Not All Revelation Comes from God

Other Sources of Supernatural Information

There are those who are into "spirituality" using other means to receive answers to their questions. Some call it channeling and others refer to them as their guides. This brings about the question: who are the channel entities and the guides? Are they messengers from Heavenly Father, or are they something else? So exactly what are the possible entities that are influencing others? There are several explanations that may be of some help in determining this.

There are those spirits that make up the 1/3 the hosts of heaven that followed Lucifer. These are spirit children of Heavenly Father who do not have physical bodies, but are permitted to participate in the tempting and trying of mankind (Rev 12: 7-9). They are also called evil spirits by some. The scriptures are detailed in the history of their intervention in human life. The possessed man recognized Christ and the spirits begged to be left alone and then pleaded to take possession of a herd of swine. They were commanded to come out of the man and allowed to enter the swine. The pigs ran into the sea. This is an excellent example to read. (Mark 5: 1-20)

There are several points to recognize from this passage of scripture. The evil spirits know who Jesus Christ is. They retain their memories of a preexistence, a time when they lived in the presence of Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus the Christ. As we enter this life we are placed here in mortal bodies and a veil is placed over our memories so we may live by faith and prove ourselves in this mortal state. These spirits do not forget who we are and who they are. They desire to have a physical body and yearn to possess if possible even those of swine if that is all that is available to them. These spirits are to be cast into out darkness at the last day with Lucifer (Satan) and the sons of perdition. They know their fate and desire to take as many of us with them by whatever means available to them in an attempt to stop the plan of God from moving forward. Note from the scripture how powerful they may be by breaking chains placed upon their inhabited being: yet they tremble in the presence of Christ.

There have been admonitions from Old Testament times to avoid use of "familiar spirits". In Deut 18:10-11 (and Levit 19:31) the ancient Israelites were given specific command to avoid use of "divination, enchanter ...Charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, ...necromancer". The Lord has always asked His children to go to him directly and not use the aforementioned means of spiritual guidance. He prefers to be the source of truth to direct His children back through the guidance of the Holy Ghost. He refers to those other sources as dark ( "there is no light in them") in Isaiah 8: 19-20. The account of Saul in Samuel 28 : 4-19 outlines a king who sought out the forbidden medium who claimed to communicate with Samuel about the upcoming battle. Saul had been wicked and lost his previous direction of a prophet and other means of direct communication with God. Saul had withdrawn from God and therefore lost his line of communication, in so doing sought out the other dark side to receive direction for the upcoming battle. In Chronicles 10:13 it outlines that for seeking a familiar spirit Saul lost his life.

These spirits have been on this earth for a very long time gaining experiences and knowledge on top of the knowledge that they have retained from their time with Heavenly Father. They may strive to deceive in very subtle ways; telling truths for a period of time and being very helpful only to misdirect an individual at a critical time in their lives. This risk may be eliminated completely by communicating only with our Heavenly Father as we are directed to do.

By opening up a channel to spirits in general, how do you verify who they are and their intent? What if they lie? How do you get credentials from a spirit who may be an impostor? This is pretty tough to do. For if you have a pathological spirit who possesses a great wealth of knowledge how will you detect the lie?

The second type of spirit that may be part of the channeling and "guides" may be one who has died and has the ability to communicate through energy or thought processes. These are folks who are here upon the earth in a state of waiting for the final judgment that will occur at the end of earth's mortal state. The scriptures teach us in 1 Peter 3 : 18-20, 4: 6 that Christ was involved in the sending of the gospel message to the those that had died previously and were in a state of prison. This state is here. They are given opportunities to receive the gospel still and a way is provided for them to choose even after this life. These may be referred to by some as ghosts. They are not acting out of specific direction by Heavenly Father, but out of their own accord. An account of how this separation at death between those going to spirit prison or paradise is found in the Book of Mormon in Alma 40:11- 26 and the next two chapters cover the resurrection how we are judged by our actions on earth, excellent reading.

The third possibility is that they may be angels. These would be spirits from the presence of Heavenly Father who do his will under his direction (Biblical references of Gabriel visiting Mary, or the angles at the tomb witnessing Christ's resurrection). Or they may be resurrected beings who have a perfected body of flesh and bone and also are involved in doing the will of our creator. It should be noted that in recorded experiences of angels visiting they appear and state their business and their authority. They never seek to deceive as would the evil spirits. A passage in the Doctrine and Covenants Sec. 50 states - verse 2 -3 " Behold, verily I say unto you that there are many spirits which are false spirits, which have gone forth in the earth, deceiving the world. and also Satan hath sought to deceive you, that he might overthrow you." Verse 31 " Wherefore, it shall come to pass that if you behold a spirit manifested that you cannot understand, and you receive not that spirit, ye shall ask of the Father in the name of Jesus; and if he give not unto you that spirit, then you may know that it is not of God." Prayer is the key to understanding the whole matter. With real intent to understand and be directed from Heavenly Father our prayers are answered and we will know his will and the truth of the messages or messengers that we have received. By not asking we may be deceived repeatedly by spirits that do not have our best interest at heart.

My belief is that the third possibility of angels being the ones directing the people as guides or channeling is remote. They are more likely to be spirits of the dead waiting to be resurrected or evil spirits. By seeking Heavenly Father in prayer the truth may be made known and through the Holy Ghost the truth of all things is manifest. Why mess around with something less than the source of all truth just to be lead away from that true source? I'd rather not. The Holy Ghost has the specific purpose of guiding and directing us towards truth. There is opposition in all things. This means that there are others that would lead us away from truth and Heavenly Father. Know from where your promptings come. In the seventh chapter of the book of Moroni in the Book of Mormon the key to understanding how to recognize what is from God and what is not is revealed. There are those who have been lead away from truth by false spirits in the past and an account may be read in Alma chapter 30 of Korihor and how he was deceived.

The stakes are high. They are nothing less than eternally progressing or not. There could be nothing more important to any of us. Only by following the pattern and example set for us by the Savior may we be assured we are on the right path. Otherwise we may be as those who believe they are in the right and assume they have done well and find out they were in error ( Matt 7: 21 - 23). This is where spirituality and religion come into play. Should I desire to know what is desired of me - I may pray for inspiration, read scriptures, and most importantly follow the guidance of the Holy Ghost. I believe there is a personage of spirit that has the task of witnessing the truthfulness of all things. When I am in tune with this inner prompting of the Spirit I am able to receive inspiration which may guide me in a very personal way. We all become more in tune by not offending the spirit. Offense comes through disobedience to the commandments. Seek to improve at every turn, ask for help, expect to be lead by a loving Heavenly Father and it will happen in His way and in His time.

Simple - yes. Easy - no. It is work. Your motives need to be to gain truth and then have the strength to follow what you are given. Enduring to the end means to persist at making strides in the direction of more light and knowledge than we have now.  I submit that God is that source. Trust in Him and His son whom He sent to champion the cause of truth and provide a way back into the presence of Heaven Father. That life is called eternal life. To be where He is and have what He has. There are other options available, are they really worth considering when you could have the best. Anything less would leave you knowing you could have had so much more.