I have friends who have told me that the Holy Spirit has spoken to them. Direct from the mouth of God. I don’t know, some of these communications just didn’t sound right. One friend told me that God’s Spirit instructed him and his family to leave a church and go to another church because the preacher wasn’t preaching the Bible. Why would the Holy Spirit care what church someone worshipped in? Another friend told me that the Holy Spirit laid it on her heart to have her car repaired, even though she couldn’t afford it, and God would provide the money. Why would God become involved in a decision concerning auto repair? This same woman told me that the Holy Spirit told her to leave her husband because he was abusive to her. Now that I could understand! Because of these encounters I have wondered how God communicates to us through God’s Spirit. And more pointedly, does the Spirit of God speak to us verbally? Or, does the Spirit speak to us in a different way?
We know that God’s Spirit speaks to us in some wonderful way (96.7). The question is – how? The book says that the Spirit of Truth from the Creator Son and the Holy Spirit from the Creative Mother Spirit hover over us to teach truth, enlighten the spirit, inspire our souls and lead us to heaven (379.5). These two spiritual ministers manifest themselves in such a way that we cannot tell the difference between them (380.4). How they teach and inspire appears to be in a different form than how we would normally expect. Both spiritual ministers “do not contact or indwell the thinking centers of the individual mind” (379.7). This last passage suggests that they do not ‘speak’ to us in the normal way we perceive the spoken word. The words ‘teach’, ‘enlighten’, ‘inspire’, and ‘lead’ are all action words that lead me to think that if the Spirit is not in contact with the thinking center of my mind then the Spirit is communicating is a way that causes me to want to take action.
The Infinite Spirit’s influence upon us is described in action words as well. The Spirit empowers us to overcome selfishness (381.3). The Spirit leads us forward, but never forces us to do the Fathers will (381.5). The Spirit leads people to bear spiritual fruit (381.7). Once again these passages do not talk about verbal communication. Instead, they tell us that the Spirit prompts us to do spiritual things. We see the Spirit’s influence in people through their actions. The Infinite Spirit is called the God of action in the Urantia Book and so it is action not words that is the focus of the Spirit’s inspiration.
In the fourth part of the book the Spirit of Truth is called the “conviction of truth” (1949.3). This passage seems to point to a knowledge that is experiential – a knowing through doing. The book says that divine truth from the Spirit is the ability to know the truth – to live the truth (1949.4). Once again the emphasis is on action and not upon the written or spoken word. Other quotes in the Urantia Book reinforce this. The Spirit of Truth draws truth seekers towards the Creator Son (377.7). The Spirit becomes more effective as people act upon the divine leading (379.6). So the Spirit’s presence inspires us to take action, to live through the Spirit’s direction. This is a different emphasis than the idea of the Spirit whispering in our ears.
Alas for my friend, God is speaking to her but maybe not the way she has always thought. I think that as we attempt to understand more about God the subject becomes more complicated. The authors of the book try to use our language to explain things but it falls short. Understanding that the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Truth speak verbally is too simplistic. God communicates to us and moves us to action in ways that are beyond Urantia’s language capabilities. What to keep focused upon is that communication happens however it happens. God is speaking to everyone of us. God is urging us to take part in the thrilling adventure that awaits all who dare to move forward into the timeless universe.
God Bless You,
William Whitehead
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