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The Great Sifting Going On: Why the Holy Ghost Is the Only Reliable Instrument in the Turbulence of the Last Days · ToddTalks--Spirit By Design: Your Weekly Survival Guide

• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to another fun and enlightening episode of Todd Talks, Spirit by Design, where I help you prepare for these last days by strengthening your spiritual life.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: The last few episodes I've been talking about the Gaddiant and robbers and how to identify the secret corruption and darkness in our midst.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: Today I have a fascinating show prepared to discuss the last days and the sifting that is going to happen.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: This is the reason that makes the Todd Talks podcast so valuable.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: In these days, it is no longer possible to sit on the sidelines and just passively be involved in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: It is imperative that you strengthen your testimony and learn to recognize spiritual promptings so that you can identify truth from lie and the path that the Lord wants you to follow.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: This is a contested environment.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: When flying in contested environments, one of the things we worry about and look out for is known as spoofing.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: That's where the GPS signal that the plane follows is interfered with to an extent that it shows us over the wrong spot or leads us off course and can lead you to fly miles off course if you are not careful.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: Being in tune with the spirit acts as the notice to let you know when you're when you are being spoofed or led off course.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: Just as we have instruments that warn us of GPS degradation and spoofing.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't have access, don't listen, or are unwilling to hear the spirit, you can be led away and fall victim to the sifting that is beginning to take place.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: So what is sifting?
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: Prophets, apostles, and scripture have warned about sifting for centuries.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: This is what is unfolding around us even as we speak.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: It's known as the great sifting.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Before the second coming of Jesus Christ, the scriptures teach that the world will be in commotion.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: The world will experience a great division, a sorting of people into spiritual groups.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: The spiritual sifting divides those of faith, character, and allegiance to God into one group and everyone else into the other.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: A great divide, if you will, will form between those in the great and spacious building, as Nephi described in his dream, and those who eat and gather and eat from the tree of life.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: Today, I want to explore this idea deeply.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: I want to make this as clear as possible.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: In the last days, the Lord tells us we have no need to fear if we are on his side, even though there will be great tumults and all will be in chaos.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: He says, My peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: The turbulence that you're seeing in the world, how everything seems to speed up, maybe the very thing that helps you to know that prophecy is being fulfilled, that we are in the last days, and that we are exactly where we need to be.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: First off, in these last days, we are warned about the great sifting.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: The Savior Himself warns Simon in the Bible, the Bible about something, and we can apply the principle to our day.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: In Luke 22, 31, he says, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: In ancient days, after the harvest, wheat was shaken and a sieved, and the chaff, or the light flakes of the plant, separated and blew away in the wind.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: Shaking the wheat, the seed and the chaff separated.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: The action of being shaken divided the good from the waste.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: This was a sifting.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: Christ warned that a shaking would be coming, but added that his peace would be upon us.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: Shaking is inevitable in life.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: Eck, as I typed this draft to record later, which I'm now recording, I was flying through some turbulence.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: Turbulence, when flying is normal, expected, and nothing new.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: We try to avoid it, but it often cannot be avoided.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: That's when your training, your equipment, and the aircraft itself are tested.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: Did you know before an airplane is certified for flight, especially at Commercial Airliner, it is stress tested well beyond what is probable to happen in flight, in order to ensure that it is airworthy and won't fall apart in the worst turbulence.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: That's a lot like your testimony.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: We are promised in the last days that we will go through a refiner's fire and be tested.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: Our testimony will be tested to see if it will stand up to the turbulence that is coming in the last days.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: The purpose of the Book of Mormon is to warn us and prepare us for the turbulence we will experience and to help strengthen our testimony of Jesus Christ in order to withstand the storms and trials ahead.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: Mormon and his son Moroni saw our day and prepared the book specifically for us.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: Nephi warned of the dumbing down of religion, or I should say the watering down of religion in the last days, when he said in 2 Nephi 28, verses 8 and 9, There shall be many which shall say, Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die, and it shall be well with us.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: And there shall also be many which shall say, Eat, drink, and be merry.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: Nevertheless fear God.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: He will justify in committing a little sin.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yea, lie a little, take advantage of one because of his words, dig a pit for thy neighbor.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: There is no harm in this, and do all these things, for tomorrow we die, and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, compromising with corrupting morals of the day.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: We are here to be judged and tested.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: If the test is do whatever you want and all is well, well, that isn't exactly a trial or a test, is it?
