Revelation

Joseph said,

A man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge, for if he does not get knowledge, he will be brought into captivity by some evil power in the other world, as evil spirits will have more knowledge, and consequently more power than many men who are on the earth. Hence it needs revelation to assist us, and give us knowledge of the things of God. (Joseph Smith, TPJS, p. 154.)

Publicly available knowledge is insufficient to save. Rather, there is a discrete portion of knowledge that every person must obtain through individual revelation before they can be saved. Assuming that the general commandments are sufficient to save is a common error. It is not enough to simply follow the general commandments. What is publicly available is not sufficient to become like Jesus is. The Pharisees argued against Jesus’ teachings because they “ha[d] the law for [their] salvation.” He told his disciples to:

Say unto them, Ask of God; ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and unto him that knocketh, it shall be opened. And then said his disciples unto him, They will say unto us, We ourselves are righteous, and need not that any man should teach us. God, we know, heard Moses and some of the prophets; but us he will not hear. And they will say, We have the law for our salvation, and that is sufficient for us. Then Jesus answered, and said unto his disciples, Thus shall ye say unto them, What man among you, having a son, and he shall be standing out, and shall say, Father, open thy house that I may come in and sup with thee, will not say, Come in, my son; for mine is thine, and thine is mine? (JST Matthew 7:12-17.)

The purpose of what is publicly available is not to make someone like Jesus, but to bring them to the gate of personal revelation available through the Holy Ghost.

...For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost. And then are ye in this strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life; yea, ye have entered in by the gate; ye have done according to the commandments of the Father and the Son; and ye have received the Holy Ghost, which witnesses of the Father and the Son, unto the fulfilling of the promise which he hath made, that if ye entered in by the way ye should receive. And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save. Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life. (2 Nephi 31:17-20.)

It is the “unspeakable” teachings¹ revealed through the Holy Ghost that bring an individual to be like Jesus. Revelation through the Holy Ghost is the way appointed to take a man from his fallen state to the point where he receives the promise of eternal life. Nephi taught that this path is to “feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.” (2 Nephi 32:3.) He said these words—those that tell us what to do to come back to his presence in this life—come through the Holy Ghost: “if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do.” (2 Nephi 32:5.)

Jesus taught quite plainly, particularly in the book of John, that a direct, real relationship with him was required for eternal life. The pinnacle of eternal knowledge comes as a face to face relationship with God himself. As John put it, this knowledge is one and the same as eternal life. “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:3) As Nephi, Joseph, and other prophets have taught, the way we come up to this experience is by following the words of God given to the individual by the Holy Ghost.

Behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and there will be no more doctrine given until after he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh. And when he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh, the things which he shall say unto you shall ye observe to do. (2 Nephi 32:6.)

This path will lead a man to a face-to-face encounter with Christ, redeeming him from the fall.² This experience of meeting Christ “in the flesh” is called the Second Comforter. What greater thing could Heavenly Father reveal to an individual than his son Jesus Christ? Some believe in the existence of this ordinance, but consider it to be either reserved for those of particular church office or otherwise unnecessary. This experience is not a voyeuristic endeavor, but a requirement to attain exaltation.³

The possession of knowledge provided through revelation is not optional. It is the means by which a fallen man obtains eternal life. Although others who have attained more can show us the path they travelled to get to where they are, one man’s salvation is insufficient to save another man.⁴ Just as the Holy Ghost can only lead us to the point where Christ himself must teach us, the teachings and witnesses of men can only lead us to the point where the Holy Ghost can teach us. Remaining forever in dependence to another man for spiritual knowledge can never yield eternal life. Joseph taught that it is not sufficient for us to merely believe the expression of others' knowledge. He said,

Search the scriptures...and ask your Heavenly Father, in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, to manifest the truth unto you, and if you do it with an eye single to his glory nothing doubting, He will answer you by the power of His Holy Spirit. You will then know for yourselves and not for another. You will not then be dependent on man for the knowledge of God; nor will there be any room for speculation. No; for when men receive their instruction from Him that made them, they know how He will save... (Joseph Smith, TPJS, p. 5.)

Because all gospel progress relies upon one's ability to receive individual revelation, a correct understanding of revelation through the Holy Ghost is the single most important bit of knowledge to obtain in the gospel. As the conduit through which all knowledge is received, a misunderstanding of what revelation is, how it is received, by whom it is received, or upon what topics it can be received can damn a person more immediately than anything else.

Topics on Which Revelation is Given

Joseph taught that there is a discrete portion of knowledge required to be saved. What happens when an individual believes that God would never grant revelation on some bit of that required portion of knowledge? That person will be damned, because he can never acquire the knowledge necessary for salvation.

