Since the Come Follow Me program has not assigned scripture study blocks for this coming week (due to General Conference) and the next (for Easter), I’ve decided to resist the temptations to a) continue ahead, or b) just skip posting anything all together - instead I’m sharing a talk I was asked to give in Sacrament meeting several years ago. Our Bishop approached me and asked if I would speak on a certain topic: the difference between “feeling the Spirit” and the emotional responses we can feel otherwise in day to day life. I think the topic is still relevant today and is an appropriate topic for a General Conference weekend. If you find that I had borrowed ideas from others in the preparation for this talk, you are likely right, but please forgive me.
Sacrament Meeting Talk: The Holy Spirit
What is the Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit:
· Will "teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance" (John 14:26)
· Will testify of Christ (John 15:26)
· Is the "spirit of revelation" and will "tell you in your mind and in your heart." (D&C 8:2-3)
· Causes men to speak the will of the Lord, the mind of the Lord, the word of the Lord, the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation (D&C 68:4)
· Will unfold the mysteries of God to them that diligently seek (1 Nephi 10:19)
· Remits your sins (2 Nephi 31:17)
· Cleanses you (Moroni 6:4)
· Sanctifies you (3 Nephi 27:20)
· Performs a mighty change to your spirit such that you are a “new creature” and no longer desire the things you once desired (Mosiah 5:2)
· Is the power by which angels speak (2 Nephi 32:3)
· Bears record of the Father and the Son (3 Nephi 11:32)
· Abides in you (Moses 6:61)
· Is the “record of heaven” (Moses 6:61)
· Comforts you (Moses 6:61)
· Is the truth of all things (Moses 6:61)
· Quickens all things and makes alive all things (Moses 6:61)
· Gives light to everyone that is born (D&C 84:46), both physical light (D&C 88:7) and intellectual or spiritual enlightenment (D&C 88:11)
· Knows all things (Moses 6:61)
· Has all power according to wisdom, mercy, truth, justice, judgement (Moses 6:61)
· Is the “mind of the Father” (LoF 5:2)
· And proceeds from God to fill the immensity of space (D&C 88:12)
· Will lead you to directly to Jesus Christ, if you will follow its promptings (2 Nephi 32:5-6)
Why Is Recognizing Spirit and Receiving the Holy Ghost So Critical?
According to the doctrine of Christ, the Holy Ghost will change our hearts, show us all things that we should do, and, if obeyed, will ultimately lead us to encounter Christ while yet in the flesh—which is the very definition of redemption. (2 Nephi 32:1-7; Ether 3:13)
Satan will do whatever he can to stop this from happening and his best strategy is to try to prevent us from recognizing and receiving the Holy Ghost by deceiving us with regards to what the Holy Spirit is, so that we think we are following God when we are not.
(2 Nephi 32; 1 Nephi 8; TPJS on discerning spirits, etc.)
Satan’s Deception: “Feeling the Spirit”
We speak so often of "feeling the Spirit" that it's just an everyday expression among LDS. We hear it and nod knowingly, having had many of the same experiences ourselves. Here are a few of the more common things we feel. See how many you have felt:
· Strong, even overwhelming, emotions
· Tears, crying, weeping
· Peace, warmth
· Chills, goosebumps
· Pounding heart, shaking, sweating from heat
· A "rushing" feeling in the body
· A feeling of being "filled" in the body
But music, movies, books, personal memories and even current events can also instigate these feelings. Is this the Holy Spirit? I can recall specific movie scenes that reliably produce these feelings every time I watch them.
Experience: I'll admit I'm moved when King Theoden in the film “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” rallies his cavalry to charge the enemy forces at 10 to 1 odds and certain death, in a desperate attempt to save their friends in the burning city. Every time I’ve watched it, I am filled with emotion at their sacrifice.
Is that the Holy Spirit? Should I bear my testimony that I KNOW The Lord of the Rings is true?