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: I can't remember who said it, but I remember the quote: a religion that doesn't require sacrifice of its members will never have the power to save.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: Sacrifice the things of the world for eternal good.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: That brings out the power of heaven.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: So rationalization is a great word to describe the human condition.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: We get into situations and rationalize doing things we know are wrong.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: You do that too often, and you cease to even remember when you began to drift.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: And as such, you drift off course.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: That is one of the great ways of sifting, little rationalizations that cause drift until you've drifted away from your faith and into dark waters.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: This is why course corrections and trials are so paramount to daily strength in your testimony.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: As pilots, we know that one degree of drift can place you tens or hundreds of miles off course over the long run.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: Spiritually speaking, small compromises over time lead you far away from God.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, if you've listened to the last few episodes, I've really been focusing on secret combinations and corruption.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: Moroni warned, wherefore, O ye Gentiles, it is wisdom in God that these things should be shown unto you, that ye may repent of your sins and suffer not that these murderous combinations shall get above you.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: Moroni is warning us that secret combinations, groups, corporations, governments, etc., will be corrupt, and when that happens, civilizations fall.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: Corruption itself doesn't cause all civilizations to fall, but when people stop caring about the truth, that is when they are right for destruction.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: Interesting thing, I was listening to Glenn Beck yesterday, and he has a great interview talking about the last days and the promises and destructions that await.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: In the interview, they made an interesting point.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: First, things will happen according to the Lord's plan.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: Second, our understanding of his plan is not always as we think.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: Third, he always gives the righteous a chance to turn things around.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: Remember Sodom and Gomorrah?
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: Abraham asked the Lord to spare the town if ten righteous could be found.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: What would have happened had he found ten righteous people?
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: Well, the Lord would have spared the city, and history would be different.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: He still would have found a way to punish the wicked, but he would have changed the methodology.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: In the West, so is the West guaranteed to fall?
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: Is the U.S.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: slated for a fall?
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: The answer is definite maybe.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: One of the early church prophets stated that the Constitution will hang by a thread, and that if the elders of the church stand up, it will be spared.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: That's an interesting prophecy because it doesn't guarantee anything.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: It says if.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: Assuming that there are enough righteous to step up, the Constitution and the U.S.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: will be spared as a nation.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: But that doesn't mean we won't have tribulations.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: Look at the Civil War.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: That is a good reminder of what can happen or worse.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: So get your life in order, because tribulations are coming, and that is guaranteed.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: The sifting will come to the church first.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: Did you know Brigham Young warned, the time will come when the church will be sifted as we.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: He explained that the last days will reveal who truly knows and loves God.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: Membership won't be enough.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: Tradition won't be enough.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: Secondhand testimony won't be enough.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: In affiation terms, you can't borrow someone else's instruments when flying through a storm.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: You have to trust your own gauges.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: Heber C.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: Kimball said, The time will come when no man nor woman will be able to endure on borrowed light.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: Borrowed light means borrowed faith, borrowed convictions.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: Going on a mission because your parents want you to, not because you know the church to be true.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: Going to church because it's just something you do.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: That works fine during calm weather, but during a storm, borrowed instruments are useless.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: You'd have to know how to read your own you have to know how to read your own instrument panel.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: Spiritually speaking, the panel looks like prayer, scripture reading, personal revelation, and personal spiritual experiences with God.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: Getting to know him personally.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: That is the power that you get you that will get you through the turbulence that is coming.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: In the last days, Jesus warned that deception would increase dramatically.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: In Matthew 24, 24, he said, For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that if it were possible, they should deceive even the very elect.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: Think about that, that statement.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: I've spoken recently about the need for personal revelation.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: My entire focus this year is on the need for personal revelation and acting on it because the deception will be so convincing that even the strong believers could be misled.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: Today, heck, in the last few years, that environment for deception has become exponentially larger.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: We live in an age of unlimited information, conflicting ideologies, endless opinions, algorithm-driven narratives, and artificial intelligence was it which is making it difficult to know real from true videos.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: You can't believe everything you see or hear.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: The adage that I saw it on the internet doesn't mean it's true.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: Truth is paramount and is getting harder and harder to discern.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: That's why my entire focus this year is on helping you learn to receive and act on personal revelation.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: Modern prophets have focused on the need for everyone to receive purple, personal, not purple, personal revelation.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: President Russell M.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: Nelson gave one of the clearest warnings about this.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_00: He said, in the coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding influence of the Holy Ghost.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: This wasn't just a warning or a hint, it was a direct statement of need.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I've flown in the darkest clouds.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: I've flown at night over the ocean when it's when it's pitch black and the stars reflect on the water, making it impossible to tell up from down where a horizon is.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: In the clouds, when you are not accelerating, when you're at 1G, unless you trust your instruments and follow their guidance, you could be climbing, descending, or turning without even realizing it.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: Many pilots died learning those lessons.