It is of utmost importance to understand a very simple fact: God will grant revelation on any truth. Put differently, “by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.” (Moroni 10:5.) God will reveal all things. All means everything! Nothing is withheld. There were no caveats given here, and you won’t find any throughout scripture. In every case, the topics are boundless. There is no exception made for “things outside of your stewardship,” no exceptions made for doctrinal topics, and no exclusion of issues being considered by church leaders. You can know the truth of all things, including whether church policies are God’s will, whether or not the home teaching lesson is true doctrine, whether or not your neighbor ought to take the job she’s been mulling over,⁵ and whether Joseph Smith practiced polygamy.

We are not only allowed to ask for revelation on any subject, we are commanded to. Besides all the explicit commands to ask, seek, and knock,⁶ we are also commanded to be like children. The boundless questioning best characterized by children is the type of attitude that brought about Joseph's first encounter with God. He read James 1:5 and really believed that God would not upbraid—or scold—him for his questions, no matter how taboo, unpopular, or indiscrete his questions might be. Do you suppose that Joseph would have ever had the faith to ask such bold questions (notably pertaining to the religion of his parents) if he had been taught that only his church leaders could pray about church doctrines being true or not? Perhaps this is one element of God's command that we should be like children. “And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3.)

“All things” must necessarily include those things not currently known or understood. Many today are taught that it is only acceptable to question God when the answer is already known. For example, Elder Oaks once equated “seeking answers to mysteries” with “a strong desire to understand everything about every principle of the gospel,” which he called an invitation for Satan to lead the seeker into apostasy.⁷ “Everything” and “all” are synonymous, meaning that having “a strong desire to understand everything about every principle of the gospel” is exactly what God commands us to do! This position stands in direct defiance of God's word.

Meanwhile, the term “mysteries” merely means anything in the gospel that is not common knowledge. This can include both things that have never been revealed as well as things that have previously been revealed but which are presently misunderstood. Therefore, those who council you to avoid seeking the mysteries of the gospel is akin to someone telling you that you are not permitted to ask questions except when the answer to those questions is already known. Besides being illogical, this position stands in opposition to God's word on the topic, as he not only promises that mysteries will be revealed to those who are faithful,⁸ but also commands us (twice) to seek for the mysteries of God:

Seek not for riches but for wisdom; and, behold, the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto you, and then shall you be made rich. Behold, he that hath eternal life is rich. (D&C 11:7 and D&C 6:7.)

Further support for an expectation that God will reveal that which has not yet been revealed is codified in the “Articles of Faith”:

We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. (Article of Faith 9.)

In yet another example, Nephi is told that all who search the mysteries of God diligently will be answered, and also that this is the duty of the Holy Ghost:

For he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost, as well in these times as in times of old, and as well in times of old as in times to come; wherefore, the course of the Lord is one eternal round. (1 Nephi 10:19.)

Some claim that God limits his definition of “all things” according to the church callings a person might have. These statements almost always inject legalistic phrases, such as “for the entire church”, that are not present in God's description of “all things.” For example,

When one person purports to receive revelation for another person outside his or her own area of responsibility—such as a Church member who claims to have revelation to guide the entire Church or a person who claims to have a revelation to guide another person over whom he or she has no presiding authority according to the order of the Church—you can be sure that such revelations are not from the Lord. (Elder Dallin H. Oaks, “Eight Ways God Can Speak to You,” Ensign Sept 2004.)

Another example:

First, we should understand what can be called the principle of 'stewardship in revelation.'....Only the president of the Church receives revelation to guide the entire Church. Only the stake president receives revelation for the special guidance of the stake. The person who receives revelation for the ward is the bishop. For a family, it is the priesthood leadership of the family. Leaders receive revelation for their own stewardships. Individuals can receive revelation to guide their own lives. But when one person purports to receive revelation for another person outside his or her own stewardship—such as a Church member who claims to have revelation to guide the entire Church or a person who claims to have a revelation to guide another person over whom he or she has no presiding authority according to the order of the Church—you can be sure that such revelations are not from the Lord. (Elder Dallin H. Oaks, “Revelation”, Sep 29, 1981 BYU devotional.)

Recall that God makes no mention of “the order of the church” or “authority” when he defines all things. When an individual believes God will not tell him something, he will not be able to ask in faith. Nor will he believe if the revelation comes without asking. Suppose you were minding your own business one evening, praying for the welfare of a neighbor you knew was going through hard times. Suppose further that God unexpectedly answered your prayer for the welfare of that person by giving you a message on their behalf with the command to deliver it. Would you do so? Would you believe God, or would you assume it was all a figment of your imagination?

