The Principle of Revelation and the Voice of the Lord

Book of Mormon Notes - Thursday, November 30, 2023, Helaman 5 (continued again)

Helaman taught his sons many more things, some of which were written. Nephi and Lehi digged deep and built their ^bfoundation upon the ^arock of our Redeemer by remembering their father’s teachings in order to put them into practice:

And they did remember his words; and therefore they went forth, keeping the commandments of God, to teach the word of God… (Helaman 5:14)

It stands out to me that remembering was and is the first step on the path to living the life that our Lord wants us to live. And memory is also a gift that the Holy Ghost bestows upon us:

But the ^aComforter, which is the ^bHoly Ghost, whom the Father will send in my ^cname, he shall ^dteach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. (John 14:26)

The first step is remembering. The second step is keeping the commandments of God. The Holy Ghost helps us with both of these things. The third step is to teach the word of God, and the Holy Ghost teaches us the word of God better than anyone else can.

This takes me back to my point about continuous and continuing revelation, and what we can learn from the examples of Helaman’s sons Nephi and Lehi. Nephi and Lehi went from Bountiful to Gid to Mulek, and from city to city until they had gone forth ^aamong all the people of Nephi who were in the land southward; and from thence into the land of Zarahemla, among the Lamanites. Their preaching of the word of God was by the Spirit of God, and therefore by the Spirit of Continuing Revelation. Their words were true and living words, vibrant because of their faith:

And it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi did preach unto the Lamanites with such great power and authority, for they had power and authority given unto them that they might ^aspeak, and they also had what they should speak given unto them—

Therefore they did speak unto the great astonishment of the Lamanites, to the convincing them, insomuch that there were eight thousand of the Lamanites who were in the land of Zarahemla and round about ^abaptized unto repentance, and were convinced of the ^bwickedness of the ^ctraditions of their fathers. (Helaman 5:18-19)

One thing that I would like to point out is the close connection between, and the golden thread of revelation that runs through, the teachings of past prophets and the teachings of living prophets. Nephi and Lehi were the living prophets of their time, and they preached with great power and authority. The Lord gave them power and authority, and the Lord gave them the words to speak because they had been called and chosen and sent forth by the Lord Himself. But the power and authority of their words built upon and expanded upon the words of the Lord that had already been given to them, through Helaman and other preceding prophets. Like Nephi of old, and like the many prophets who preceded them, they taught from the scriptures, from things that had already been given, concerning the doings of the Lord in other lands, among people of old. But also like Nephi of old, they preached the living word of God with power and authority, with words that were given unto them by the Lord, that they might more fully persuade their people, both Nephites and Lamanites, to believe in the Lord their Redeemer. I imagine that like Nephi, Jacob, Abinadi, and others - and like the Lord Himself as we will soon discover - Helaman’s sons were probably given living words of Christ that echoed the words of Isaiah.

Much of the words of Isaiah were recorded upon the small plates of Nephi, by Nephi and Jacob, and on the large plates of Nephi by Abinadi, or by Alma. We can pay attention to how the words of Isaiah become increasingly important in the time leading up to Christ’s birth, and especially during Christ’s ministry among the Nephites. But the important thing is that one of the reasons why the Lord gave His living words to Nephi and Lehi, and these living words were conveyed with power and authority into the hearts of the Nephites and the Lamanites, is because Nephi and Lehi had already immersed themselves in the words of the prophets who preceded them, including the teachings of the original Nephi and Lehi, and especially the teachings of their father Helaman who was the prophet before them.

I have noticed that too many members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints succumb to false notions regarding revelation either by relying too heavily on the personal line of revelation on the one hand or the priesthood line of revelation on the other. One of the reasons that Nephi and Lehi were enabled to preach the word of God with such great power and authority is because of their intimate and harmonious connection to both the priesthood line of revelation (from the teachings of their father Helaman and other past prophets) and the personal line of revelation (the words of Christ given to them in the very moment.

In a recent General Conference, Elder Carl B. Cook recounted how he learned a similar lesson about the connection between the priesthood line and the personal line of revelation:

Thankfully, when we are weak or incapable, the Lord can strengthen our faith. He can increase our capacity beyond our own. I have experienced that. More than 20 years ago, I was unexpectedly called as an Area Seventy, and I felt very inadequate. Following my training assignments, I was to preside at my first stake conference.¹⁰ The stake president and I meticulously planned every detail. Shortly before the conference, President Boyd K. Packer, then–Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, called to see if he could accompany me. I was surprised and, of course, agreed. I asked how he would like to proceed since he would preside. He suggested that we undo the plans and prepare to follow the Spirit. Thankfully, I still had 10 days to study, pray, and prepare.

