Yesterday I blogged about Our Saviour and how He is equal in every respect to His Father and today I am writing about the Adversary. The reason for this is that Evangelicals call us Satan's church, and this, I hope, will dispel that notion. This is a new photo of the London Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where we perform saving ordinances under the authority of the priesthood and make sacred covenants with the Lord to keep His commandments, to help us keep pure and unspotted from the world.
The Devil
Latter-day revelation confirms the biblical teaching that the devil is a reality and that he does strive to lead men and women from the work of God. One of the major techniques of the devil is to cause human beings to think they are following God’s ways, when in reality they are deceived by the devil to follow other paths.
Since the devil and his premortal angels have no physical body of flesh and bones, they often seek to possess the bodies of mortal beings. There are many such instances recorded in scripture (Matt. 9:32; 12:22; Mark 1:24; 5:7;Luke 8:30; Acts 19:15; cf. Mosiah 3:6). Such can be evicted by the power of faith in Jesus Christ and the exercise of the holy priesthood. Jesus gave this power to his disciples (Matt. 10:1; Mark 16:17; Luke 10:17; Acts 5:16; D&C 84:67).
The devil is called the prince of this world (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11); the adversary (1 Pet. 5:8); Beelzebub, meaning the prince of the devils (Mark 3:22); the wicked one (Matt. 13:38); the enemy (Matt. 13:39); Lucifer (Isa. 14:12; D&C 76:26); Satan (Rev. 12:9); prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2–3); Perdition (D&C 76:26); son of the morning (D&C 76:26–27); that old serpent (Rev. 12:9; D&C 76:28); the great dragon (Rev. 12:7–9); a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44); a liar from the beginning (D&C 93:25); and the accuser (Rev. 12:10).
He is miserable in his situation, and “stirreth up the children of men unto secret combinations of murder and all manner of secret works of darkness” (2 Ne. 9:9). He tries to imitate the work of God by transforming himself nigh unto an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:12–15; 2 Ne. 9:9; D&C 128:20). He is also a worker of miracles, by which he deceives many upon the earth (Rev. 13:1–15). In fact, the scripture says he deceives the whole world (Rev. 12:9). He can cite scripture to make his point seem plausible (Matt. 4:1–11). All of this is his scheme to make man miserable like himself. Protection against the influence of the devil is found by obedience to the commandments and laws of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The message of all the prophets and apostles is that truth, righteousness, and peace shall in the end prevail over error, sin, and war; the faithful shall triumph over all their afflictions and enemies, and shall triumph over the devil. There shall be a complete and lasting victory of righteousness over wickedness on this earth, which will be done by the power of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Comments on the Above
It will be noted that in paragraph 2 it advises how the devil and his angels can be evicted by the power of faith. If this were his church, would he be telling us how to get rid of him? If we keep the commandments, we need have no fear of Satan and his cohorts and we shall have the gift of the Holy Ghost, providing that it has been bestowed by the correct authority.
Great explanation Mike. As always your research is thorough and you explanation concise. I wish that the detractors would use as much evidence and reference as you do. I think some of these comments in the media are defamatory and liable.
ReplyDeleteThe real issue remains the uneducated masses. Tragically in the past organized religion attempted to keep the masses from educating themselves; today they are just to lazy and follow " he who makes the most noise." Satan's plan