The Light of Christ and the Holy Ghost

Based on the verses of: Moroni 7:14-19

Good afternoon Brothers and Sisters of the Hamilton Ward!
I am very grateful for this wonderful opportunity in which to speak.

For those of you who don’t know me or can’t remember my tricky Danish name;
my name is Elder Falslev and I am from Logan, Utah. I’ve been serving in this ward since October and I love it here! You are truly an amazing ward!

Today I will be focusing on the Light of Christ and its role with the Holy Ghost.

To describe the light of Christ, I’ll compare it to the light of the sun. Sunlight is all but familiar to us; it is everywhere present and can be seen and felt. Life itself depends upon sunlight.

The light of Christ is like sunlight. It, too, is everywhere present and given to everyone equally. Just as darkness must disappear when the light of the sun appears, so is evil sent fleeing by the Light of Christ. 

There is no darkness in sunlight. Darkness is subject unto it. The sun can be hidden by clouds or by the rotation of the earth, but the clouds will disappear, and the earth will complete its rotation. 

According to the plan, we are told that it must needs be that there is opposition in all things.

Mormon warned us that the devil persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one. Neither do his angels, neither do they who subject themselves unto him. Now seeing that ye know the light by which ye may judge, which light is the light of Christ, see that ye do not judge wrongfully.

This Light of Christ, which gives life, is within us. The evil one will disguise it. It can be so clouded with confusion so far as to convince us that it does not even exist.

Just as sunlight is a natural disinfectant, the Spirit of Christ can cleanse the spirit.

Every soul, no matter who or where or when, is a Child of God. Our responsibility is to teach that there is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding. 

President Joseph Fielding Smith spoke of the teaching of the Holy Ghost and of the Spirit of Christ. “Every man can receive a manifestation of the Holy Ghost, even when he is out of the church, if he is earnestly seeking for the light and for the truth. The Holy Ghost will come and give the man the testimony he is seeking, and then withdraw; and the man does not have a claim upon another visit or constant visits and manifestations from him. He may have the constant guidance of the other Spirit, the Spirit of Christ."

The Spirit of Christ is always there. It never leaves us. It cannot leave.

We have a basic understanding of the Holy Ghost. We've experienced its promptings and understand why the Holy Ghost is called the Comforter.

We know the Holy Ghost is a personage of Spirit and a member of the Godhead.

But many of us do not know that there is another Spirit—“the light of Christ” —another source of inspiration, which each of us possesses in common with all other members of the human family. If we know about the Light of Christ, we will understand that there is something inside all of us, and we can appeal to that in our desire to share truth.

The Holy Ghost and the Light of Christ are different from each other. While they are sometimes described in the scriptures with the same words, they are different and separate. It is important for us to know about both of them.

President Boyd K. Packer has said, “The more we know about the Light of Christ, the more we will understand about life and the more we will have a greater love for all mankind. We will be better teachers and missionaries and parents, and better men and women and children. We will have deeper regard for our brothers and sisters in the Church and for those who do not believe and have not yet had conferred upon them the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

This Spirit of Christ promotes everything that is good, every virtue. It stands in brilliant, indestructible opposition to anything that is coarse or ugly or profane or evil or wicked.

Conscience supports the reality of the Spirit of Christ in man. It supports, also, the reality of good and evil, of justice, mercy, honor, courage, faith, love, and virtue, as well as the necessary opposites—hatred, greed, brutality, jealousy. The Spirit of Christ can be likened unto a “guardian angel” for every person.

The Spirit of Christ can enlighten the scientist, the inventor, the painter, the sculptor, the composer, the performer, the architect, the author to produce great, even inspired things for the blessing and good of all mankind.

This Spirit can prompt the farmer in his field and the fisherman on his boat. It can inspire the teacher in the classroom, the missionary in presenting his discussion. It can inspire the student who listens. And of enormous importance, it can inspire husband and wife, and father and mother.

This inner Light can warn and guard and guide. But it can be repelled by anything that is unworthy or wicked or immoral or selfish.

The Light of Christ existed in us before we were born, and it will be with us every moment that we live and will not perish when the mortal part of us has turned to earth.

Every woman, man, and child of every nation, creed, or color—everyone, no matter where they live or what they believe or what they do—has within them the eternal Light of Christ. All men are created equally. The Light of Christ in everyone is a testimony that God is no respecter of persons, he treats everyone equally.

It is important for a teacher or a missionary or a parent to know that the Holy Ghost can work through the Light of Christ. A teacher of gospel truths is not planting something unrelated or even new into an adult or a child. Rather, the missionary or teacher is making contact with the Spirit of Christ already there. The gospel will have a familiar “ring” to them. Then the teaching will come to the convincing of those who will listen that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations.

Everyone everywhere already has the Spirit of Christ, and while the Spirit of the Holy Ghost can visit anyone, the gift of the Holy Ghost is obtained “by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel” by submitting to “baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. It is not automatically present like the Spirit of Christ is present. This gift must be conferred by one holding authority.

That is what we are commissioned to do, to nurture the Light of Christ, which is within every soul we meet, and bring souls to the point where the Holy Ghost may visit them. And then, in time, they can receive, through the ordinance, the gift of the Holy Ghost, which is conferred upon every member of the Church.

Once we have received that gift of the Holy Ghost and can support it together with the Light of Christ, which we already have, then the fulness of the gospel is open to our understanding. The Holy Ghost can even work through the Light of Christ.

The Light of Christ is as universal as sunlight itself. Wherever there is human life, there is the Spirit of Christ. Every living soul is possessed of it. It is the sponsor of everything that is good. It is the inspirer of everything that will bless and help us.

Mormon taught: “Search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a child of Christ”.

Everyone knows about sunlight. When we liken the Spirit of Christ to sunlight, ordinary examples from our own experiences may come to our mind. These examples are almost endless. These examples can be understood by little children or by adults, as the parables of Christ can be understood. It should not be difficult to teach how revelation can come through Light, even though we do not know exactly how inspiration works.

With all of our restrictions, man can convey messages through fiber-optic cables. A single tiny fiber of glass, smaller than a human hair, can carry 40,000 messages at the same time. These can then be decoded and turned into sight and sound and color, even motion. Man can do that.

A laser beam, where there is no wire or fiber at all, can carry 100 billion bits of information in a second.

If man can do that, why should we marvel at the promise that the Light of Christ is in all of us and that the Holy Ghost can visit any of us?

Elder Boyd K. Packer has also said, “Once we understand the reality of the Light of Christ in everyone we see and in every meeting we attend and inside ourselves, and understand the great challenge that we have—the surroundings in which we live, the danger which sometimes besets us—we will have courage and inspiration beyond that which we have known before. And it must be so! And it will be so! All of this is a dimension of gospel truth that too few understand.”

Brothers and Sisters I testify that each of us has a divine potential and by the guidance of the Light of Christ and the Holy Ghost we will be able to achieve that divine potential.  

My prayer is that you will prayerfully and diligently strive to comprehend the meaning of these principles, and then start to apply them. I promise as you do, you will gain a testimony that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true, that the Restoration of the gospel is a reality, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is truly the Lord’s church once again restored to this earth. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the Only Begotten of the Father. And from Him radiates the Light of Christ to all mankind.

May you all feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Elder Falslev