. Satan’s plan didn’t work out too well that time either. – Are you sensing a pattern here?
Satan Vs. Joseph Smith
Later, in the spring of 1820, the 14-year old Joseph Smith went into a grove of trees to pray. Satan knew who Joseph was, and that he was to bring about the restoration of the gospel to the earth. The prophets have foretold that the gospel will go forth until it fills the entire earth. It will never again be taken from the earth, until the time when the Savior returns again in his Glory.
As Joseph knelt in the Sacred Grove, Satan tried to overpower him. Joseph felt that his life was in danger, yet he still pressed on in faith. Heavenly Father and Jesus appeared to the prophet Joseph, and dispelled away the power of Satan. Through Joseph Smith, the gospel was restored. Once again, Satan influenced evil men to conspire to take away the life of the Prophet. But by then Joseph Smith had completed his work, the gospel was restored, and the church is now in process of filling up the whole earth, as was prophesied.
The Final Battle
As we can see, and various critical moments in the plan of salvation, Satan was there to try to defeat the plan. At every one of these instances, Jesus has won the battle every time. I’ve got news for you – it will always be that way. At some point in time, a final battle will be fought, and Jesus, and those who stand with him will win the war once and for all. Satan will be bound forever, and cast into that outer darkness where he and his followers will spend the eternities.
The outcome of this battle between Jesus and Satan is not in question. Jesus will win. The real question then becomes, on whose side will we be at the last battle. Will we be with Jesus, or will we be with Satan.
All of Satan’s attempts to foil the plan of salvation have failed thus far. Eventually that final battle will take place between Jesus and Satan will take place. But in the meantime, what is the battle front now?
The Battle For The Souls of Men
Satan is not just waiting around for the big battle to happen. He is actively recruiting people to come and join his side. The battle’s front, right now is an individual battle for the hearts and souls of mankind. That means that he is actively trying to get you and me to come over to his side. How does he do this?
The primary way that Satan will try to tempt us is through the flesh. Each of us is made up two parts: our spirits, which come from God, and our bodies, which come from our earthly parents. When we received our bodies, we were commanded to make our spirits the masters of our bodies. When we give in to the lusts, appetites, and ambitions of the flesh, we are allowing our bodies to control our spirits.
Most of the help that we will receive from Heavenly Father will come through our spirits, from the Light of Christ, and from the Holy Ghost. Satan will try to tempt us through our bodies, or through the flesh.
A key way we can know how well we are doing in our spiritual progress is to ask ourselves who is winning, the spirit or the flesh?
Me Vs. It
Elder Melvin J. Ballard describes the relationship between our bodies and sprits this way:
I should like to speak of spirit and body as “me” and “it.” “Me” is the individual who dwells in this body, who lived before I had such a body, and who will live when I step out of the body. “It” is the house I live in, the tabernacle of flesh; and the great conflict is between “me” and “it.” (“Struggle for the Soul”, Melvin J. Ballard, New Era, March 1984, p 32 – Talk Originally given May 5, 1928 in the Salt Lake Tabernacle)Examine Ourselves
So, how does the battle go for you my friends? Each of us needs to take the time to occasionally examine ourselves, and see how our battle to overcome the flesh is going. Each week, as we attend sacrament meeting, we have a special time set aside just for this very purpose – when the sacrament is blessed and passed to the congregation.
During this time of quiet, we can look at our own lives, and our own behaviors, and determine whether or not we have yielded ourselves to the tempter. If this is so, then we need to repent and make peace with those we may have offended. We need to re-new our covenant to serve God, and to keep his commandments, as we do when we partake of the sacrament. If we do this, we can be cleansed and purified of our sins.
Fasting
Once a month, we all have the opportunity to fast. This is a time when we have the opportunity to show our body just who is boss! Who will win? – The flesh, or the spirit. It seems like that as soon as we decide to fast, that our body begins to cry out in protest. It starts to whine and fuss with things like:
1 “My head will ache, my knees will quake, I shall feel faint; I cannot fast so long; I must eat a little.” Are you yielding? If so, we know who is winning that battle, and who is gaining the mastery.
2 On the other hand, your spirit can say such things as: “You can do without these two meals; it will not hurt you. And though my head may ache and my body may feel faint, I will not die; I am bigger than you are, and once a month I will show you that I am master.”
What strength that will give you to resist tomorrow when some other craving arrives! It may be for liquor, tobacco, or some other craving of the flesh because you have already defeated the flesh as you fasted. Likewise, you can defeat the flesh in these other desires.