In reality, God would rather us not set limits on what he can reveal. We are promised that he “upbraideth not,” or in other words, does not balk at the topics of the questions we might ask him. What would have happened if young Joseph Smith presupposed that, because he was not a leader of a church, he could not ask which of all churches was true?

Instead, we are told that what a person learns from God is limited not by calling or stewardship, but by the heed and diligence an individual exerts to obtain all truth:

`And now Alma began to expound these things unto him, saying: It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him. (Alma 12:9.)`

How well you obey what you have been told and how hard you search for more are the only limiting factors in what God reveals to you. Joseph reiterated this principle when he taught that “if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.” (D&C 130:19.) This is not limited in any way by what your leaders do or don't know. It is totally possible for you or anyone else to know more than your leaders know. Some balk at this possibility, but the situation is guaranteed if you exercise greater heed and diligence in searching than they do.⁹ Joseph challenged others to learn more than he knew, if they could: “God hath not revealed anything to Joseph, but what he will make known unto the Twelve, and even the least Saint may know all things as fast as he is able to bear them...”¹⁰ If the most ignorant Saint exerts greater diligence and obedience than another, no matter whether the other be a Pope or a President, that ignorant Saint will soon be in possession of greater knowledge than the other. God does not tether what an individual can know to what level of knowledge his church leaders have attained—such defies the law of heaven.

Brigham Young echoed the same sentiment. He said,

My knowledge is, if you will follow the teachings of Jesus Christ and his Apostles, as recorded in the New Testament, every man and woman will be put in possession of the Holy Ghost; every person will become a Prophet, Seer, and Revelator, and an expounder of truth. They will know things that are, that will be, and that have been. They will understand things in heaven, things on the earth, and things under the earth, things of time, and things of eternity, according to their several callings11 and capacities. (Brigham Young, JD 1:243.)

If Joseph was right in teaching that there is a discrete portion of knowledge required to be saved, and an individual came to believe that God would never grant revelation on some bit of that required portion, that person could never be saved. This is why it is critically important to understand that God has not, does not, and will not ever limit the topics on which revelation can be received.

Revelation can Contradict Traditions

The Catholics have long believed that revelation that counters the tradition of their elders cannot be from God:

A true mystic or visionary will always obey the legitimate religious superiors and authorities in the Church. We can be sure that if a mystic or seer is in any way disobedient to the local Bishop or their religious Superiors, then the alleged revelations and messages cannot be authentic. God's graces flow through His Church in union with the legitimate authority (ie—Pope, Bishops, Religious Superiors) that He Himself has established.12

To claim that revelation cannot contradict tradition is to claim that leaders are infallible, a position that is overwhelmingly refuted by historical examples of repeated deviation of religious tradition from God’s revealed law. For example, Jesus showed through precept and example that the leaders of his time lived a tradition that contradicted God’s. When asked why his disciples “transgress[ed] the tradition of the elders,” “he answered and said unto them, ‘Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?’” (Matthew 15:2-3.) In this case Jesus was referring to God’s word as recorded in the scriptures.

Unfortunately, some in the LDS church take¹³ the same position as the Catholics:

In 1912 the first presidency warned, ‘“When visions, dreams, tongues, prophecy, impressions or an extraordinary gift or inspiration, convey something out of harmony with the accepted revelations of the Church or contrary to the decisions that its constituted authorities, latter-day saints may know that it is not of God no matter how plausible it may appear. (1912 First Presidency Letter, recently quoted by Elder Oaks.)

Besides contradicting God’s word and logic, it seems rather ironic that any in the church would adopt a position that would discredit the experience of its founder by arguing the impossibility of anyone having a similar experience. Joseph’s “visions, dreams, and prophecies” strongly opposed the position of the constituted authorities of his time. God uses revelation to point out the false traditions that have been embraced contrary to the scriptures. Without allowing such corrections, an institution cuts itself off from God’s attempts to point out errors that have crept in.¹⁴

The Book of Mormon clearly teaches that the Spirit supersedes man’s traditions. Nephi was taught why his understanding was incorrect in assuming that God prohibited all killing. He was commanded to kill Laban by the Spirit despite the tradition that killing was always a sin. King Benjamin openly credited his people’s access to the scriptures as having prevented their adoption of traditions that would have contradicted God’s word:

I say unto you, my sons, were it not for these things, which have been kept and preserved by the hand of God, that we might read and understand of his mysteries, and have his commandments always before our eyes, that even our fathers would have dwindled in unbelief, and we should have been like unto our brethren, the Lamanites, who know nothing concerning these things, or even do not believe them when they are taught them, because of the traditions of their fathers, which are not correct. (Mosiah 1:5.)

