“We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth."
“Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.1” The Lord said to the people on the American continent: “He that is baptized in my name, to him will the Father give the Holy Ghost, like unto me; wherefore, follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do.2”
One of the prophets, Moroni, explained the same truth given by Paul to the people in Corinth: “Nothing that is good denieth the Christ, but acknowledgeth that he is. And ye may know that he is by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, I would exhort you that ye deny not the power of God; for he worketh by power, according to the faith of the children of men, the same today and tomorrow, and forever. And again, I exhort you, my brethren, that ye deny not the gifts of God, for they are many; and they come from the same God. And there are different ways that these gifts are administered; but it is the same God who worketh all in all; and they are given by the manifestations of the Spirit of god unto men, to profit them.3”
For the benefit of his followers, the Lord has given to those who receive the Holy Ghost different gifts; that everyone may be edified. As the scriptures explain; many gifts are bestowed upon men and women who have received the Holy Ghost and remain faithful to their covenant with God. A revelation from the Lord given to the prophet Joseph Smith states: “And again, verily I say unto you, I would that ye should always remember, and always retain in your minds what those gifts are, that are given unto the church. For all have not every gift given unto them; for there are many gifts, and to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God.4”
For this study, we will discuss the different gifts of the Spirit, and see how the Bible and the Book of Mormon complement each other. All the gifts the Lord gave to His primitive Church are found, in our day in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Lord restored the same gifts when he restored His gospel on the earth.
The gift of tongues: While the Apostles were teaching the people on the day of the Pentecost, they received this gift: “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.5” In the Book of Mormon, Alma, the prophet, is reminding the people how blessed they have been and are, when they have followed the Lord: “Having been visited by the Spirit of God; having conversed with angels, and having been spoken unto by the voice of the Lord; and having the Spirit of prophecy, and the Spirit of revelation, and also many gifts, the gift of speaking with tongues, and the gift of preaching, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, and the gift of translation...6” The prophet Moroni added: “For behold, to one is given the Spirit of God that he may teach the word of wisdom; and again, to another, the interpretation of languages and of divers kinds of tongues.7”
The gift of tongue is the ability to preach the gospel in all languages. God gives a gift so men may go all over the world and announce the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sends missionaries around the world to preach repentance and baptism; 60.000 missionaries are laboring in the world. The missionaries receive this gift of tongue while doing the work of the Lord. Often times, within 2 to 6 months, they are able to speak a new language, which would take years without the influence of the Spirit of the Lord.
The gift of prophecy: In the Old Testament, Samuel received this gift from the Lord: “And the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophecy with them, and shalt be turned into another man. And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them.8”
On the day of the Pentecost, the apostles of the Lord taught the words of the Savior: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophecy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.9” This gift is given to faithful members to guide them through their life. Also, the prophet prophesies for the people, being a special instrument in the hand of the Lord to let us know His truth. The Book of Mormon teaches us: “And I, Nephi, said unto them: Behold they were manifest unto the prophet by the voice of the Spirit; for by the Spirit are all things made known unto the prophets, which shall come upon the children of men according to the flesh.10”
The gift of revelation: Jesus was giving a discourse on the mission of the Holy Ghost: “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.11”
A great follower of the Lord, in the Book of Mormon expressed his feelings about revelation: “Yea, he that repenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good works, and prayeth continually without ceasing- unto such it is given to know the mysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal things which never have been revealed; yea, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls to repentance, even as it has been given unto us to bring these our brethren to repentance.12” Ammon explained how we could receive personal revelations. The prophet Nephi added: “For he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost, as well in these times as in times of old, and as well in times of old as in times to come; wherefore, the course of the Lord is one eternal round.13” Just as in the bible time, the prophets, 600 years before Christ appeared on the American continent knew about those gifts. They are part of the truth, part of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The gift of visions: One of the prophets explained a vision that he received in the Old Testament: “And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north...And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain.14” Prophets of old received visions when the Lord wanted to teach them. Another example in the Book of Mormon shows the ways of the Lord. Nephi explains the vision that his father, the prophet Lehi, received from the Lord: “And being thus overcome with the Spirit, he was carried away in a vision, even that he saw the heavens open, and he thought he saw God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God.15” This is one way the Lord used to talk to his prophets of old, and through His modern-day prophet today.
The gift of healing: When the Lord chose his twelve Apostles, he gave them power to “heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.16” With such a gift and power, they did many miracles. The Lord was ministering with this gift: “...God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.17” Paul explained the diversity of the gifts of the Spirit17: “To another (it is given) faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same spirit.” This gift was passed down to the elders of the Church through priesthood power to administer the sick: “Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick.19” It is the way the church was organized in Christ’s time and is in our days. Elders have received this priesthood authority and a gift for the healing of the sick. The Book of Mormon prophet, Moroni, testifies of the same gift pertaining to the Church of Jesus Christ: “And to another (it is given) exceedingly great faith; and to another, the gift of healing by the same Spirit.20”
The gift of interpretation of tongues21: Paul taught about those gifts: “And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God, which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues.” Moroni, in the Book of Mormon added those words: “And again I speak unto you who deny the revelations of God, and say that they are done away, that there are no revelations, nor prophecies, nor gifts, nor healing, nor speaking with tongues, and the interpretation of tongues; behold I say unto you, he that denieth these things knoweth not the gospel of Christ; yea, he has not read the scriptures; if so, he does not understand them. For do we not read that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.22”
This is the gospel of Jesus Christ. These gifts are given to those that diligently seek them.
References Part 7
1. 1 Corinthians 12:3-4
2. See 2 Nephi 31: 12
3. Moroni 10: 6, 7-8
4. Doctrine and Covenants 46: 10-11
5. Acts 2: 6
6. Alma 9: 21
7. Moroni 10: 9, 16
8. 1 Samuel 10: 6, 10
9. 9 Acts 2: 17
10. 1 Nephi 22: 2
11. John 16: 13
12. Alma 26: 22
13. 1 Nephi 10: 19
14. See Ezekiel 8: 3-4
15. 1 Nephi 1: 8
16. Matthew 10: 1
17. See Acts 10: 38
18. 1 Corinthians 12: 9
19. James 5: 13–15
20. Moroni 10: 11
21. 1 Corinthians 12: 5-8, 10
22. Mormon 9: 7- 9
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