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: President Nelson, his warning tells us to rely on the Holy Ghost, just like I rely on instruments to get me through weather safely.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: The Holy Ghost speaks to the Lord for the Lord to you through personal revelation.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: Going back to the sifting, there are signs that it's already begun.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: One sign that I see, I see it on Instagram and Facebook and TikTok and all that, even though I'm not really on TikTok.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: But it's people who leave the church but can't leave the church alone.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: Also, when we compare scriptures with modern conditions, several patterns emerge.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: Emerging moral confusion convinces compassionate believers that maybe their faith is wrong when it condemns things that society no longer condemns, but celebrates.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, many of the elect members of the church take themselves out of the churches for these reasons.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_00: 2.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: Growing hostility towards Christianity.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: This is easily seen as a dichotomy between how Christians and Christianity are treated in the news, in school, and governments, and how Muslims in Islam are treated.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: The difference is stark.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: 3.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: Declining religious commitment.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: Too many people stepped away from their faith, are just living life, or didn't raise their kids in church.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: The number of people attending church is at the lowest it's been in the West.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: With a notable exception, especially since the death of Charlie Kirk.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: There's been a rival among young men attending church and studying the Bible.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: Many young women as well, but sadly, young women seem to continue to go in the opposite direction.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: Four or five, whatever number I'm on, corruption in leadership structures.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: You see this throughout the world, where leaders in the church organizations have become corrupt and done things which cause people's testimonies and faith to waver.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_00: Finally, division among believers.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: This is happening because some are trying to be both in the world and of the world.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: For example, Christian churches that are becoming progressive in their interpretation of the word.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: All they are doing is lowering the moral standards that God put forth.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: As Nephi warned, they are saying, lie a little, cheat a little, steal from thy brother.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: The Lord will not worry if you commit a few sins, yea, he will be with you and beat you with a few stripes, and you'll be saved.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: Problem is, those who call themselves Christians are loosening their morals or drifting from the church, while true believers are strengthening their faith and testimonies and not rationalizing their sins.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: This is causing division among some, just as the scriptures predicted.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: The prophet Malachi described the refiner's fire and the process behind it.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: In Malachi 3, 3 we read, He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_00: He shall purify the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: A refiner uses intense heat to purify metal.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: The impurities rise to the surface and are burned away.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: Without the fire, the purification cannot take place.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: The same principle applies spiritually.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: Trials reveal character, storms reveal faith.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: The shaking reveals what we are truly made of.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: Reading books, revelations, the book of revelations, and prophetic warnings, it could be easy to become scared or fearful of these last days.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_00: I actually see this in a lot of the current generation.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_00: Fear and anxiety seem to abound.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: The scriptures, however, give us a powerful reassurance.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: I already stated what Christ told us.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: Nephi says in 1 Nephi that the righteous need not fear.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: That's a beautiful promise.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: The righteous need not fear.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: Because storms and fire are going to come.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_00: But because the aircraft, i.e.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_00: your testimony, is built to withstand them, if you are anchored in Christ, if you listen to the Spirit, if you stay on the covenant path, then you have no need to fear.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_00: This doesn't mean bad things can't happen to you.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: They can.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: It just means we don't need to be afraid.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_00: Finally, when flying, we are always on a flight path that gets us from point A to point B.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: It is a course that we chart before we even leave the ground, from departure to destination.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_00: The scriptures are God's flight path for humanity.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: He also has given us prophets and apostles to act as air traffic controllers along the path.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: They show us where we are, what's up ahead, and how to reach our destination safely.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: Today, the turbulence in the world may not be a sign that everything is spinning out of control, but may be confirmation that God's prophecies are unfolding exactly as they're supposed to.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: The great sifting is happening.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_00: But the good news is that this is God's plan.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_00: God already provided the instruments to help you navigate through it.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: He gave us scripture, prophets, the Holy Ghost, personal revelation, and the atonement of Jesus Christ.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: As we come upon the Easter season, let's focus on the atonement.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: Keep your eye on your instruments and trust the flight plan.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, even in the darkest moments, the darkness eventually gives way to beautiful skies.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_00: So stay secure in your faith and testimony.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: Strengthen it daily.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_00: Repent often.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_00: And remember that no matter how dark the trial, you do not stand alone.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_00: As the gulf between the righteous and the wicked grows in preparation for the second coming of Jesus, stand on a firm foundation which is Christ and do not be moved by the fiery Hearts of the evil one.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: He will try to get you to be afraid or to turn away from the tree of life and be ashamed.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: But I echo what many before me have said.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: I am a son of God and have an inheritance planned in the celestial kingdom.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_00: I will stand for what is right, just and true, even if I stand alone.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: But I know that I will not stand alone because Jesus has said, I will be with you.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: If you like what you hear, share it with your friend with a friend.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: Like and subscribe to help get this out to more people.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_00: As I help you put on the whole armor of God and stand for what is right.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_00: As always, have a blessed day.