Let’s talk about the “personal” in personal revelation. This week’s lesson focuses on Joseph Smith’s first vision. It was wonderful and powerful. There was good reason for that.
Introduction
Opening dispensations
It has been pointed out to me by others a number of times that they are bothered that all the grand gestures God offers to us at the beginning of a dispensation don’t seem to be around later on in that same dispensation. Think of Moses and the plagues of Egypt, followed by the miracles he performed for Israel during all the years afterwards. Later, once they were settled in their lands of promise, the miracles seemed to be much fewer and farther between. Over and over again the Lord told the people to remember all the miracles He had already performed for them. They were supposed to base their faith on what had come before, not on what they craved, which was a steady diet of proof of God’s power in a very public way.
When Jesus began his mortal ministry this cycle was repeated. Jesus went about performing miracles opening, publicly. When he had ascended into heaven the apostles performed miracles for a time to show that they had the priesthood authority and power Jesus had given them to do his work. But everyone knows that those public miracles gradually subsided and became fewer and fewer. The people were once again told to remember what the Lord had done to establish his church among them. Their faith was supposed to be based on those displays of power, not on an ongoing diet of public displays of priesthood power.
Move to the Book of Mormon and you get the same kind of pattern. As God led Lehi’s people to the promised land and settled them there were many miracles wrought in their behalf. Later on the people were again told to remember all the miracles the Lord had performed for their forefathers to lead them to their land of promise. There were a couple of times in the course of their time as a society when the Lord did mighty visible miracles for those of great faith then those who came afterward were told to remember those miracles and exercise their faith based on what God had already done for them.
Finally, we look at the opening of this final dispensation. I say final meaning last ever to happen on earth, not just that it is also the current dispensation. The Lord performed many mighty miracles to establish his church among the people. The grand display seemed to be almost the order of the day as they faced trial after trial. But as they became more settled as a people and as a church the type of miracles changed, as they always seem to do, into more subtle and personal forms of revelation and support. I refer to this pattern as the normal mode of operation for how most of God’s children live God’s gospel plan. The prophets performed the grand miracles and the faith of the individual Saints are the source for most of the rest of the miracles we experience in our lives. Again, we are reminded to remember what the Lord has done for us and base our faith on those examples of God’s love and mercy to get us through our tough times.
As wonderful as it would be to experience all the grand gestures of love and power offered by God at the beginning of a dispensation, in every instance our salvation always boils down to our individual faith and obedience. We are now living the normal way that all people have to live. We remember God’s miracles in the lives of others, which helps us recognize and be grateful for the smaller, but more consistent miracles He creates and grants us in our personal lives. Just because we aren’t seeing the parting of the Red Sea or the pillar of light Joseph Smith saw it doesn’t mean we aren’t still getting answers from on high and direction in our life. What we experience from day to day is the actual normal way for God to teach His children. The grand displays are faith promoting, but not meant to become the steady diet of God’s people.
Last year’s Come, Follow Me lessons from the Book of Mormon pointed out to us that we all have experiences like the Jaredites where we have to cross our own waters of uncertainty and exercise our faith for long periods of time in order to keep believing during times of trial. All of us find ourselves at some point in our life when we feel trapped like Limhi’s people or Alma’s people (If you recall they were both prisoners of the Lamanites). The only way we can be delivered from our situation, be it financial, social, emotional, etc., is for God to intervene on our behalf. We all have to continue to choose belief and obedience each day, which is how faith is exercised. When all is said and done, if we have recorded our own interactions with the Lord as we are supposed to do, we will see that there has been no shortage of miracles in our life. God has been just as active in our life as He was in the life of Joseph Smith and those who helped to open this dispensation.
Body
The importance of questions
Here is a quote from the introduction to this week’s lessons – “We can ask questions, study the scriptures, ponder, and ultimately ask God.” I love that line of reasoning. First we do the footwork by trying to do all we can for ourselves. Only when we have done all we can to solve our own problem do we take the issue to God. This is the very reason God performs miracles in our lives. Miracles are the response to conditions we can’t solve ourselves. That is why they are miracles, because we can’t explain how God does what He does. We only know He does it because He loves and cares about us. The Lord doesn’t perform a miracle in our behalf if we can solve our own problem. It’s as simple as that. So we think of the pertinent questions, study the scriptures as we look for answers and ways to do what we think needs to be done, ponder the situation and search for answers on our own then, after all that, when we “ultimately ask God” we should expect divine intervention.
