Getting Defensive

Now that I've finished my detour with Moroni, which is strongly connected to the thought I had planned next, I'd like to return to Elder Hale's talk by repeating an anecdote he shared toward the beginning of his talk:

When I was in the ninth grade, I returned from my first out-of-town game with the varsity baseball team. My father discerned that on the long bus ride home I had witnessed language and behavior that was not in harmony with the standards of the gospel. Being a professional artist, he sat down and drew a picture of a knight—a warrior capable of defending castles and kingdoms. 

As he drew and read from the scriptures, I learned how to be a faithful priesthood holder—to protect and defend the kingdom of God. The words of the Apostle Paul were my guide: 

“Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 

“Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 

“And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 

“Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 

“And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” 

Brethren, if we are faithful in the priesthood, this armor will be given to us as a gift from God. We need this armor! 

Young men, your fathers and grandfathers never faced the temptations that you face on a regular basis. You are living in the last days. If your father wanted to get in trouble, he had to go searching for it. Not anymore! Today temptation finds you! Please remember that! Satan desires to have you, and “sin lieth at the door.” How will you resist his aggressive tactics? Put on the whole armor of God.

I want to emphasize that last paragraph. According to this, Satan's being more aggressive now than he's been in the past. I'm a little bit surprised by that. In my mind, I'm reminded of something Alma the Younger said to his son, Corianton, "Behold, I say unto you, is not a soul at this time as precious unto God as a soul will be (or was) at the time of his coming?" (Alma 39:17) What's so special about us? Why would Satan fight harder for our souls than he fought for our fathers and grandfathers?

I don't know the reason for it, but I do know that he is fighting harder now than he has been, because I've been told that by a prophet of God. I don't think God would allow false doctrine to be taught in General Conference without President Monson standing up and correcting it shortly thereafter (which I'm guessing is part of the reason he always gets the last word in Conference). I've gone off on a tangent here. Time to refocus.

Again, with Elder Hales as it was with Captain Moroni, the call to arms is a call for defense. "How will you resist [Satan's] aggressive tactics?" Elder Hales asked, "Put on the whole armor of God." Concerning the subject of defense, I'm reminded of a group of Lamanites who had an encounter with Amalickiah as he was rising to power. As I recall, they had a pretty good strategy against him:

And it came to pass that they had gathered themselves together upon the top of the mount which was called Antipas, in preparation to battle.

And they had appointed a man to be a king and a leader over them, being fixed in their minds with a determined resolution that they would not be subjected to go against the Nephites. (Alma 47: 7&6)

They played defense, and it worked out great for them until they let their guard down.

I guess my point is that we don't need to attack other people or their beliefs, but we do need to defend our faith whenever and however it's attacked. There are a lot of Spiritual Lamanites out there, and Satan is fighting harder than he's ever fought before (probably. He's certainly fighting harder than he was a generation ago). We need to be ready to withstand those attacks.