2 Corinthians 12 and 13

One of the signs of the true church is that its organization is inspired, patterned by God. Christ's church will have apostles and prophets and if they are true apostles and prophets, they will have visions and revelations. In this chapter, Paul tells of his vision of the three degrees of glory and specifically the celestial kingdom. Every apostle and prophet, ancient or modern, who have had such visions have said that what they saw was so sacred, so beyond the description, that they were forbidden to write about it just as Paul is forbidden here. And I believe that is a good thing. I should not desire for them to tell me, but should desire and seek to see it for myself. Sacred knowledge such as this is always given to an individual and not to the body of the church.

Paul has some weakness, a thorn in the flesh, that torments him continually. We do not know if it is a physical ailment or something else. But Paul has learned to accept it, and learned that the weakness causes him to be humble and teachable. Weaknesses help us to rely on the Lord. If we excelled at all things, how would we ever develop humility? Moroni says that God gives men weaknesses so they will be humble. Rather than deny, or be angry or disappointed in ourselves because we have a weakness, perhaps we should be grateful for it and allow God to strengthen us in spite of it.

Chapter 13
Paul exhorts us to examine ourselves. One of the great lessons in life is to learn to be honest with ourselves. I think the greatest indication that we are being honest with ourselves and living the way we ought is the presence of the Spirit in our lives. When we have the Spirit, we eventually learn to recognize it, and the promptings it gives us. We have to be willing to pay the price to have it and I have found we also have to have patience and allow ourselves to grow into it. There are some who speak as if they have automatically felt the Spirit as if it came out of the blue in one blinding experience. I am sure there are times when the Holy Ghost manifests something to someone and in a spontaneous experience. But I have also found that those who have experiences like this, are often later troubled because of a lack of the Spirit. When we live each day to have and follow the Spirit, its presence grows slowly but surely until it becomes an undeniable actuality. Its presence can become so strong and so much of a permanent part of our lives that should we lose it, as the Lord told Joseph Smith, we feel as if it is the greatest of all punishments.