Merely having the scriptures was insufficient. They had to have them “always before [their] eyes.” Not only that, but they obviously had to believe that the scriptures held precedent to any innovations by their leaders. They had to take God’s word as a higher authority than man’s word, or words from men claimed to be God’s. To king Benjamin’s people, the scriptures were a primal source of truth, and men’s traditions and innovations were to be measured against scripture.

Although the scriptures can and should be used to separate God’s word from man’s tradition, they are not the supreme source of distinction. It is the Spirit—and only the Spirit—that can divide truth from error and reveal the truth of all things.¹⁵

If we accept that men, even leaders, can be incorrect, and we know that the Spirit can and does reveal the truth of all things, we must accept that the Spirit can and will reveal to us discrepancies between the positions espoused by church leaders and God’s will.

The “great apostasy” occurred because church leaders made changes based on committee decisions instead of revelation.¹⁶ Unwilling to follow the doctrines as given by their dispensation head, they were unable to receive new revelation, and therefore substituted their own ideas for God’s word.¹⁷ As innovations and the commandments of men replace the commandments of God, the need for an individual to sift through the philosophies of men to reveal and reclaim the revelations given to the dispensation head increases. In short, the importance of personal revelation increases as the receipt of institutional revelation decreases.

Frequency of Revelation

The Book of Mormon describes how often Nephi and Lehi from the book of Helaman received revelation:

And in the seventy and ninth year there began to be much strife. But it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi, and many of their brethren who knew concerning the true points of doctrine, having many revelations daily, therefore they did preach unto the people, insomuch that they did put an end to their strife in that same year. (Helaman 11:23.)

The Book of Mormon not only tells us that these two received many revelations daily, but that their knowledge depended upon those revelations. They are not alone in experiencing a high frequency of revelation. Jesus himself, our supreme example, said that God commanded him in all things.¹⁸ Such consummate guidance would surely require many revelations daily.

Are individuals who receive frequent revelations rare? The Book of Mormon is a wonderful experiment for this question. How often do we see God communicating with individuals in the Book of Mormon? If you were to highlight every passage that describes God communicating with individuals, you will find that almost every verse of almost every page is highlighted. The Book of Mormon is an overwhelming evidence that God is exceedingly willing—even anxious—to communicate to individuals through revelation. So why don’t we receive more revelations?

The frequency of revelation is diminished under certain circumstances. Nephi received the Liahona, which would give them instruction from time to time “according to the faith and diligence and heed which we did give unto [it].” (1 Nephi 16:28.) Alma later taught that revelation works the same way:

And now Alma began to expound these things unto him, saying: It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him. (Alma 12:9.)

To heed is to take notice of. Diligence means persistent effort. Those who believe God speaks only infrequently, and that revelations are something exceptional and out of the norm will never exercise sufficient heed and diligence. Consequently, they will receive revelation far less often than they otherwise could. If you want more revelation, believe and obey the revelation you already have.¹⁹

Unbelief in God’s expressed desire to give us many revelations dramatically hinders its receipt. Modern Mormons teach that revelation is infrequent and unnecessary:

Revelation is not constant. The Lord’s way puts limits on how often He will speak to us by His Spirit. Not understanding this, some have been misled by expecting revelations too frequently. (Elder Dallin H. Oaks, “In his own time, in his own way,” Ensign August 2013.)

I have learned that strong, impressive spiritual experiences do not come to us very frequently. (President Boyd K. Packer, “The Candle of the Lord,” January 1983.)

Let me say first that we have a great body of revelation, the vast majority of which came from the prophet Joseph Smith. We don't need much revelation. We need to pay more attention to the revelation we've already received. (SF Gate, “SUNDAY INTERVIEW—Musings of the Main Mormon / Gordon B. Hinckley” April 13, 1997.)

If you believe that God will not give many revelations, you will not seek to have many revelations, and you will not believe them if you do receive them.

Nephi warned of those in our day who would state that we have enough revelation. “Wo be unto him that shall say: We have received the word of God, and we need no more of the word of God, for we have enough!” (2 Nephi 28:29.) Such satiety is a contrasting emotion to that expressed by the Book of Mormon prophets, whose desire for the word of God was never quenched. When left to choose between the modern examples quoted, and Lehi and Nephi, we must ask ourselves which example will draw us closer to the example given by the Lord? It is wrong to be satisfied in the consequences of living below our privileges.

