“And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing. For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray.”
Again we are called “beloved brethren” despite having just reminded us of our unbelief, wickedness, ignorance and stiffneckedness. His motive is our welfare. He doesn’t care a whit about flattering us. He wants us saved.
Still you wonder if this can be true. Still you doubt and think it too much. Still you are left not knowing if the message comes from the Lord. But those doubts are because of your failure to pray. You just won’t listen to the Spirit which teaches everyone they must pray. “For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray ye would know ye must pray.”
Nephi knows this because he is a man of prayer. Nephi, as a man of prayer, is struck by the foolishness of deciding matters without prayer. To him it is amazingly obvious that prayer will rescue you from doubt. But Nephi knows why you won’t pray to know the truth of things.
You want an authority to tell you.
You want the truth to become popular so it is easy to find.
You want certifications, scholarly support and widespread recognition of the truth.
You want someone whose position you respect to tell you what is true. And until they do, you feel confident you don’t need to study it out and pray to know for yourself if it is true.
But Nephi catches you in the act and tells you this is because you are listening to “the evil spirit” which is the one who “teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray.” So you are following the spirit. But it is an evil spirit you follow.
God’s Spirit will always teach you to pray and to ask Him about the truth. And if you ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, He will manifest the truth unto you. He can tell you the truth of all things if you will ask and permit the Holy Ghost to respond. (Moroni 10: 4-5.)
If the only way to find the truth is to search prayerfully for it before receiving a witness from the Holy Ghost that it is indeed true, what happens to you as a result? Do you gain a testimony of the process? Do you grow in light and truth by what you have experienced? Was this always meant to be direct between you and God? Is the method itself necessarily always to involve God?
Nephi is a prophet. And he’s working to make others like him. That’s the way it is, you see. Those who have something are eager to have others join them. They are not interested in praise or recognition. Instead they are interested in seeing other souls redeemed. Hence Nephi’s blunt message and plain words. They are merciful indeed.
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For me, whenever I fail to pray about something, it is never for the reasons you mentioned. When I neglect to pray about something it is simply because it is a lot of work and, sadly, I sometimes just give into being lazy.
Maybe it’s because I have been looking for it but I’ve noticed more references to the Second Comforter in general conference. Elder Bednar mentioned it in his talk about being converted a couple of conferences ago and most recently a sister spoke about helping our children to see the face of the Lord. I think there have been others too. So, I think this doctrine is becoming more frequently mentioned and gaining perhaps more “widespread recognition” as you say.
Truly, there are differing opinions within the Church about the necessity of seeking the face of the Lord. In preparation for the time when all show know Him, we must have the opportunity to exercise our faith amid the opposition.
For there to be an official clear message from the Church right now about the Second Comforter could frustrate the opportunity for faith. After all know Him, there will likely be more doctrine with which we must contend for to develop faith to progress. At that point, the doctrine of the Second Comforter will be largely settled, I suppose, for He will be here.
Even what the Lord Himself says to us must be subjected to confirmation by the Holy Ghost, for He will mirror what we are, and we shall see as we are seen.
If we are merely Terrestrial, we will want to test to see if He is either going the second mile with our unfinished selves, or if He is giving us council that will uplift us. He gives us what we want.
We have to be pretty convincing that we want what He wants in order for Him to open up to us. we have to convince ourselves. We might be surprised at how quickly He grants to us our desires sometimes, and it may even frighten us at first.
That is why many tell Him to stay away in their hearts without even knowing it. They don’t believe He has the power to purify their hearts and they are afraid of their own wishes. He always honors their requests to stay distant from them, for so they have chosen it for a time.
He has already faced the bitterness this creates and overcome it. He is still full of love, but will never coerce men into His presence.
Anonymous said…
Maybe it’s because I have been looking for it but I’ve noticed more references to the Second Comforter in general conference. Elder Bednar mentioned it in his talk about being converted a couple of conferences ago and most recently a sister spoke about helping our children to see the face of the Lord. I think there have been others too. So, I think this doctrine is becoming more frequently mentioned and gaining perhaps more “widespread recognition” as you say.
I believe you are referring to Elder Bednar’s talk “Ye Must Be Born Again,” but I don’t see anything about the Second Comforter there (see http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-690-8,00.html).
The other talk to which you refer is Sister Lant’s “That Our Children Might See the Face of the Savior” (see http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-1207-26,00.html), but like everyone else she makes it all metaphorical or for the next life. E.g., she begins with an anecdote and quotes D&C 101:38 but then says:
“What does it mean to seek the face of the Savior? Surely it means more than just recognizing His picture. Christ’s invitation to seek Him is an invitation to know who He is, what He has done for us, and what He has asked us to do. Coming to Christ, and eventually seeing His face, comes only as we draw close to Him through our faith and our actions. It comes through a lifetime of effort. So how do we SEEK HIM IN THIS LIFE so that we might SEE HIS FACE IN THE NEXT?
“We have the account in 3 Nephi of A PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY SAW THE FACE OF THE SAVIOR IN THIS LIFE. And while WE MAY NOT SEE HIM NOW, perhaps we can learn from their experience.” Etc.
Matt, I looked up Elder Bednar’s talk and this jumped out at me:
“And after we come out of the waters of baptism, our souls need to be continuously immersed in and saturated with the truth and the light of the Savior’s gospel. Sporadic and shallow dipping in the doctrine of Christ and partial participation in His restored Church cannot produce the spiritual transformation that enables us to walk in a newness of life. Rather, fidelity to covenants, constancy of commitment, and offering our whole soul unto God are required if we are to receive the blessings of eternity.”
So many of the same words and terms that have been used on this blog, yet the power behind the words and the terms seem so different.
Sorry I referenced the wrong talk by Elder Bednar. It is acutally from his talk “Clean Hands and a Pure Heart” from the November Ensign. In this talk he states:
“The Savior also taught the people to come unto Him through sacred covenants, and He reminded them that they were “the children of the covenant” (3 Nephi 20:26). He emphasized the eternal importance of the ordinances of baptism (see 3 Nephi 11:19–39) and of receiving the Holy Ghost (see 3 Nephi 11:35–36; 12:6; 18:36–38). In a similar manner, you and I are admonished to turn toward and learn from Christ and to come unto Him through the covenants and ordinances of His restored gospel. As we do so, we will eventually and ultimately come to know Him (see John 17:3), “in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will” (D&C 88:68), as did the people in the land of Bountiful.”
So he’s referring to the Savior’s appearance in the Book of Mormon to the people at the temple in Bountiful.
What may not be clear with Sister Lant’s talk about children seeing the face of Christ is that the “next life” doesn’t always start with death, but can start after the mighty change of heart in this life. Truly then, we may see His face after being reborn into a newness of life.
Consider also, how awful it is to enter into the next life through death without being prepared with this mighty change of heart. Our self-imposed guilt will imprison us then. So, why not have the change of heart now and seek the face of Christ?
In addition to what Anonymous September 2, 2010 8:58 PM said, I also believe that pure and simple intelligence without a visual can also qualify as being visited by the Savior during the preparatory stages to having one’s calling and election made sure, as opposed to not seeing Him because someone wants Him to stay distant.
He can still be very close without the visual bursting upon a person yet, and still minister to them.
The gift of spiritual sight may be one of the last gifts a person attains along the path, and for others it may come earlier, but in the end we should aspire to all the Gifts of the Spirit, and see Him face to face at last (but in this life, I mean, which should be the goal). But it will be in His own time and His own way.