Mind you, this process isn’t linear, meaning it doesn’t go from A to B to C in a straight line. This whole time we are considering what we need in our life we are seeking direction from the Lord to help us be sensitive to the whisperings of the Spirit. As He speaks to our heart and mind we are able to see things with fresh eyes and then have to go back and study some more, ponder more, etc. The miracles that sometimes come at the end of this process are only there when we have done all we can do and the only way a solution can come is for God to intervene on our behalf. Most of the time the Spirit reveals what is hidden to us, but obvious to God, which is the answer we need. When we repeat this process daily we find that life’s problems aren’t nearly so devastating as they seem to be to some people, for the Spirit brings comfort and peace to our soul in the process of us choosing to believe and obey on a daily basis.
So many people are of the opinion that questioning the gospel or the Lord about why things are done in a certain way or why the Lord made this choice or that choice, is a sign that we are being heretics. Being a heretic is all about being rebellious and adopting the philosophies or ways of the world. Asking questions and trying to understand the mind and will of God is how we are supposed to be. Nothing wrong with that.
One of my favorite phrases is that of “intentional discipleship.” When we live our life haphazardly, with no consideration for why we do things or how we should be doing something is just spiritual wandering. We can’t live like that and expect God to be actively engaged in our life. It is when we are being deliberate about our choices to continue to believe and deliberately obeying as best we know how that God becomes active in our own progression. The Spirit finds it much easier to speak to us, because we are actually trying to listen, and the miracles God desires to perform for us become possible when we deliberately obey. When we are casual or careless about our choices in life and don’t seek to become closer to the Spirit we are more easily led astray by the influences of the world and wicked people. Intentional discipleship is a protection from many of the influences of the world we live in.
Why do people ask the Lord questions if not to find answers? I’m not talking about rhetorical questions, those questions we ask with sarcasm, not expecting an answer. I’m talking about those questions we sincerely don’t know the answer to and want to learn more about or how to be better, how to live, feel, or comprehend the ways of God. We need to remember that mortality is all about obtaining a physical body and learning how to master the new, more powerful combination of body and spirit, so it can be bent to the will of God for our own benefit. God wants us to become like Him. When He speaks the whole universe listens and obeys the expression of His will. No muscle is required, just the expression of His thoughts and feelings. That is true power. We are learning to master our tongues, our reflexes, our attitudes, our opinions, everything actually, to become more and more like Christ, who is our example and who shows us how to become more perfect, which means whole or complete. The Spirit is our teacher. He teaches us wisdom by reminding us of what we have already learned, changing our hearts to be more accepting of God’s will, and teaching us how to become more like Christ. This whole mortal experience is supposed to be about that process.
We must suffer as part of our mortal process. So many of the lessons we need to learn to become gods someday require that we understand the sorrows and sense of loss that only come through possessing a mortal body. We also learn to deal with chaos, unfairness, unfaithful people, betrayal, and a host of other things that are required for us to exercise a full range of empathy, love, and compassion. When we ask questions of the Lord, don’t most of those questions have to do with many of these issues? Aren’t we going to the Lord because someone has been unkind, cruel, unfaithful, or we have done something unwise out of foolishness or ignorance and need help in solving our own dilemma? Questions are a vital part of our life. The Spirit welcomes our questions. It shows Him we are actively interested in change and progress. He can take those questions and teach us what we need to know to find the peace and sense of joy we were born to experience. This process fulfills our purpose of being here in the first place.
Personal revelation
Revelation is the essence of our mortal experience. At least it is supposed to be. All spiritual knowledge must be revealed, since we cannot discover spiritual knowledge through our regular mortal senses. This is what sets God’s church apart from all other religions on the planet, His people are part of the priesthood covenant process by which God reveals Himself, His character and ways to His children. This is how God’s plan for our salvation is designed to work. He designed it. We just follow His plan.
We cannot learn to become like Christ, and hence like God, if we aren’t receiving personal revelation. As the original apostles died, and men sought power in the Lord’s church, they taught that revelation had ceased, that God had turned His kingdom over to mankind to run as they felt inspired to do so. People were actually taught to NOT ask God for direction in their life. They were taught that God did not do such things any more. Little wonder miracles ceased. It was this very practice that drove Joseph Smith to go into the woods to pray. The churches of his time taught that God no longer answered us through revelations, but according to the scriptures (James 1:5) we are all supposed to go to the Lord with our questions, and he promises us that God will answer us. Joseph believed James, instead of the preachers of his day. If the people in New Testament times had been more faithful about seeking direction from the Lord they wouldn’t have had the Great Apostacy in the first place.