If an individual believes that God does not want to be bothered with our questions, will he bother asking? Will God answer a question that remains unanswered? Jesus commands his followers to seek, ask, and knock an absurd number of times (see, for example, Matthew 7:7, D&C 11:5, D&C 4:7, Luke 11:9, D&C 6:5, 3 Nephi 27:29, etc.). Those who teach that God has limited how often he will give revelation, and encourage individuals not to ask, seek, and knock stand in opposition to Christ.

Revelation is Information, Not Emotion

As described at the outset, there is a discrete quantity of knowledge that has to be gained via personal revelation in order for a man to be saved. You cannot get there through accumulating emotion, but rather knowledge. The exclusive mechanism designed to convey that knowledge is individual revelation through the Holy Ghost. Therefore, it is supremely important to understand what is and what is not revelation.

The 2014 priesthood and relief society manual quotes President Benson as teaching “We hear the words of the Lord most often by a feeling. If we are humble and sensitive, the Lord will prompt us through our feelings.”²⁰ This is false doctrine.

Revelation is informational, not emotional. It consists of the conveyance of knowledge, intelligence, light, and truth. As Joseph taught, “This first comforter or Holy Ghost has no other effect than pure intelligence.”

Joseph taught that it wasn’t easy to recognize the Holy Ghost’s effect. He said that the key to learning to recognize the Holy Ghost is to notice when pure intelligence flows into you: A person may profit by noticing the first intimation of the spirit of revelation; for instance, when you feel pure intelligence flowing into you, it may give you sudden strokes of ideas, so that by noticing it, you may find it fulfilled the same day or soon; (i.e.,) those things that were presented unto your minds by the Spirit of God, will come to pass; and thus by learning the Spirit of God and understanding it, you may grow into the principle of revelation, until you become perfect in Christ Jesus. (Joseph Smith, TPJS, p. 151.)

Joseph indicated that at least some of the intelligence conveyed through revelation consists of predictions about the future. These predictions serve as signposts to validate the other instructions received in the same “sudden strokes of ideas.” Notice that Joseph omits the description of feelings as an indicator of the Holy Ghost or revelation. To Joseph, revelation was informational, not emotional. It is this information that is required to bring a fallen man up to the character of Christ, which is required to merit salvation. For, as quoted before,

A man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge, for if he does not get knowledge, he will be brought into captivity by some evil power in the other world, as evil spirits will have more knowledge, and consequently more power than many men who are on the earth. Hence it needs revelation to assist us, and give us knowledge of the things of God. (Joseph Smith, TPJS, p. 154.)

The essentiality of personal revelation for salvation is the driving force behind the need for baptism. Baptism gives access to the channel through which God will teach us what we need to know to come up from our lost and fallen state to where we need to be to merit salvation. Nephi describes baptism as the entrance to the way or path to eternal life. The receipt of constant additional knowledge through the Holy Ghost advances us along this path, which culminates in a personal encounter with Christ:

For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do. Behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and there will be no more doctrine given until after he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh. And when he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh, the things which he shall say unto you shall ye observe to do. (2 Nephi 32:56.)

This same journey is depicted in the endowment ceremony, where Adam and Eve progress along the path by heeding the light and truth they have already received, and receiving more. Never in the endowment does God send Adam and Eve feelings to advance them along this path. Instead, God sends messages consisting of new information that helps them become more like Christ.

One stumbling block that prevents recognition that revelation is not emotion is the concept that the fruits of the Spirit are “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance.” (Galatians 5:17.) Therefore, one may conclude, if I feel love, joy, or peace (all feelings), I am receiving revelation and/or am under the persuasion of the Holy Ghost. Unfortunately, this common understanding is taken out of context and, as will be explained momentarily, has damning consequences. Because emotions are a product of the carnal natural man, they lead one in a course away from God by both encouraging ungodly behavior that feels good and by discouraging godly behavior that is difficult or painful. Receiving emotions as revelation blinds the individual to their true state before God: they both cannot see that they do not receive any or much real revelation and are shielded from the productive conclusion that repentance of false tradition or willful sin is required in order to receive real revelation.

When Paul uses the words love, joy, and peace, he is not describing what it feels like to have the Spirit with you. He is describing the works of one who is guided by the Spirit, and contrasting that to the works of one who is guided by the flesh:

Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:19-23.)

Just as the fruit of the tree of life is not the iron rod, but the result of walking the iron rod, peace, love, and joy are the fruits received by those who respond obediently to the information conveyed by the Holy Ghost. Incidentally, Paul also describes the “fruit” of the Spirit in another letter, here again speaking of them as what a person guided by the Spirit will produce in their lives, not what it feels like to have the Spirit communicate something to you:

Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. (Ephesians 5:6-10.)

