Agreed. That was certainly the purpose of all the prophets of the Old Testament. Jeremiah, for example, spoke these words which had a profound effect on me when i read them:
Therefore this is what the LORD says: “If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me; if you utter worthy, not worthless, words, you will be my spokesman.” …
(Jeremiah 15:19)
I find it interesting that you speak of having a strong sense that something is true without having any other reason than the Holy Spirit giving you a conviction. When i read these words long ago, i had an incredibly strong feeling that these were God’s personal words to me. I have yet to see these words fulfilled personally for me in any meaningful way, and i’ve often wondered of what sins i must repent and what words are most worthy for me to speak, or whether i’ve simply imagined that the Spirit of God revealed that these words were for me at all.
You may have misunderstood that verse. You need to read it in its context. I am more familiar with the KJV, so I will quote from that one:
Jeremiah 15:
15 O Lord, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke.
16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.
17 I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?
19 Therefore thus saith the Lord, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.
20 And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the Lord.
21 And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.
Jeremiah had been overwhelmed by the opposition he had received from the Jews, and the great burden of having to convey the word of the Lord to them. He felt that his burden was too much for him, that he couldn’t take it any more. He may have backtracked a little bit, and not communicated the word of God to those people as he should. The Lord gave him that revelation to strengthen and reassure him, that He would be with him and support him, and he need not fear.
Zer:
Funny you should mention Moses. I’m reminded of something he said and wonder if you have read it yourself. Are you aware of what Moses said about the true prophets of God, and how you or i might know the difference between the genuine and the fraud?
Yes, I do. I am also aware of how Moses (or rather God) distinguished between his own calling and that of an ordinary prophet. You might have forgotten that, so I will quote it here:
Numbers 12:
6 And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.
7 My servant Moses
is not so, who is
faithful in all mine house.
8 With him will I speak
mouth to mouth, even
apparently , and not in dark speeches; and the
similitude of the Lord ** shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?
Joseph Smith was such a man as Moses was. He was no ordinary prophet.
zerinus