The world hasn’t changed for the better. It still teaches that God doesn’t speak to man. This is why mankind no longer believes in God. How can you continue to believe in a being who ignores you for millennia at a time? Kind of hard to remain faithful under those conditions. Interestingly, many even in Joseph Smith’s day believed that God did answer prayers and that He would someday reveal His will to His faithful followers, bringing them back on the right path back to God. Many of the religions of Joseph’s day were based on these beliefs. The people were looking for what God revealed to Joseph Smith in the woods that day and subsequently. This is why sometimes entire congregations would join the church together. It is personal revelation that makes the gospel of Christ a living religion.
The past
In past dispensations revelation was primarily through the prophets, those who held the Melchizedek priesthood. In the days of the Judges in the Old Testament God spoke to everyday individuals He needed to guide and direct His people, but for the most part revelation was something we see coming from the prophets. This is what makes the present dispensation so different.
In the New Testament there was more priesthood had among the people than there had ever been among the lay people of God’s gospel. And in today’s church we see every worthy male possessing the higher priesthood, an event that has never happened that we know of in the history of the world. The New Testament refers to a generation of high priests. That’s us. The priesthood is founded on the philosophy that the holder of the priesthood lives and operates under the influence of the Holy Spirit, meaning that life is lived through daily revelation. That is how it is supposed to happen.
Today
In the past only the prophets had the priesthood then it was the prophet and those who held the lesser priesthood, but even that was restricted to one single bloodline (the family of Levi the brother of Moses). Then when Jesus set up the New Testament church there were far more priesthood holders, until they gradually turned their backs on revelation and listening to the Spirit in the Great Apostacy. Today there are millions of priesthood holders throughout the earth, and millions of additional others who have made sacred covenants, starting with baptism and confirmation. These priesthood covenants bless the lives of every member of the church throughout the world, be they male or female. Power in the priesthood is found not by holding the priesthood, but by keeping the covenants of the priesthood. I don’t know of another time in the history of the world when this has been the normal way of being.
We are preparing for the second coming of our Savior. He needs a people who are faithful priesthood holders and who are actively keeping their covenants. Have you noticed how much change is happening in the church just in our lifetime? The principles of the gospel haven’t changed, but how the church is being administered is under constant revision. As a side note, did you notice that the Come, Follow Me lessons were introduced two years before we had to study on our own at home due to the pandemic? The Lord is always one step ahead of our needs. And if you take a close look at the Conference talks you will see that they are often 30-50 years ahead of their time. They may have application in the day they are given, but many of the messages my wife and I listen to as we study the scriptures and listen to past Conferences are more relevant today than they were when they were given. There is great worth in reviewing past talks. The leaders of the church are always ahead of their own time. It’s we who need to keep up with them!
The First Vision
The Christian faith as a whole was so completely off track by the early 1800’s that the whole nature and knowledge of God had been lost. In the minds of most people He had become an immaterial being, without body, parts, or passion. He was able to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It was not, and is not, possible to describe Him. Christians have been taught for centuries that this is what makes Him mighty and powerful, that He is unable to be understood. God is not happy with this teaching.
The First Vision was the fastest way to teach an immense amount of knowledge to Joseph without having to even teach anything. No one had actually seen God in many centuries, so false information was rampant. With one short visit with the Father and the Son Joseph Smith was able to more correctly comprehend the majesty of God and the character of God than anyone who had lived for almost two millennia. Christ’s apostles had heard the Father’s voice on the Mount of Transfiguration, but even they had not actually laid eyes on the Father, Himself. Joseph Smith saw the Father and He personally introduced Jesus as His Only Begotten Son. So many generations worth of questions answered in a moment.
An aside – It just occurred to me that by the time Joseph Smith was visited by the Father and the Son we had been gifted with the printing press. Before this time in the days of the original apostles, it was very difficult and rare for most people to see any written record of precious spiritual things. You were lucky if you saw a single copy of the scriptures, either in part or in whole in your lifetime. Very few copies of these records existed, and as such were heavily protected by those who had a copy. Even Joseph Smith with all his limited resources was able to find someone to print copies of the Book of Mormon by the thousands. This was something impossible during the lives of the original apostles.