Emotion, peace, or love are not the voice of the Spirit. Rather, a person might respond with these emotions upon hearing the information communicated by the voice of the Spirit. Emotions are not the content of revelation, although they can be a reaction to it.

A telltale sign that a message is from God is that a person is edified afterward. What is edification? God told Oliver and Joseph:

Verily, verily, I say unto thee, blessed art thou for what thou hast done; for thou hast inquired of me, and behold, 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. Behold, thou knowest that thou hast 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; (D&C 6:14-15.)

In other words, you can know you were enlightened by the Spirit of truth, because your mind received instruction that you did not have before. Edification, then, is knowing more than you did previously.

The most pure and noble emotions can be summoned on demand, and then can evaporate just as quickly as they came, all without causing any lasting change in the person, all without effecting a change in that person's character. A mundane movie can elicit high emotion, but the effects are fleeting. Truth, on the other hand, changes people. It edifies them, because as a result of embracing it they become more like Jesus in thought, word, and deed. If it comes by any other way, it is not of God.

Real Revelation Frequently Causes Negative Feelings

A misunderstanding that peace and love are the message from God leads men to reject the sizeable quantity of revelations from God that evoke negative emotions. Deep sorrow, fear, or distress are not signals that the message received is not from God. They are valid responses to real revelation. For example, the response of Lehi’s family upon reading the words on the Liahona:

And it came to pass that when my father beheld the things which were written upon the ball, he did fear and tremble exceedingly, and also my brethren and the sons of Ishmael and our wives. (1 Nephi 16:27.)

Considering peace, love, and joy to always accompany God's messages²¹ is damning. Consider the prophets of the scriptures. How many messages did they receive from God that gave them peace, love, and joy? Isaiah described his horror when God revealed to him his nothingness. Moses collapsed in weakness after being in the presence of God. Isaiah certainly did not click his heels in joy when God instructed him to travel naked for three years as a sign to Israel. Hosea was instructed to marry a whore. Peter was shown how he would die ignominiously. Young Hezekiah, who had served God at great travail in a time of abhorrent wickedness, was told he would shortly die. All of these messages were from God, and none conveyed anything close to peace, love, and joy. If these men of God used modern Mormonism’s criteria for revelation, they would have dismissed God’s instructions to them as false revelation. They would have cut themselves off from God through disobedience to his word, being in open rebellion against God.

Negative feelings from revelation can come because God is revealing a difficult assignment to us, like asking Isaiah to go without clothing for three years as a sign to Israel. But it can also come because you are being presented with something that is so radically different to what you currently believe. Interpreting negative emotions as a negative signal from God assures that the most important revelations—those that call us to abandon our false idols and false traditions—will be rejected due to misinterpreting negative feelings as a negative sign from God. These negative feelings can be cognitive dissonance, a well-known and well-studied phenomenon that occurs when one's actions, beliefs, and understanding of truth jolt out of alignment, usually as the result of learning something new. If we believe that the purpose of individual revelation is to teach us the things we currently do not know, or point out the things about which we are mistaken, we ought to expect cognitive dissonance as a regular occurrence and a hallmark of spiritual growth.²² An absence of this feeling would indicate a lack of spiritual growth. The solution for it is to bring your actions and beliefs into accord with your newly expanded understanding of truth.

It is not negative feelings, but positive ones, that are a rare commodity among men of God in the scriptures. The Spirit led those men from one tragedy to another, not from one exuberant ecstasy to another. The treasure of these men was in heaven—found in a face-to-face encounter with angels and God himself—not on earth in the form of temporal happiness or worldly peace. Jesus said plainly that the peace he gives is NOT as the world gives. It is to be found in the personal promise of eternal life from him to you, a peace that can remain present even in a deluge of earthly discord consisting of immense personal suffering, insecurity, loneliness, and loss. This is the fruit of the Spirit: the peace that Abinadi felt as he delivered his last sermon, knowing he would be burned at the stake for doing so; the peace Peter felt even after Jesus told him he would be crucified for his ministry; the peace Alma and Amulek felt as they watched their converts burn at the stake and lay on the ground naked, bound for a seemingly interminable time; the peace felt by Paul as he endured several shipwrecks, privations, and trials before potentates, finally facing his death.

Treating negative feelings as a sign of displeasure from God, or assuming it signals the withdrawal of the Spirit, is tantamount to self-inflicted damnation. This is like a plant hiding from the sun—the result will always be a withering away from required nutrients for growth. God warned us against this gross misjudgment:

Woe to those who suppose what is evil to be good and what is good, evil! They put darkness for light and light for darkness; they make bitterness sweet and the sweet bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own view! (Isaiah 5:20-21, Gileadi Translation.)

