Gospel Principles Ch22 The Gifts Of The Spirit

8/8/2019 Gospel Principles Ch22 The Gifts Of The Spirit

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/gospel-principles-ch22-the-gifts-of-the-spirit 1/8

125

The Gifts of the Spirit

C h a p t e r 2 2

The Gifts of the Spirit

•WhatspiritualgiftsdoestheLordgiveus?

Following baptism, each o us had hands laid on our heads to

receive the git o the Holy Ghost I we are aithul, we can haveHis infuence continually with us Through Him, each o us can beblessed with certain spiritual powers called gits o the Spirit Thesegits are given to those who are aithul to Christ “All these gitscome rom God, or the benet o the children o God” (D&C 46:26)

They help us know and teach the truths o the gospel They willhelp us bless others They will guide us back to our Heavenly Father

To use our gits wisely, we need to know what they are, how we candevelop them, and how to recognize Satan’s imitations o them

The scriptures mention many gits o the Spirit These gits havebeen given to members o the true Church whenever it has beenon the earth (see Mark 16:16–18) The gits o the Spirit include theollowing:

The Gift of Tongues (D&C 46:24)

Sometimes it is necessary to communicate the gospel in a languagethat is unamiliar to us When this happens, the Lord can bless us

with the ability to speak that language Many missionaries havereceived the git o tongues (see the picture in this chapter) Forexample, Elder Alonzo A Hinckley was a missionary in Holland whounderstood and spoke very little Dutch even though he had prayedand studied hard When he returned to a home he had visited beore,

For teachers: Consider asking each class member or family member to review the list ofspiritual gifts in this chapter and choose two that they would like to learn more about.As part of the lesson, give them time on their own to study the paragraphs and scripturepassages about the gifts they have chosen. When they have had time to study, ask them toshare what they have learned.





127

C h a p t e r 2 2

a lady opened the door and spoke to him very angrily in Dutch Tohis amazement he could understand every word He elt a strongdesire to bear his testimony to her in Dutch He began to speak, and

the words came out very clearly in Dutch But when he returned toshow his mission president that he could speak Dutch, the abilityhad let him Many aithul members have been blessed with the gito tongues (See Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, comp Joseph Fielding Smith Jr, 5 vols [1957–66], 2:32–33)

The Gift of Interpretation of Tongues (D&C 46:25)

This git is sometimes given to us when we do not understanda language and we need to receive an important message romGod For example, President David O McKay had a great desire tospeak to the Saints in New Zealand without an interpreter He toldthem that he hoped that the Lord would bless them that they couldunderstand him He spoke in English His message lasted about 40minutes As he spoke, he could tell by the expression on many o their aces and the tears in their eyes that they were receiving his

message (See Answers to Gospel Questions, 2:30–31)

The Gift of Translation (D&C 5:4)

I we have been called by the leaders o the Church to translatethe word o the Lord, we can receive a git to translate beyond ournatural ability As with all gits, we must live righteously, study hard,and pray to receive it When we do these things, the Lord causes usto eel a burning inside concerning the correctness o the transla-

tion (see D&C 9:8–9) Joseph Smith had the git o translation whenhe translated the Book o Mormon This git came to him only

when he was in tune with the Spirit

The Gift of Wisdom (D&C 46:17)

Some o us have been blessed with the ability to understandpeople and the principles o the gospel as they apply in our lives

We are told:“I any o you lack wisdom, let him ask o God, that giveth to allmen liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him





129

C h a p t e r 2 2

“It is given unto some, says the Lord in the Doctrine and Cove-nants, to know by the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Son o God andthat He was crucied or the sins o the world [see D&C 46:13] It

is to these I reer who stand rm upon the rock o revelation in thetestimony that they bear to the world” (Teachings of Presidents of

the Church: David O. McKay [2003], 166)

The Gift of Believing the Testimony of Others (D&C 46:14)

By the power o the Holy Ghost we may know the truth o allthings I we want to know whether someone else is speaking thetruth, we must ask God in aith I the thing we are praying about istrue, the Lord will speak peace to our minds (see D&C 6:22–23) Inthis way we can know when someone else, even the prophet, hasreceived revelation Nephi asked the Lord to let him see, eel, andknow that his ather’s dream was true (see 1 Nephi 10:17–19)

The Gift of Prophecy (D&C 46:22)

Those who receive true revelations about the past, present, or

uture have the git o prophecy Prophets have this git, but wetoo can have it to help us govern our own lives (see 1 Corinthians14:39) We may receive revelations rom God or ourselves and ourown callings, but never or the Church or its leaders It is contraryto the order o heaven or a person to receive revelation or some-one over whom he or she does not preside I we truly have the gito prophecy, we will not receive any revelation that does not agree

with what the Lord has said in the scriptures

The Gift of Healing (D&C 46:19–20)