We don’t each need to have a visit from the Godhead as Joseph Smith did. We have the truth of the nature of God provided to us through the prophet’s own testimony. Now we can take that knowledge and get it confirmed through the power of the Holy Ghost. Once the Spirit testifies to us of the truthfulness of something it is as though we have personally experienced it. We are expected to also bear witness of what He has taught us, for God will judge us on what the Spirit has taught us. When the Spirit speaks to us and we comprehend something we haven’t understood before, or we come to realize that something we sort of understood before is more true or real than we had thought possible, these things are a form or revelation. All of us receive revelation.
Every time we listen to someone bear their testimony and it makes our heart swell within us, or brings tears to our eyes, or enlarges our understanding, these are all forms of revelation. This is what I mean when I talk about daily revelation. Pondering the scriptures, Conference talks, reading the church magazines, or reading the scriptures as we seek for understanding, all these things can trigger revelation of one sort or another. Sometimes we limit the number of ways the Spirit is allowed to speak to us and teach us. His ways are almost completely unlimited. He can do whatever is needed to get through to us so we are able to understand the thing God wants us to know.
One of the most important parts about revelation that we need to understand is that it is so intimate and personal. Just because someone is bearing testimony in front of us, and we suddenly remember something that happened years ago that appears to be completely unrelated to what is happening right now, that doesn’t disqualify that memory as revelation. If we are prepared to receive instruction, and that is what we need right now then no matter what else may be going on at the moment, that is what the Spirit will bring into your mind. Remember that the Holy Ghost is a member of the Godhead. He is a God with all the perfection of either of the other two members of the Godhead. His commission as part of the Godhead is to speak the words of Christ, he who is the only path back to our Father in Heaven. The Holy Spirit never has His own agenda. His agenda is always the agenda of Christ and our Father. The Spirit’s job is to testify to us, teach us, change us, and tutor us so we can become more like Christ. No matter what He tells us, how He tells us, or when He tells us something, that is the right thing, and the most important thing for us to know at that moment.
Keeping our covenants opens more avenues for the Spirit to communicate with us. Being intentional disciples is required for maximum help from the Spirit. Learning to remember God’s dealings with us in the past, be it personally or through the scriptures or someone else’s testimony, all are vital for helping the Spirit teach us. We should not be surprised to experience something with Him on a daily basis. If we are pondering and studying God’s word each day wouldn’t we expect that the Spirit would be involved in some way or another?
Conclusion
Joseph Smith—History 1:1-26 is full of lessons to be learned. This week’s lessons all teach us how to pull more out of this passage of scripture. I highly recommend you seriously consider the four questions the manual asks about how to prepare to receive answers to our questions. There are also three very good talks given by Elder Henry B. Eyring, President Russell M. Nelson, and by Elder Gary E. Stevenson that are referenced in the lesson materials. Before sitting down to talk about any of the sections of the lessons I would recommend you first read or listen to each of these talks. They will help broaden your perspective on the subjects in the manual.
Pick a topic from this week’s lessons that you feel is important to you. As you study all the related materials for these lessons look for ways they can help you with the subject you have chosen. The title of this week’s lessons is “I saw a pillar of light.” Ostensibly the lessons are about Joseph Smith seeing the Father and the Son, but these pages are full of information about revelation and how personal revelation is able to happen. This is what I have chosen to address. Personal revelation is our individual lifeline back to God. It can’t be stressed enough, for it sets us apart from the rest of Christianity who are still being taught that God no longer reveals Himself to His children. He does, and you need to believe that He speaks to you and teaches you personally through the influences of the Holy Spirit.
We don’t need to see a pillar of light with personages who communicate to us. We have the Spirit to teach us, refine us, and change our heart and soul. He speaks peace to us, helps us feel hope, and leads us to forgive and feel compassion for others. He is our connection with Christ. Revelation is everything in this church.
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Thank you for your insights. I enjoyed this article. We all need to seek personal revelation every day. The Lord has promised that we may receive revelation upon revelation as often as we will ask.
I am currently writing the commentary for week 06 on sections 6-9. They also deal with personal revelation. I think you will enjoy studying these sections. I certainly am overwhelmed by what I have never considered before.
Thank you so much. I found this article profound . I related and remembered. I will quote from it as I teach and forward it to my children and others.
The paragraph about intentional discipleship resonated with me. My mind went immediately to Increasing my intentionality. This is going to require more effort, more planning, more focus on the Savior. Well said!