Although our reaction to God’s revelations frequently includes negative feelings, the fruits of these messages are something very different. They are what occurs when one heeds the message—not the fruit of hearing the message but of doing what the message says. The fruits of heeding even God’s hardest messages causes peace, love, and joy because they cause you to draw closer to God, whose companionship always produces those fruits.

An overfocus on emotion as a substitute for real spiritual experiences is not new. In 1981 the Academic Vice-President of BYU said,

...too much of the literature used, seen, and quoted in the Church today is just sentimental trash which is designed to pull our heart strings or to moisten our eyes—but it is not born of true spiritual experience. The tendency of our youth to use sentimental stories in Church talks creates a culture of spiritual misunderstanding in which thinking and learning are discouraged. Because our youth often respond positively to sentimentalism, there is a danger that we might cater to that in the Church instruction more generally...It [emotional sentimentalism] should never be leaned upon as a substitute for spirituality. Reliance on sentimentality will stunt our own spiritual growth by misleading us and filling our understanding with false experiences. (“Reason and Revelation,” Noel B. Reynolds, BYU, Summer 1981.)

Relying on emotions as revelation is an invitation to be led astray. After all, emotion is a carnal sense, and while the carnal senses, which also include sight and smell, are indispensible tools in our lives, they are channels loaded with deceptive noise from Satan and his followers. Korihor admitted that the devil deceived him by teaching him false doctrines that were pleasing to his carnal senses, and he taught them successfully for the same reason:

But behold, the devil hath deceived me; for he appeared unto me in the form of an angel, and said unto me: Go and reclaim this people, for they have all gone astray after an unknown God. And he said unto me: There is no God; yea, and he taught me that which I should say. And I have taught his words; and I taught them because they were pleasing unto the carnal mind; and I taught them, even until I had much success, insomuch that I verily believed that they were true; and for this cause I withstood the truth, even until I have brought this great curse upon me. (Alma 30:53.)

Thus we see that those who teach doctrine through “pleasing the carnal mind” are operating from the devil's playbook. Unfortunately, for over a century modern Mormonism has plied this tack in venues ranging from the sacred with temple movies to the public with television commercials and public films shown by missionaries and visitors centers. The construction of the Legacy theater in the now Joseph Smith Memorial Building was a pioneering effort in this agenda. President Hinckley instructed the director: “I want them to leave the theater crying.” 69 In fact, Bonneville Communications, one of the church's many businesses, has trademarked the concept of emotionally manipulating people into. They call it “HeartSell.”²³ Recipients of appeals to the carnal mind should ask themselves, is it the Spirit or is it “strategic emotional advertising”?

Remember that revelation is the link that attaches us to God and instructs us on how to return to him. It is the most important concept of the gospel to get right, because it is the only thing that prevents us from getting everything else wrong. That is why Joseph said,

...nothing is a greater injury to the children of men than to be under the influence of a false spirit when they think they have the Spirit of God. Thousands have felt the influence of its terrible power and baneful effects. Long pilgrimages have been undertaken, penances endured, and pain, misery and ruin have followed in their train; nations have been convulsed, kingdoms overthrown, provinces laid waste, and blood, carnage and desolation are habiliments in which it has been clothed. (Joseph Smith, TPJS, p. 205.)

Perhaps foreseeing that this ancient tactic emotional misdirection would continue to be used in our day, Paul guided us to hearken to our spiritual— not our fleshy—guidance systems:

That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:4-8.)

Note that he says that the carnal mind is enmity against God, or stands in opposition to him. He says the carnal senses cannot be subject to the law of God. This idea is paralleled by Alma who taught that you don't acquire revelatory knowledge through your feelings, but through the Spirit: “And I would not that ye think that I know of myself—not of the temporal but of the spiritual, not of the carnal mind but of God.” (Alma 36:4.)

Revelation is Composed of Words

Personal revelation prevents deception because the Holy Ghost “speaketh of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be” (Jacob 4:13).

For they that are wise and have received the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived—verily I say unto you, they shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire, but shall abide the day. (D&C 45:57.)

Again, the Holy Ghost speaks. It projects informational ideas, not feelings.

In the scriptures, we are given countless examples of revelation received. None of them indicate the reception of an emotion or feeling. God describes the mechanisms of revelation in plainness:

Verily I say unto you, he that is ordained of me and sent forth to preach the word of truth by the Comforter, in the Spirit of truth, doth he preach it by the Spirit of truth or some other way? And if it be by some other way it is not of God. And again, he that receiveth the word of truth, doth he receive it by the Spirit of truth or some other way? If it be some other way it is not of God. Therefore, why is it that ye cannot understand and know, that he that receiveth the word by the Spirit of truth receiveth it as it is preached by the Spirit of truth? Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are edified and rejoice together. And that which doth not edify is not of God, and is darkness. That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day. And again, verily I say unto you, and I say it that you may know the truth, that you may chase darkness from among you; (D&C 50:17-25.)

