The devil did not make this earth. It never belonged to him, and never will; but Lucifer was cast down to the earth with the third part of the hosts of heaven, and they have dwelt here until today. They remain here yet; and they have had their effect upon the hearts and minds and lives of the children of men for nearly six thousand years-from the time that man was cast out of the Garden of Eden into the cold and dreary world.
President Wilford Woodruff, "The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff", compiled by G. Homer Durham
Let's think about the opposition we all face for a second. It's easy to chalk the devil and his angels up to being a fairy tale of some sort. For the most part, we have never been face to face with him. We may have felt his influence or seen something unexplainable at some point, but, in this mortal life, it's easy to go on with our lives as if he isn't aware of us at all, or be nonchalant about it altogether.
Now think about this....1/3 of all of Heavenly Father's children were cast out with Satan and are now his minions. Elder George Q. Cannon estimated that to be about one hundred thousand million spirits that were cast down to this earth. And how many of Heavenly Father's children were born onto this earth today? Almost 8 billion. So, one hundred thousand million is roughly 100 billion spirits against 8 billion living today? That's roughly 90-100 evil spirits to every single person living.
Now, there are some people living who easily succumb to the evil spirits' influence, like we see with some politicians (did I say that out loud?...sorry), so they hardly need 100 spirits around them, maybe just 1. Then there are some, Iike President Russell M. Nelson, who are surrounded with literally thousands of evil spirits trying to bring him down.
This makes me wonder if I have less than or more than 100 evil spirits around me. And should I consider it a compliment to have more than 100? 😁
Last thought....I think about Christ and His Atonement....there He was, in Gethsemane, against Satan and his minions. They knew of the significance of this event. It is not difficult to suppose that all 100 billion spirits were there trying to make Christ fail. Can you even imagine? Even with the angel God sent to support Christ, that is not fathomable to me. 100 billion downright evil spirits, not to mention the grand master of evil himself, against the Son of God.
And some say the war against good and evil is not real and is not happening right now?