With an open agenda, we were on the stand 20 minutes before the leadership meeting began. I leaned over to the stake president and whispered, “This is a wonderful stake.”

President Packer elbowed me gently and said, “No talking.”

I stopped talking, and his general conference talk “Reverence Invites Revelation”¹¹ came to mind. I observed that President Packer was writing down scripture references. The Spirit confirmed to me that he was receiving impressions for the meeting. My learning experience had just begun.

President Packer spoke for the first 15 minutes and emphasized the importance of conducting all meetings as guided by the Holy Spirit.¹² He then said, “We will now hear from Elder Cook.”

On my way to the pulpit, I asked how long he would like me to take and if there was a topic he would like me to address. He said, “Take 15 minutes and carry on as you feel inspired.” I took about 14 minutes and shared everything I had on my mind.

President Packer stood again and spoke for another 15 minutes. He shared this scripture:

“Speak the thoughts that I shall put into your hearts, and you shall not be confounded before men;

“For it shall be given you … in the very moment, what ye shall say.”¹³

Then he said, “We will now hear from Elder Cook.”

I was shocked. I had never considered the possibility that I would be asked to speak twice in one meeting. I didn’t have anything in mind to say. Praying fervently and relying on the Lord for help, somehow, I was blessed with a thought, a scripture, and I was able to speak for another 15 minutes. I sat down totally exhausted.

President Packer spoke again for 15 minutes about following the Spirit and shared Paul’s teachings that we should not speak “words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth.”¹⁴ As you can imagine, I was overwhelmed when he was impressed to say for the third time, “We will now hear from Elder Cook.”

I was empty. I had nothing. I knew it was time to exercise more faith. Slowly, I made my way to the pulpit, pleading to God for help. As I stepped up to the microphone, the Lord miraculously blessed me to somehow give another 15-minute message.¹⁵

The meeting finally ended, but I quickly realized that the adult session would start in one hour. Oh, no! Like Zoram, I sincerely wanted to run, but just as Nephi caught him, I knew President Packer would catch me. The adult meeting followed the very same pattern. I spoke three more times. The next day during the general session, I spoke once.

After the conference, President Packer said with affection, “Let’s do it again sometime.” I love President Boyd K. Packer and appreciate all that I learned.

Like Nephi and Lehi, sons of Helaman, Elder Cook had been called and prepared by the Lord to preach His word, and like Nephi and Lehi, Elder Cook had the words of Christ given to him in the very moment. But the reason that Elder Cook was able to speak the words of Christ that were given to him in the moment is because he had already treasured up the words of Christ in his mind and heart:

Neither take ye thought beforehand ^awhat ye shall say; but ^btreasure up in your minds continually the words of life, and it shall be ^cgiven you in the very hour that portion that shall be meted unto every man. (D&C 84:85)

Elder Cook was growing into the principle of revelation:

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 learning the Spirit of God and understanding it, you may grow into the principle of revelation, until you become perfect in Christ Jesus. - The Prophet Joseph Smith

What Nephi and Lehi taught the Nephites and the Lamanites in their time was by living, flowing water, continuing revelation, from the Rock of their Redeemer. Even though the record of their preaching is now a record of the teachings of past prophets, the same Spirit that inspired their teachings infuses the truth of their words into our own hearts and mind and becomes the catalyst for our own living, continuing revelation. Furthermore, in this Spirit, it connects us to and taps us into the living, flowing, continuing revelation that the Lord gives through his living, latter-day prophets, apostles, and servants:

What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same. (D&C 1:38)

We can increase the flow of living waters in our lives as we pay attention to how prophets, past and present, become conduits of living waters to the people to whom they are sent. Because the Lord poured his living waters and continuing revelation into the hearts and minds of Nephi and Lehi, they spoke with such great power and authority that they confounded many dissenters and brought them unto repentance and baptism. By the same power and authority that was given to them, they also astonished many Lamanites and convinced them of the truth of their words. Many Lamanites were convinced, not only of the truth of Nephi’s and Lehi’s words, but they were also convinced of the ^bwickedness of the ^ctraditions of their fathers. Thus they were also led to be ^abaptized unto repentance.