Differentiating Emotions, Thoughts, Our Spirit and the Holy Spirit
You are not your thoughts or emotions - the fact that you can think about your thoughts or choose to feel or not to feel certain emotions proves this point.
You are the "observer" because you can “watch” and “select” your thoughts and emotions (Mosiah 4:30). You can choose your own response to what happens to you. You are a spirit entity or intelligence in a mortal body who uses a brain and chemical system to think and experience emotions, which are biologically produced in the flesh.
But "fish discover water last" and since we are “swimming” constantly in thoughts and emotions and have been since mortal birth, it is very difficult to separate ourselves from them; but that is what meditation can do for you - you can observe them, transcend them, and ultimately choose not to be determined by them.
It is also critical to realize that emotions are not the Spirit! The Holy Spirit acts on your spirit and your body; your reaction to that interaction could trigger an emotion, a thought or a physical sensation - but so could your reaction to a good movie or piece of music.
To not be deceived, we must hearken to the voice of the Lord (Moses 4:4). To receive the Lord’s voice we must take the Holy Spirit for our guide (D&C 45:57). We must learn to hear the Lord’s voice through the Holy Spirit – it is about hearing Him, not feeling something!
HOW TO RECOGNIZE THE HOLY SPIRIT:
Testifying of Truth
One of the titles the Spirit holds is the “Spirit of Truth” (John 15:26; D&C 6:15), because it testifies of truth (John 16:13; Moroni 10:5). The Spirit testifies of all truth whenever it is encountered, regardless of who is speaking it. A speaker cannot “infuse” their words with the Spirit – they may try to manipulate the listener into thinking they have felt the Spirit (usually through emotions) but the Spirit doesn’t need the help and cannot be forced. Also, the Spirit does not withhold its testimony of a truth just because the speaker might be wicked or because some of the rest of the message is false.
All this makes it both harder and easier to recognize the Spirit. It is harder if you are focusing on the speaker and not the message - both because you may discount truth from someone without credential or someone you strongly believe is evil, or because you believe everything that others with “authority” may say or do is “true” without bothering to receive a confirmation from God through the Holy Spirit, despite the fact that no one is infallible. It is also harder if the listener is not seeking the Spirit or does not know how to recognize it when it testifies because they have certain expectations or assumptions about the Spirit that are incorrect.
It is easier if you are focusing solely on hearing the Lord’s voice through the Holy Spirit – easier because the Holy Spirit is real and God can teach you how to hear and recognize it. We will discuss four principles that will help us to do this more effectively.
1. Laboring In the Spirit
Before we talk about how to recognize the Spirit, let’s talk about a critical prerequisite that the Lord taught Oliver Cowdery when he wanted to try his hand at translating the Book of Mormon. Receiving revelation from God through the Holy Spirit requires labor born of faith in Christ. We must “study” the things of God out in our minds (D&C 8:8). We must exercise faith or act in a way completely aligned with our belief. We must be called up to serious reflection, pondering to ourselves and reflecting again and again, reading the scriptures and praying for light and knowledge (JSH; 1 Nephi 11:1).
And the first inclinations of the Spirit, after all this labor, may be like the touch of gossamer, barely there! But we must persist and follow those hardly perceptible answers, acting on them in faith, and the voice of the Lord will become more and more clear until He parts the veil and stands before us because we can’t be kept within it! (Ether 3:19-20)
So the first question is: how badly do I really want to know the answer to the question I am asking or blessing I am seeking for? Am I willing to labor in the Spirit for months or years to get it, and am I willing to change my life when asked to do so?