One of the blessings of fasting is that we will be given power to overcome the bondage of sin. (See Isaiah 58:6-11) Fasting is a powerful way to obtain mastery over the flesh.
The Light of Christ
Remember that you are not alone in this fight. Satan and his followers may be trying to tempt you to do wrong, but remember, that God is also sending forth his influence to help you overcome Satan. He does sending forth the Light of Christ, which is shed forth upon every person that comes into the world.
Sometimes the Light of Christ is called a moral sense, or our conscience, The Light of Christ will always direct us to make good choices, and to avoid evil, unless we subdue it, or silence it.
We are taught in that in order to be tested, there must be an opposition in the choices that we make. On the one hand we have the Light of Christ, which inspires us to do good; and on the other hand we have Satan and his followers, which tempt us to do evil. These two forces are set in opposition to one another. We are in the middle, between these to forces tugging at us in opposite directions. We have been given our moral agency are free to choose for ourselves which course we will follow.
The choice is always ours. The gift of agency, besides the gift of life itself, is one of the greatest gifts God has given his children. The Light of Christ is always there, calling and beckoning to us, we are free to respond to it by our own choice – it is never forced upon us. The greatest conflict that any of us will have is this inner conflict that each of us must battle.
Open Your Eyes
If you were to close your eyes on a bright, sun-shiny day, you would not see the light. The sun, however, continues to shine, anyway. The only reason you cannot see it is that you have closed your eyes; and by so doing, you have shut down your ability to perceive it.
The same is true with the Light of Christ. It continues to shine on forever, whether we have our eyes open – or not.
In fact, we couldn’t hide from the Light of Christ – even if we wanted to! We can, however choose to ignore what we see, or cloud our spiritual eyes and minds so much with disobedience and wickedness that we can no longer perceive the light.
The Light is Always On
Perhaps you know someone who has fallen into this condition of spiritual blindness. Perhaps it may even happened to you or me. It happens, even to the best of us, if we are not careful. We can lose the light we once had, and can fall into sin and transgression.
What if that has happened to you, or to someone you know. Be assured that the Light is still there. There is no depth so low, no darkness so deep, nor any place so far away that cannot be penetrated by the Light of Christ. God will never abandon us, no matter how far we may have fallen. The light, and life of his love is ever there. His arms are stretched out still. There is none that he will turn away, if we will but come unto him.
Come Unto Christ
Even in our darkest hour, when we may feel so unworthy, and so unwanted – know that our Savior, and his light are still there for you. It is Satan, and not Christ that tells you that you are worthless, unwanted, and unredeemable. Do not listen to him. Believe in Christ, that he is, and that he can save you. Follow the promptings of the light of Christ, and of the Holy Ghost.
Know that his power is great. For he is mighty to save. He has taken upon him the sins and pains of the whole world. He has suffered these things for all . . . that they might not suffer. He has broken the terrible bonds of death – that we may all live once more. He has triumphed over all things. And though each of us are weak and lowly, because of his love for us, he desires to draw all men unto him, that he may lift them up, and return them to the presence of the Father.
He as felt the pain and suffering of each one of us. He knows what your problems are, and what they feel like. And because he knows how it feels, he also knows how to heal us. He wants so very much to bring you unto Him.
The Lord knowing your pain, and knowing how you suffer, still leaves it up to you. The choice is always yours – and he will never take that choice away from you. He can bless and heal your life, but you have to be willing to come unto him, to believe in him, to repent, and to follow him by keeping his commandments.
If you do this, you will be healed. You will have won your own battle between the flesh and the spirit. You will be joined with the Savior on the winning side of the great and last war between good and evil. And most of all, you will have Eternal Life, in the presence of our Father In Heaven, where you will receive a fullness of joy for ever and ever.
One Step At A Time
Now, what can we do in our battle today. How can we take a step in the right direction today? I would encourage you to think of two changes to make in your life.
1. Choose one thing that you are doing wrong now, and stop doing it.
2. Choose one thing that you are not doing right now, that you should be doing.
Ask the Lord, in your prayers to help you know what these two things should be. Make a decision, and write it down. Commit to yourself, and to the Lord that you will make these changes. Work on them, stay with it. If you slip up, don’t be discouraged. Just renew your resolve to change, and keep at it. Eventually these changes will become second nature to you. Then you can select what you should work on next.
If you take it one step at a time, real progress can be made. At the end of this year, you will be able t point to some of the changes you have made, and see that you have made real progress.
Know that the Lord is pleased when we desire to repent, and change, and follow his will. He will bless you in your righteous efforts, and will help you to achieve your goals. You are precious to Him, and he wants for you to return to his presence, and live with him one day.
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