From Zarahemla and the land southward, Nephi and Lehi continued their descent southward into the original land of Nephi, where the great missionary Aaron had once taught King Lamoni’s father. Like their courageous predecessors, Nephi and Lehi were also taken and cast into prison. In fact, they were cast into the very same ^aprison; in which Ammon and his brethren were cast by the servants of Limhi. When the Lamanites came to the prison in order to slay Nephi and Lehi, the Lord protected them and delivered them in a miraculous manner.

Like Moses near the burning bush of Sinai, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego in the fiery furnace, like Lehi by the pillar of fire upon a rock, and like Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove, Nephi and Lehi were encircled about ^aas if by ^bfire. They stood in the midst of fire but were not burned. Obviously the Lamanites and those around Nephi and Lehi were astonished, and they “stood as if they were struck dumb with amazement”. They rightly wondered how it was possible for these two men to stand in the midst of fire without being burned. We might also wonder the same thing.

However, Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live in a similar kind of fire, and in fact They are a kind of fire:

For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God. (Deuteronomy 4:24)

But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: (Malachi 3:2; see also 3 Ne. 24:2; D&C 128:24).

And it shall be answered upon their heads; for the presence of the Lord shall be as the melting fire that burneth, and as the fire which causeth the waters to boil. (D&C 133:41)

Remember Joseph Smith’s description of the Living Christ?

His eyes were as a flame of fire; the hair of his head was white like the pure snow; his countenance shone above the brightness of the sun; and his voice was as the sound of the rushing of great waters, even the voice of Jehovah, saying:

“I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father”

How did Nephi and Lehi survive within this burning fire? How did Moses, Lehi, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, and Joseph Smith survive in the presence of the burning fire of the Lord?

Elder Bruce R. McConkie explained how the burning heat of the Second Coming will both destroy the wicked and cleanse the righteous:

“The fierce flames, the fervent heat, the burning fires of the Second Coming that destroy the wicked shall also cleanse the righteous. … All men fall short of divine standards; none attain the high state of excellence manifest in the life of the Lord Jesus; even the most faithful saints commit sin and live in some degree after the manner of the world. But such worldly works as remain with the righteous shall be burned so that the saints themselves may be saved. …

“… Thus the burning that destroys every corruptible thing is the same burning that cleanses the righteous. Evil and sin and dross will be burned out of their souls because they qualify to abide the day, even though all their works have not been as those of Enoch and Elijah. If only perfect people were saved, there would be only one saved soul—the Lord Jesus” (The Millennial Messiah: The Second Coming of the Son of Man [1982], 543).

Nephi and Lehi were not perfect, but they had been cleaned by the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost, and prepared for this experience in the midst of fire. 🔥

And when they saw that they were encircled about with a ^apillar of fire, and that it burned them not, their hearts did take courage. (Helaman 5:24)

Nephi and Lehi reassured their astonished audience of Lamanites and Nephite dissenters that God had shown unto them this marvelous thing, and when Nephi and Lehi spoke, the earth and the prison shook.

While Nephi and Lehi were surrounded by fire and filled with light, the people in their audience were overshadowed with a cloud of ^adarkness. Mormons theme of greater and greater light and goodness in the midst of greater and greater clouds of darkness reaches a climax in this account of Helaman’s sons in the midst of their captors. Where as Nephi and Lehi were surrounded by fire and filled with light and courage, their persecutors were overshadowed with a cloud of darkness, and an awful solemn fear came upon them. In the Book of Helaman the contrasts between good and evil, light and darkness, truth and error, and Christ and the devil grow ever clearer.

Because of their faith in Christ, Nephi and Lehi were not only rescued from prison and preserved in the midst of fire, but even more importantly, they were empowered to bring souls unto repentance. In fact, the Lord Himself intervened directly:

And it came to pass that there came a ^avoice as if it were above the cloud of darkness, saying: Repent ye, repent ye, and seek no more to destroy my ^bservants whom I have sent unto you to declare good tidings.

