Henry Schaeffer commonly said, "if God spoke
once, then always". One of the distinctives of our
belief is that God speaks, not only to the priesthood,
but to everyone. Believing that, when someone says
they had an experience and that "God .......", how do
we know that what they said is truly a message from
God? This is particularly true when the message is
offered during a worship service and is preceded by,
"thus saith the Spirit" or some other designation that
God is/has spoken.
The first thing we should remember is that church
law states specifically that only the prophet of the
church can receive law or doctrine that is BINDING
on the church. Other "inspired" messages may come
from a male or a female and be general or specific, of
a local nature or general nature. What are the
principles involved in our making decisions about
such messages?
Elbert A. Smith, in a chapter he titled "Use and Abuse of Spiritual Gifts", shared the following insight on the matter of individuals taking upon themselves the giving of "inspired messages":
"It is not necessary now to refer to any living person, so no one need be hurt. But in past years we have noted men who too often or too continuously sought to wear the mantle of prophet. Their ministry became out of proportion and one-sided...Finally they died quietly in their beds never having been or done any of the things they dramatized in their own minds. In the meantime they had done their best (or
worst) to regulate branch, district, mission and general church authorities. Even those who have some portion of the the prophetic spirit should always remember the fundamental principle that the "spirit of the prophets is subject to the prophets". I have the revelations given to Isaiah and to John and other prophets and I use them as judgment as the spirit of wisdom directs me to do." (Your pastor has noted some who claim to have an inspired message everytime the saints meet in worship.)
This is not to suggest that God does not continue to speak through his servants and His saints. It is to recommend there is need for caution, self-reflection and evaluation, on the part of each person who feels they have been moved upon by the Holy Spirit. Brother Elbert reflects further on what he calls TWO EXTREMES:
"We recognize that there are two extremes. There is danger in the excesses that I have just pointed out. On the other hand, men in responsible positions sometimes neglect to seek certain of the spiritual gifts that their position might well justify them in exercising. They allow those gifts to revert to irresponsible hands. The people do have a legitimate desire to hear on occasion a 'Thus saith the Spirit' from men (or women) from whom they trust and respect. In this connection however, it is to be remembered that devout and able men do speak under the prophetic office, revealing the will of God, but without declaring, "Thus with the Lord" To those having the gift of discernment, it is no less obvious that they are indeed exercising the gift of prophesy, but quietly, and without the sound of trumpets."
In the restoration, at present, we have no authorized means to accept or reject a purported message as divinely inspired, directed or binding on the church. That day may soon come, but it is not here as of this writing. Such inspired messages are usually given to edify, exhort and comfort. They may provide insight into furture events. They do not have to predict anything, however. They may be given to individuals, families or groups, in local settings, like retreats, reunions, branches, gatherings, etc. According to our practice. those messages are to be addressed by the presider, if given during a some kind of service. The presider may confirm the message, deny the message, or "leave it on the table". If you are a presider who doesn't have confirmation of a message, you may simply say; "thank you for your testimony" or "thank you for the gift of the spirit". All should be done with kindness and respect to the person(s) involved, unless a definite spirit of the adversary is discerned to be present, which should be clearly rebuked by the presider.
If you believe that the Lord has given you a message, but you want confirmation, share it with someone you know and trust has mature spiritual insight. If they are clearly able to confirm the message, you will be less likely to be in error. In any event, don't think that this article was written to discourage the sharing of spiritual gifts. In my opinion, we need more, not less. But we need those gifts to be geniunely of the Spirit and not from the emotions of the person. We will probably be hearing more about the issue of "spiritual messages" in the near future. For scriptures on this subject, read: DC 27:4c; I Cor 14:36-40; DC 125:14a-c; 15:d-e; GCR 15; 222; 288; 308; 368; 550 709.