Experience: A year and a half after returning from my mission, my cousin had called me to repentance and taught me, through the Book of Mormon, about the baptism of fire. I immediately rejected the idea that after being a “come from behind victory” and serving a zealous mission that I had much to repent of, much less offer my whole soul as a fallen and lost creature in desperate need of salvation. But the Lord would not let it go and the thought that I had somehow missed the heart of the gospel haunted me! I began to study the doctrine for myself and started reflecting deeply on the state of my life: MTC teaching-BYU attending-returned missionary who was filled with self-righteous pride. But at the same time I knew in my heart that this doctrine was true and that the Lord could “snatch” me if He had mercy on me. I hungered and thirsted for this experience – I consumed the Book of Mormon, I went up on the backside of Mount Timpanogos and prayed in the woods many times, I served as many people as I could, I taught Sunday school at Church and pushed the envelope, as I perceived it, by preaching the concepts I was learning in scripture. But no mighty change of heart occurred. Finally, after 18 months of daily seeking, I went to the Lord in despair and admitted defeat. I put my desire to be born of God on the altar next to my whole soul, and with a truly broken heart pledged to Him that even if I never received the blessing that I so sought for in this life, I would do my best to love and follow His commandments, as blind and lost as I was. I finally sacrificed ALL of my desires, and less than a month later, my birth of the Spirit occurred.
2. Pure Intelligence:
TPJS pp.328, 151, 51, 149; 2 Nephi 32:5
The Holy Ghost communicates intelligence, light and knowledge to your mind. Joseph’s “pure intelligence” and “sudden strokes of ideas” refer to the experience of suddenly knowing something or realizing something you didn’t know a moment before, without being taught it. It’s just there! In time, the Holy Ghost will also teach us by showing us things – in your mind’s eye, at first. Seeing is usually better than hearing because of the wealth of information conveyed.
The second question to ask is: was any intelligence communicated? Was inspiration or new knowledge received?
Experience: When I prepare my Sunday school lessons I will read a passage and many times think: “I have no idea where to go with this. What questions could I even ask?” Then a question comes to my mind and I think “I have NO idea what the answer is to that.” I will continue to pray and think about it and then suddenly, I will have the answer and the answer will be rich and insightful and I will have never considered it before. I quickly write it down and then sit back and marvel out loud, “you guys are good!”
3. The Still, Small Voice:
1 Kings 19:12; 1 Nephi 17:45; Helaman 5:30; D&C 85:6; 3 Nephi 11:3-6; Moroni 10:4-5
The Holy Ghost speaks in a still small voice, not a powerful feeling. This means that we must quiet our mind and emotions to hear it – we must become attuned to its “frequency”, which if we do will have a physical affect upon our bodies, minds, and emotions as it interacts with our spirits. The voice of the Spirit sounds like your inner voice (D&C 8:2; John 14:26) because He brings all things to your remembrance and tells us in our mind and our heart…
The third question is: did I have to tune my heart to God to hear this message? This is dependent upon the sincerity of my heart, my real intent, and my faith in Christ.
Experience: Years ago I had a stake president who challenged us to spend the day in the Temple, where we would do 4 or 5 sessions in a day, back to back. On one such occasion, I was thinking about some of the symbolism found in the Temple during the first session but I couldn’t comprehend it. I kept thinking about it during the day and by the fourth session I was receiving so much insight about it (and other things) that I had to run to my locker to quickly scribble a couple of notes before the next session. But it had taken me that long to become attuned to the Lord’s frequency so that He could teach me.
4. The Fruits & Gifts of the Spirit
Galatians 5:22-23; D&C 46:7-8; Moroni 10:8-18; Ether 4:11-12; Moroni 7:12-16
This “pure intelligence” is accompanied by fruits of the spirit (states of being like love, joy, peace) and gifts of the spirit (divinely given talents like teaching with power, healing, miracles, prophesy, beholding angels). While an “evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign” (Matthew 12:39), Christ promised signs to those who believe (D&C 68:10; Mark 16:17, 20; Mormon 9:24; Ether 4:18; D&C 58:64; D&C 84:65) because signs follow faith (D&C 63:9-10) and confirm that what was received was from God.
The fourth question is: does it persuade me to do and be good, to enable me to bless others through spiritual abilities, to deepen my belief in Christ, to change my heart, and to truly love God?
