THE ENEMY

 

The most profound thing that Mormon uttered which also summed up his earthly life was said in exhortation to his son Moroni: “….for we have a labour to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay, that we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness” (Moroni 9:6)

Is there anybody that has ever fought the enemy of all righteousness more than Mormon? I cannot fathom atrocities such as he was exposed to in the most-evil of all societies (Moroni 9:8-10).

Mormon described his people as brutal, strong in their perversion and delighting in everything that is not good. He went on to say that ‘tongue could not tell, neither could it be written’ of the suffering among the women and children (Mormon 9:19).

I cannot fathom it. I live in a peaceful country where the worst I have seen are street protests. I hear of crimes in the news but I have not witnessed anything evil. Mormon did. He was exposed to it all to the point where he cried to God to ‘hide their sins, and wickedness and abominations from before His face!” (Moroni 9:15).

Mormon knew the enemy and he knew him well. He wrote the whole Book of Mormon in such a way that we will come to know the enemy and ‘be more wise than they have been’ (Mormon 9:31)

I might not be a witness to his atrocities but I know that the enemy is working today in secret ways, in corridors of power and in personal battlefields. He seeks our destruction and when he succeeds, he laughs and he and his angels rejoice (3 Nephi 9:2).

We are on the spiritual battlefield today. We are fighting an enemy that cannot be seen. We cannot fight him with ammunition. Our line of defense is to fortify ourselves against the powers of darkness so that we might be endowed with the power of God that Nephi saw in his vision of us (1 Nephi 14:14).

We must stand up for righteous values by shunning the wrong and promoting the right. As we do so our efforts will reverberate throughout the earth. Even though small in number, we will 'come forth out of the wilderness of darkness, and shine forth fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners" (D&C 109:73; 105:31). Evil can only be fought with righteousness.

The adversary knows us. He observes our behaviour and our choices and our words. He knows what buttons to push.  He sees those moments when we are the weakest. He waits for those moments. He lives for those moments.

Very often we refer to Satan as our foe but I propose that we are HIS foe. He has no power but what we give him. Therefore, we are more powerful than him. We, the strong, the valiant, the noble sons and daughters of God are the foe of evil and destructive forces of faith because we bear the image of the Son of God in our countenance.

We are the children of Christ. We are the warriors of today, called at such a time as this to prepare the way for Him to crush the enemy under His feet….

There is a desire in my soul

That wants to conquer Goliath

And watch him fall….

This warrior within me never sleeps

And yearns to hear the angels’ call,

A call to battle to make the devil fall.

And when Christ comes in clouds so holy

He will conquer that enemy

And we will confess His glory.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Artist Unknown)