The Spirit of truth teaches not by issuing a feeling, but by giving the word of truth. “Therefore, whoso readeth it, let him understand, for the Spirit manifesteth truth;” (D&C 91:4.) It is truth and it is conveyed through words. Though revelatory ideas can come, as Joseph described, in a sudden rush, they are writable. You can translate those ideas into words.

The Lord does not say we should live by every feeling that proceeds from the mouth of God. He says:

For you shall live by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God. For the word of the Lord is truth, and whatsoever is truth is light, and whatsoever is light is Spirit, even the Spirit of Jesus Christ. (D&C 84:44-45.)

Words come out of one's mouth, not feelings. Voices are heard, not felt.

Behold, that which you hear is as the voice of one crying in the wilderness—in the wilderness, because you cannot see him—my voice, because my voice is Spirit; my Spirit is truth; truth abideth and hath no end; and if it be in you it shall abound. (D&C 88:66.)

Some may quip that God's voice and the Holy Ghost are two separate things. However, the Book of Mormon prophets would disagree. Mormon wrote:

For immediately after I had learned these things of you I inquired of the Lord concerning the matter. And the word of the Lord came to me by the power of the Holy Ghost, saying: Listen [not feel] to the words of Christ, your Redeemer, your Lord and your God. Behold, I came into the world not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance; the whole need no physician, but they that are sick; wherefore, little children are whole, for they are not capable of committing sin; wherefore the curse of Adam is taken from them in me, that it hath no power over them; and the law of circumcision is done away in me. And after this manner did the Holy Ghost manifest the word of God unto me; wherefore, my beloved son, I know that it is solemn mockery before God, that ye should baptize little children. (Moroni 8:7-9.)

After what manner did the Holy Ghost manifest the word of God to Mormon? Through an audible voice. It would have been quite difficult to quote a textual sentence from God if all he was given was a feeling. When those purporting revelation produce no text, it is possible that, in reality, they merely experienced their own emotions and not a revelation from God.

Another popular misconception is to equate “still small voice” with a feeling, despite the fact that the phrase is not “still small feeling.” The phrase itself comes from the story of Elijah seeking God in a cave after much persecution. In response to his prayer, there was an earthquake,

And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah? (1 Kings 19:12-13.)

Even the example from which the phrase is lifted plainly describes the hearing of an actual voice. It communicated information, in this case causing him to leave the cave. In modern times, Joseph described the still small voiced in our canonized scriptures this way:

Yea, thus saith the still small voice, which whispereth through and pierceth all things, and often times it maketh my bones to quake while it maketh manifest, saying: And it shall come to pass that I, the Lord God, will send one mighty and strong, holding the scepter of power in his hand, clothed with light for a covering, whose mouth shall utter words, eternal words; while his bowels shall be a fountain of truth, to set in order the house of God, and to arrange by lot the inheritances of the saints whose names are found, and the names of their fathers, and of their children, enrolled in the book of the law of God; While that man, who was called of God and appointed, that putteth forth his hand to steady the ark of God, shall fall by the shaft of death, like as a tree that is smitten by the vivid shaft of lightning. And all they who are not found written in the book of remembrance shall find none inheritance in that day, but they shall be cut asunder, and their portion shall be appointed them among unbelievers, where are wailing and gnashing of teeth. These things I say not of myself; therefore, as the Lord speaketh, he will also fulfil. (D&C 85:6-10.)

Note that here Joseph attributes a paragraph of God's writeable word to the still small voice. To Joseph, the still small voice of the Holy Ghost was an actual voice that conveyed information. The detail here exceeds what an emotion or feeling could convey.

Conclusion

If you believed that God did not give much revelation, would you ask for it? If you believed that God limited what kind of revelation you could receive, would you believe revelations not fitting that description? Would you pray about doctrine if you didn’t think God allowed you to do so? Would you expect God to give you revelations about your day-to-day life if you did not believe such was necessary? Would you trust in what God says to you in revelation, even if it disagrees with something you've heard before? Would you believe God’s word to you, even if it is hard to hear and causes negative feelings?

I hope it is abundantly clear that the false traditions regarding revelation embraced in modern Mormonism will prevent an individual from hearing God’s voice and returning to his presence. Well did Jesus say about those who taught such damning doctrine in his day:

Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered. (Luke 11:52.)