Experience: I had been seeking the Lord diligently for 18 months when I experienced an “Alma the Younger” repentance event where I was racked with all my sins for three days and nights. On the morning of the fourth day, I awoke with the knowledge - through words in my head - that I was forgiven and changed. Despite the cold November morning as I walked to school, my body was filled with warmth but most of all I was filled with a love for the Lord, the intensity of which I had never felt previously (and this was after my mission) – in fact, the only thing I can equate it to was the feelings I had when I first held each of my babies. All I wanted to do was be righteous (keep the commandments – to the degree that I understood them); I had no desire to sin! And this state lasted for several months.
The Dangers of Believing That Emotions ARE the Spirit
Since the Holy Spirit is not emotion but can illicit an emotional response, when might it not illicit such a response? When the person is more cerebral than emotional. Some people think they have never felt the Spirit because they’ve never wept at a testimony or cried while reading the scriptures – this is a lie from Satan!
Since the same descriptions of the “emotional Spirit” are demonstrated in a good movie or book, some individuals disbelieve in the Spirit all together and accuse those who believe these things of deceived. Others manipulate the emotions of others, calling it the Spirit, to influence people to do what they would like them to do, in the name of God. Because the Spirit testifies of truth, they attempt to replicate a “spiritual experience” so that they can say “see, it’s true!” This is dangerous to both the deceived and the deceiver…
Experience: Years ago while I was on my mission, I went on splits with another missionary to teach a discussion. The missionary told the investigators a story about a crippled woman who wanted desperately to be able to kneel in prayer, despite the fact that she was confined to a wheelchair. The Elder took ten minutes to tell the story of her struggle to exit the chair and pray. It was a moving account and he, the investigator and myself were all in tears at the end of it. He identified the Holy Spirit to the investigators and challenged them to pray with the same diligence as the woman in the story. After we left I asked about the woman in the story – did the Elder teach her himself? Did she get baptized? The Elder looked at me and said, “the woman isn’t a real person. I tell that story to invite the Spirit and it works every time!” This answer did not sit right with me – I said “I thought the Holy Spirit was supposed to testify of truth?” He didn’t have a good answer for me.
Some people have told me that they’ve “felt a dark feeling” when talking with others about an uncomfortable spiritual or doctrinal or historical topic or while reading a book, including in some cases, the Book of Mormon – and that this was a sign to them that they were not feeling the Spirit, so the information was wrong or worse, inspired by Satan.
But how did Alma feel when he was harrowed up to such a decree that he wished to be extinct rather than enter God’s presence? Was it of God or did Satan want him to feel that way? Did Satan want Alma to cry out to God for mercy? Alma’s was the emotional response that all people have when they enter unprepared into the presence of a just and holy being who is filled with…the Holy Spirit! They can’t abide it and wish the rocks would fall on them to hide them from His Spirit. Is that Satan? No! But in a terrible twist of irony, they will feel more comfortable with the damned souls in hell than with the Lord in His glory. As I just shared with you, I’ve had that experience myself - the harrowing up was very much a product of the Holy Spirit because out of that came my complete desire to lay all things on the Lord’s altar, so that I could be reconciled with Him again. It is called Godly Sorrow and it is a spiritual gift.
Other people have told me that the reason the Holy Spirit touches our emotions is that our thoughts and mind can be hijacked by Satan but our emotions are a product of our spirits, so they can be trusted explicitly. This is not true, as we’ve just seen. Satan can hijack either thoughts or emotions.
When nothing has been communicated through a spiritual experience, but we still “feel” the Spirit, we may be sure we are feeling a “spirit” but it may not be from God – it may be our own emotions or it could be another spirit trying to deceive us (D&C 50:2-3).
Don’t confuse sentiment with enlightenment – settle for nothing less than revelation – true enlightenment from God! The Holy Spirit will change you fundamentally and lead you back into the presence of the Lord, as Nephi promised (see 2 Nephi 32:1-7), if you follow the promptings. I have entered the Gate and that is the path I am attempting to walk – and He wants us all to walk that path.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
