Themis wrote:If God were to give preferential treatment to LDS or to groups that are devoted to him we should see this statistically.
? What kind of preferential treatment would you look to measure statistically?
The rain falls on the just and the unjust.
In many things, mankind is blessed equally.
Themis wrote:If we don't then are these impressions given to everyone regardless of belief or righteousness? If so this creates a problem...as well as those who listen to their impressions but don't attribute them to God. If they don't, then how does someone like hagoth7 know his are from God?
Great questions. I'll provide a third example. Which is somewhat of a triple example, since it includes three impressions that eventually corroborated one another. More importantly, it perhaps more fully answers your question: "how does someone like hagoth7 know his are from God?"
When I was a teenager, I got the distinct impression that I needed to visit the local Seventh Day Adventist church in my neighborhood. At first, the impression seemed unusual enough (how many introverted LDS teenagers feel comfortable wandering unescorted into other churches?) that the whole thing made me hesitate. But the impression stuck with me, so I finally took a Saturday and went there. Once there, after attending a pleasant service, I got a similar, more distinct impression, that I needed to ask for books that would tell me more about their faith. They insisted repeatedly that the Bible was the only book that described their faith - perhaps in reaction to the growing anti-sect witch hunts (if I may use that phrase) that were going on in the area at the time. So after the place emptied out, I left wondering why I was supposed to be there, and what in the world I was supposed to be doing asking about books that didn't exist. (This was before the internet, Amazon, and the like).
Later, while on my mission, I knocked on the door of a woman who happened to be another Adventist. We had a relatively brief discussion at the door, then she asked us to wait for a minute, vanished briefly, and returned with a book. She opened the book to a picture of two timelines, one spreading from 458/57 BC on the left to 1844 AD on the right - a 2300-year timeline from the prophet Daniel. (For some time, Christians of many stripes believed that Daniel's 2300-year timeline would be fulfilled in the 19th century.)
The second timeline spanned from 458/57 BC to 34 AD - a 490-year timeline also from the prophet Daniel. Under the 34 AD termination of that timeline was a picture of Stephen being stoned to death while having a vision of the Father and the Son, somewhat as described in Acts.
Early on, I noticed the picture of Stephen being stoned. Then I looked to the right-hand side of the larger timeline, and noticed a general picture underneath the 1844 date. At that juncture, I got a very powerful impression - that I immediately recognized was from the Spirit - that Joseph Smith's martyrdom in 1844 is what actually belonged on that chart, a prophetic match to Stephen's death.
Again, these were three separate impressions. The first two were unusual, and while memorable, initially made no sense. But corroborated by the third, later impression, the pieces finally started to fall into place, and I began to gain a glimpse of how all three of those impressions were guiding me to something of considerable personal value.
This is part of what sparked over a decade-long study of Bible prophecy, the Millerite movement, and the Babi/Baha'i movement (19th-century Islamic movements which also believed and still believe that 1844 is a prophetic date).
(At this juncture, it would be nice to have someone describe with clarity how to recognize the spirit....since perhaps that hasn't been addressed here yet.)
I have written two books about my interactions with Adventists and the like. One addresses the prophecies in Daniel, and what people of various faiths have said about them, and how timelines in Daniel foretell Christ's first ministry, and events in the later Restoration.
http://candlestickstudios.com/files/184 ... ecy.pdf#10(That link starts you at chapter two, which is where the few of those who might be interested might best be suited to start. If you prefer to back up a few pages, feel free to start at chapter 1 if you prefer.)
(The second book about 1844 in prophecy addresses the prophecies of the Book of Revelation, and what people of various faiths have said about them, and how timelines in that book foretell events in the Restoration. I used to have that online, and will likely put it back up there in the foreseeable future.)
So in answer to your question, such things, among numerous others, are how I know that such impressions are from God.
