A Sure Witness

[tiancum]

Joseph talked some about being able to see the Savior. He says that it is possible for every member to receive this witness...That we should strive for it, work towards it.

(i am going to ask a lot of questions, but no disrespect is intended. I know many have heard stories, and have experiences and i am not asking that you cast your pearls before swine, answer as many or as few as you want)

Do you think it is common occurrence?

Do you think many are working towards this goal?

Is it a good goal to have?

What percent of the church has received this witness? Is it commonplace... (1 in 10, 1 in 1000, 50,000)

Does one that has seen Christ, communes with Him, have a special glow?

The scriptures say that the pure in heart will "see God".

How does one become pure hearted?

What does being pure hearted mean?

(a hypothetical example)

How would you react if your child had friends over, and one of them says, while looking at a picture of Christ, "My mom says that Jesus hair was lighter." the kid then accidentally reveals that the mom has seen Christ. Ya know how kids talk.

would we;

get jealous?

think the family is weird?

think they are apostate?

think they are legit, and wanna ask questions.

try and find fault with them?

just drop it and don't think about it any more.

[CrimsonKairos]

Do you think it is common occurrence? No.

Do you think many are working towards this goal? Don't think so.

Is it a good goal to have? Definitely.

What percent of the church has received this witness? Is it commonplace... (1 in 10, 1 in 1000, 50,000) No idea.

Does one that has seen Christ, communes with Him, have a special glow? Maybe immediately after the encounter, but not necessarily for long.

The scriptures say that the pure in heart will "see God". True.

How does one become pure hearted? Acquire God's love; abandon our sins; take Christ's name upon us.

What does being pure hearted mean? Sharing the divine nature that God and Christ possess.

the kid then accidentally reveals that the mom has seen Christ. Ya know how kids talk.

would we;

get jealous? If we're shallow.

think the family is weird? If we're close-minded.

think they are apostate? If we're a Pharisee.

think they are legit, and wanna ask questions. If we're pure in heart.

try and find fault with them? If we're a child of Satan.

just drop it and don't think about it any more. If we're unprepared.

[Traveler]

Joseph talked some about being able to see the Savior. He says that it is possible for every member to receive this witness...That we should strive for it, work towards it.

(i am going to ask a lot of questions, but no disrespect is intended. I know many have heard stories, and have experiences and i am not asking that you cast your pearls before swine, answer as many or as few as you want)

1 Do you think it is common occurrence?

2 Do you think many are working towards this goal?

3 Is it a good goal to have?

4 What percent of the church has received this witness? Is it commonplace... (1 in 10, 1 in 1000, 50,000)

5 Does one that has seen Christ, communes with Him, have a special glow?

6 The scriptures say that the pure in heart will "see God".

7 How does one become pure hearted?

8 What does being pure hearted mean?

(a hypothetical example)

How would you react if your child had friends over, and one of them says, while looking at a picture of Christ, "My mom says that Jesus hair was lighter." the kid then accidentally reveals that the mom has seen Christ. Ya know how kids talk.

would we;

get jealous?

think the family is weird?

think they are apostate?

think they are legit, and wanna ask questions.

try and find fault with them?

just drop it and don't think about it any more.

1. Not common

2. I have no idea

3. I do not believe it happens because of a goal

4. I could not say - I do not know.

5. They will - note the future tense of the statement.

6. There may be "other" manifestations of the spirit

7. By covenant

8. To be striped of one’s pride, cleansed and broken – no longer desiring sin.

As to learning of someone seeing the Savior – If the spirit manifested that it is true I accept it.

The Traveler

[tiancum]

I write of a specific case...someone who is close to me.

In one of my ward's someone close to me had a very special experience along the lines I mentioned. No names are mentioned, so i think it is ok to talk about briefly.

weird thing is, no one knows they have had the experience....it's like Satan opened up both barrels on them.

I have never seen people more picked on even at church. They are gossiped about for the stupidest things. People were even talking about them for wearing sweat pants to the ward Christmas party. I felt so badly for them, they sat first, and no one would even sit close to them. The wife has been accused of stealing, the husband has been gossiped about for the most horrible things you could imagine. People say they are self righteous, crazy, use unrighteous dominion, are borderline apostate, thievery, dishonesty, adultery, devil worship, abuse...and this comes from people who should know better. (people who have a lot of good in them) They are the complete opposite of all their accusations, yet many perpetuate the gossip.

The weirdest thing is that they moved. And some of the gossip followed them over hundreds of miles. HOW THE HECK??

They handle it well for the most part. There are times when he gets hurt and a little angry, but most of the time he returns their cruelty with kindness. He has broken down and cried in front of me, because of the cruelty they passed through.

I think to myself, If this is what happens when someone gets a "sure witness" well then, I don't know if many are willing to take up this Cross. They are truly despised. IT is the weirdest thing i have ever seen.

As to learning of someone seeing the Savior – If the spirit manifested that it is true I accept it.

That is admirable. I wish you would have been in the old ward.

...try and find fault with them? ...If we're a child of Satan.

Dude, i hear ya, I would be tempted to think that too. Again it came from people who had basically good hearts. (i hope this is ok to say) but the missionaries gave them a blessing and it told them that many were jealous, )something like, that thier goodness was exposing the weakness in others, just by their presence. and to love them anyway.

anyway... interesting isn't it.

It makes me think, if I had a neighbor like this, would I let my pride make me try to hurt them in little ways? I don't know if I could handle that test, let alone being persecuted by those who should know better.

[inthearmsofsleep]

I'm not going to answer your questions directly, but I'll tell you what I think/believe. Everything from this point on is purely opinion. Anyway, I think that it shouldn't be a goal, specifically to see Christ, but to be pure enough to withstand His presence and to continually strive to draw closer to Him. Having the special occasion of seeing Him would be a great blessing to add to the witness that He lives. This would only be after a sure testimony was established in that person's soul.

There was a time when I showed a certain close relative a painting of Christ and they commented "His eyes are different." This didn't surprise me, even if they didn't mean that they've really seen His eyes... because they're one of the most loving and selfless people I know. I believe it's a very rare occasion, but one that should be spoken of with great care. We are never blessed with any amount of knowledge unless we are responsible enough to use it righteously.

[Maedoc]

I think seeing the resurrected Christ would be one of the best things we could ever experience and that we should all try to live worthily to be able to see him. I do not think it is a common occurence though. Out of all the people on earth, there are probably not very many that are worthy to see him. And out of those few there are yet fewer for whom it is expediant to see the Christ.

I think it is human nature to be disbelieving, especially when there is no immediate physical evidence to prove otherwise. And it is human nature to get jealous of someone who has had better opportunities than us, but by know means should we give into these temptations. I think it is perfectly reasonable that Christ has seen it expediant to show himself to people, and who are we to judge?