And it came to pass when they heard this ^avoice, and beheld that it was not a voice of thunder, neither was it a voice of a great tumultuous noise, but behold, it was a ^bstill voice of perfect mildness, as if it had been a whisper, and it did pierce even to the very soul—

And notwithstanding the mildness of the voice, behold the earth shook exceedingly, and the walls of the prison trembled again, as if it were about to tumble to the earth; and behold the cloud of darkness, which had overshadowed them, did not disperse—

And behold the voice came again, saying: ^aRepent ye, repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand; and seek no more to destroy my servants. And it came to pass that the earth shook again, and the walls trembled.

And also again the third time the voice came, and did speak unto them marvelous words which ^acannot be uttered by man; and the walls did tremble again, and the earth shook as if it were about to divide asunder. (Helaman 5:29-33)

This is one of the best descriptions of the voice of God in all of scripture. Lehi and Nephi were already very familiar with the voice of God, but their audience required the pillar of fire, the shaking of the earth and the prison, and an awful cloud of darkness to get their attention and teach them to listen. As Elder Neal A. Maxwell so astutely observed: “In the economy of heaven, God does not send thunder if a still, small voice is enough, or a prophet if a priest can do the job.”

This is a lesson that the Prophet Elijah learned in Horeb:

And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake:

And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a ^astill small ^bvoice. (1 Kings 19:11-12)

It seems to be human nature to expect the voice of the Lord and His answers to prayers to come in spectacular ways, whether by strong winds, earthquakes, or fires. We sometimes think that the baptism of fire 🔥 and the Holy Ghost, and the presence of the Lord must be manifest in spectacular experiences such as the appearance of an angel or a Heavenly messenger. But as Elijah learned, and as Elder Maxwell taught, the best way to recognize the voice of the Lord is in the still small voice. This is the voice of the Good Shepherd, and His sheep hear His voice.

Elijah and the captive audience of Nephi and Lehi learned that the voice of the Lord was not in the wind, the quaking of the earth, the fire, or the cloud of darkness. The upheaval of the elements may have momentarily caught their attention, just as the upheaval of the elements preceded the Lord’s visit among the Nephites. But the far better way to discern and become familiar with the voice of the Lord is not through spectacular or even visionary experiences. One way or another, the Lord will make His voice heard, but in the economy of heaven, God does not send thunder if a still, small voice is enough, or a prophet if a priest can do the job.

Listen to the way that Elder Packer once described the way in which the Lord most often communicates with us:

The Still, Small Voice

The voice of the Spirit is described in the scripture as being neither “loud” nor “harsh.” It is “not a voice of thunder, neither … voice of a great tumultuous noise.” But rather, “a still voice of perfect mildness, as if it had been a whisper,” and it can “pierce even to the very soul” and “cause [the heart] to burn.” (3 Ne. 11:3; Hel. 5:30; D&C 85:6–7.) Remember, Elijah found the voice of the Lord was not in the wind, nor in the earthquake, nor in the fire, but was a “still small voice.” (1 Kgs. 19:12.)

Strong Spiritual Experiences Do Not Come Frequently

The Spirit does not get our attention by shouting or shaking us with a heavy hand. Rather it whispers. It caresses so gently that if we are preoccupied we may not feel it at all. (No wonder that the Word of Wisdom was revealed to us, for how could the drunkard or the addict feel such a voice?)

Occasionally it will press just firmly enough for us to pay heed. But most of the time, if we do not heed the gentle feeling, the Spirit will withdraw and wait until we come seeking and listening and say in our manner and expression, like Samuel of ancient times, “Speak [Lord], for thy servant heareth.” (1 Sam. 3:10.)

I have learned that strong, impressive spiritual experiences do not come to us very frequently. And when they do, they are generally for our own edification, instruction, or correction. Unless we are called by proper authority to do so, they do not position us to counsel or to correct others.

Elder Stevenson shared these same teachings from Elder Packer in his most recent General Conference talk entitled “Promptings of the Spirit”:

President Boyd K. Packer stated: “The Spirit does not get our attention by shouting or shaking us with a heavy hand. Rather it whispers. It caresses so gently that if we are preoccupied we may not feel it at all.”¹⁰ I have observed that sometimes His voice is so subtle, or I am so preoccupied, that a loved one captures it for me. Many have been the times when promptings of the Holy Ghost have come to me through my wife, Lesa. Righteous parents or leaders may also receive inspired guidance for you.

The noise, clamor, and contention prevalent in the world may overpower still, quiet impressions of the Holy Spirit. Find a quiet place, a holy space where you can seek to receive direction from the Spirit.

To be continued…