To Draw Closer To God: A Collection Of Discourses

What the sunshine is to the field and to the flowers the Holy Spirit is to the life of man.

President George Q. Cannon gave us a marvelous description of how we can recognize the influence of the Holy Ghost. He said this: "I will tell you a rule by which you may know the Spirit of God from the spirit of evil. The Spirit of God always produces joy and satisfaction of mind. When you have that Spirit you are happy; when you have another spirit you are not happy. The spirit of doubt is the spirit of the evil one; it produces uneasiness and other feelings that interfere with happiness and peace.

The page on which I wrote is the second page in section 19 of the Doctrine and Covenants, in the old edition of the triple combination. On the bottom of the page, in capital letters, is written the word REPENTANCE. And then an arrow leads to a notation that reads: "Greek word. To have a new mind.

shrink." (D&C 19:18.) It was about there that I wrote these words: "Teach the people repentance hurts." You must never believe the lie that there is no pain from sin. You can be forgiven; the Atonement is real. But President Kimball taught that "if a person hasn't suffered, he hasn't repented." (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1982], p. 99.) So true faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ, rather than leading you to try a little sin, will lead you to stay as far away from it as you can. That brings

For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.

God will honor your baptism if you will. God will honor your temple covenants if you will. And if you will, I know as surely as if I had seen it that you will have full salvation, which is eternal life.

When you listen for the words of God and follow them, you will hear more. When you do not listen or do not follow, you will hear less and less until finally you may not hear at all.