Some have the aith to heal, and others have the aith to be healed We can all exercise the aith to be healed when we are ill (see D&C42:48) Many who hold the priesthood have the git o healing thesick Others may be given a knowledge o how to cure illness

The Gift of Working Miracles (D&C 46:21)

The Lord has blessed His people many times in miraculous ways When the Utah pioneers planted their rst crops, a plague o locustsnearly destroyed them The pioneers prayed that the Lord would



130

C h a p t e r 2 2

save their crops, and He sent seagulls to devour the locusts When we need help and ask in aith, i it is or our good the Lord will work miracles or us (see Matthew 17:20; D&C 24:13–14)

The Gift of Faith (Moroni 10:11)

The brother o Jared had great aith Because o his aith, hereceived other gits His aith was so great that the Savior appearedto him (see Ether 3:9–15) Without aith, no other git can be givenMoroni promises, “Whoso believeth in Christ, doubting nothing,

whatsoever he shall ask the Father in the name o Christ it shall begranted him” (Mormon 9:21) We should seek to increase our aith,nd out our gits, and use them

Some people lack aith and deny that these gits o the Spirit actu-ally exist Moroni says to them:

“And again I speak unto you who deny the revelations o God,and say that they are done away, that there are no revelations, norprophecies, nor gits, nor healings, nor speaking with tongues, and

the interpretation o tongues;“Behold I say unto you, he that denieth these things knoweth notthe gospel o Christ; yea, he has not read the scriptures; i so, hedoes not understand them” (Mormon 9:7–8)

•WhydoestheLordgiveusspiritualgifts?

We Can Develop Our Gifts

•Howcanwe“seek...earnestlythebestgifts”?(D&C46:8). The Lord has said: “For all have not every git given unto them; orthere are many gits, and to every man is given a git by the Spirito God To some is given one, and to some is given another, that allmay be proted thereby” (D&C 46:11–12)

To develop our gits, we must nd out which gits we have Wedo this by praying and asting We should seek ater the best gits

(see D&C 46:8) Sometimes patriarchal blessings will help us know which gits we have been given



131

C h a p t e r 2 2

We must be obedient and aithul to be given our gits We thenshould use these gits to do the work o the Lord They are notgiven to satisy our curiosity or to prove anything to us because we

lack aith O spiritual gits, the Lord said, “They are given or thebenet o those who love me and keep all my commandments, andhim that seeketh so to do” (D&C 46:9)

•Thinkaboutsomespiritualgiftsthatwouldstrengthenyouper-sonally or help you serve the Lord and others What will you dotoseekthesegifts?

Satan Imitates the Gifts of the Spirit•HowcanwediscernbetweenthetruegiftsoftheSpiritandSatan’simitations?

Satan can imitate the gits o tongues, prophecy, visions, healings,and other miracles Moses had to compete with Satan’s imitationsin Pharaoh’s court (see Exodus 7:8–22) Satan wants us to believein his alse prophets, alse healers, and alse miracle workers They

may appear to be so real to us that the only way to know is to askGod or the git o discernment The devil himsel can appear as anangel o light (see 2 Nephi 9:9)

Satan wants to blind us to the truth and keep us rom seeking thetrue gits o the Spirit Mediums, astrologers, ortune tellers, andsorcerers are inspired by Satan even i they claim to ollow God

Their works are abominable to the Lord (see Isaiah 47:12–14;

Deuteronomy 18:9–10) We should avoid all associations with thepowers o Satan

We Must Be Careful with Our Gifts of the Spirit

•Howcanwerespectthesacrednessofspiritualgifts?

The Lord said, “A commandment I give unto them, that they shallnot boast themselves o these things, neither speak them beore the

world; or these things are given unto you or your prot and orsalvation” (D&C 84:73) We must remember that spiritual gits aresacred (see D&C 6:10)



132

C h a p t e r 2 2

In return or giving us these gits, the Lord asks that we “give thanksunto God in the Spirit or whatsoever blessing [we] are blessed

with” (D&C 46:32)

Additional Scriptures

•3Nephi29:6–7(fateofthosewhodenygifts)

•Moroni10:7–19(giftsdependonfaith)

•3Nephi26:17;27:20;D&C84:64(agiftgivenatbaptism)

•1Corinthians12(giftsoftheSpiritintheancientChurchofJesus

Christ)•D&C46:9–26(giftsoftheSpiritintheChurchtoday)

Gospel Principles Ch22 The Gifts Of The Spirit

Documents