Jesus Christ seemed concerned in this section that Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery are sure that they have received information, confirmation and direction from the Holy Ghost. In fact in vs 28 he gives the notorious "in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established." But in previous verses He points out personal experiences to verify this process and truth:
- vs 14: "as often as thou hast inquired thou hast received instruction of my Spirit. If it had not been so, thou wouldst not have come to the place where thou art at this time."
- vs 15: "Behold, thou knowest that thou thast inquired of me and I did enlighten thy mind; and now I tell thee these things that thou mayest know that thou hast been enlightened by the Spirit of truth"
- vs 16: "I tell thee , that thou mayest know that there is none else save God that knowest thy thoughts and the intents of thy heart."
- vs 23: "Did I not speak peace to you mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God?"
- My favorite: "Behold, thou art Oliver, and I have spoken unto thee." How much more proof do you need to know that the Savior knows you than Him verifying that He knows your name.
It is wonderful that we can receive answers and confirmation of who we are from God. It is wonderful that the Spirit offers identifiable feelings, thoughts and experiences to indicate answers. Sometimes though, when we receive answers, we recognize them and hopefully act upon them, but there are other answers that come that we don't recognize until the question/situation is over with. I'm going to think back on answers I've received and ponder on the peripheral answers that I didn't give much attention to, but have blessed my life.
It is truly awesome that we have a Heavenly Father who answers our prayers so surely. I love that we are encouraged over and over to pray for ourselves and receive personal witness. It sticks out in my mind the most when Nephi does it to receive confirmation of his father's vision and receives the same vision for himself while his brothers murmur and never bother asking.
ReplyDeleteI love vs 23 where Christ tells them that the Holy Ghost is the Greatest witness from God. It is the most powerful witness of the truth. Ironically, it is easy for those of us who are raised in the church to forget this because we are so accustomed to it. The Holy Ghost is a more powerful witness than the visit of an Angel. I think it is more powerful because we have to do some work to keep his presence with us and because when we doubt the Holy Ghost can reaffirm our witness. I remember when I first got engaged to Matt I would occasionally start freaking out a bit about the huge commitment and life step we were taking but every time I would start to doubt I would say a little prayer and I would feel the spirit once again affirm that he was the right choice. So amazing!
I also found vs 4 and 5 interesting:
4 Yea, whosoever will thrust in his sickle and reap, the same is called of God.
5 Therefore, if you will ask of me you shall receive; if you will knock it shall be opened unto you.
I had a friend tell me that her mother told her to never pray about two things- moving out of Utah and having another child. Her mother said the answer to those questions is always yes.
While that may not be true about those two things it is true about missionary work.