1 Corinthians 12 16 1 Corinthians 12 1

1 Corinthians 12 -16

1 Corinthians 12: 1 JST, Concerning spiritual “things”, I would not have you ignorant. Where the gifts of the Spirit are manifest, there is true religion; and where the gifts of the Spirit are not manifest, there true religion is not. Moroni 10: 8 tells us to deny not the gifts of God, for there are many!

1 Corinthians 12: 3 The prophet Joseph Smith said that 1 Corinthians 12: 3 should be translated “no man can know that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost” (Teachings, 223). 1 Corinthians 12: 7 -10 Gifts of the Spirit identify the true Church!

Why gifts? Their purpose is to enlighten, encourage, and edify the faithful so that they will inherit peace in this life and be guided toward eternal life in the world to come. Moroni 10: 8 -18 Doctrine & Covenants 46: 11 -26 Alma 9: 21 = = = “ 9 gifts” “ 13 gifts” “ 4 gifts” Other references: Mosiah 8: 16, Doctrine & Covenants 5: 4, 43: 3 -4, Romans 16: 6 -8 And these are by no means all of the gifts. In the fullest sense, they are infinite in number and endless in their manifestations (Elder “Bruce R. Mc. Conkie, Mormon Doctrine, 2 nd Edition, 314 -15).

I Corinthians 12 1. v. 8 “Word of Wisdom” - Ask and Receive! 2. v. 8 “Word of Knowledge - Gospel Knowledge! 3. v. 9 “Faith by the Same Spirit, - Faithful and competent! 4. v. 9 “Gifts of Healing” - To heal physically and spiritually! 5. v. 10 “Working of Miracles” 6. v. 10 “Prophecy” 7. v. 10 “Discerning of Spirits” - Sensitivity to spiritual impressions, both good and bad! 8. v. 10 “Divers kinds of Tongues - 9. v. 10 “Interpretations of tongues - To speak in tongues! Interpret languages and divers kinds of tongues!

How do we get these gifts? Ask! All members are not equally endowed; some possess one gift, some another; a few have a host of gifts; and all of these gifts are found somewhere in the Church. The obligation resting upon church members is to “covet earnestly the best gifts” (1 Corinthians 12: 31).

Seek Ye Earnestly the Best Gifts! George Q. Cannon “How many of you… are seeking for these gifts that God has promised to bestow? How many of you, when you bow before your Heavenly Father in your family circle or in your secret places, contend for these gifts bestowed upon you? How many of you ask the Father in the name of Jesus, to manifest Himself to you through the power of these gifts? Or do you go along day by day like a door turning on its hinges, without having any feeling upon the subject, without exercising any faith whatever; content to be baptized and be members of the Church, and to rest there, thinking that your salvation is secure because you have done this? . .

“…If any of us are imperfect, it is our duty to pray for the gift that will make us perfect. Have I imperfections? I am full of them. What is my duty? To pray to God to give me the gifts that will correct these imperfections. If I am an angry man, it is my duty to pray for charity, which suffereth long and is kind. Am I an envious man? It is my duty to seek for charity, which envieth not. So with all the gifts of the gospel. They are intended for this purpose. No man ought to say, “Oh, I cannot help this: it is my nature. ”

“He is not justified in it, for the reason that God has promised to give strength to correct these things, and to give gifts that will eradicate them. If a man lacks wisdom, it is his duty to ask God for wisdom. The same with everything else. That is the design of God concerning His Church. He wants His Saints to be perfected in truth. For this purpose He gives these gifts, and bestows them upon those who seek after them, in order that they may be a perfect people upon the face of the earth, notwithstanding their many weaknesses, because God has promised to give the gifts that are necessary for their perfection” (The Latter-day Prophets, Doctrine & Covenants 2: 123 -24, April 23, 1894).

Elder Mc. Conkie taught, “These gifts are infinite in number and endless in their manifestations because God himself is infinite and endless (Mc. Conkie, New Witness, 270). Certainly divine qualities such as patience, humility, integrity, kindness, and unselfishness, are also spiritual gifts worthy of pursuit. Elder Marvin J. Ashton described some of these “gifts not so evident but nevertheless real and valuable” as the “gift of listening, ” the gift of caring for others, ” and the gift of being able to ponder” (Ashton, Measure of Our Hearts, 17).

16 Attributes of Charity 1 Corinthians 13, (Moroni 7: 45 -48) Above all the attributes of godliness and perfection, charity is the one most devoutly to be desired. Charity is more than love, far more; it is everlasting love, perfect love, the pure love of Christ which endureth forever. It is love so centered in righteousness that the possessor has no aim or desire except for the eternal welfare of his own soul and for the souls of those around him (2 Nephi 26: 30, Moroni 8: 25 -26). Charity is through Jesus Christ! There is no other way to achieve it! It happens through His grace!

The Gift of Tongues 1 Corinthians 14 The devil also speaks in tongues! There is a specific purpose for the gift of tongues! “The gift of tongues by the power of the Holy Ghost in the Church, is for the benefit of the servants of God to preach to unbelievers, as on the day of Pentecost. When devout men from every nation shall assemble to hear the things of God, let the Elder’s preach to them in their own mother tongue, whether it is German, French, Spanish or Irish, or any other, and let those interpret who understood the language spoken, in their own mother tongue, and this is what the Apostle meant for in 1 Cor. 14: 27. Joseph Smith said the gift of tongues was the gift most used by Satan to deceive the Saints.

Tongues and their interpretation I Corinthians 14: 19 “Tongues and their interpretation are given for special purposes under special circumstances. There a host of gifts that are far more important and in the use of which there is less chance for deception. The gifts of exhortation, of preaching, of expounding doctrine, of teaching the gospel, though not nearly so dramatic, are far greater and of more value than tongues (Elder Bruce R. Mc. Conkie, Doctrinal New Testament Covenant, 384). Elder Joseph F. Smith wrote that “every missionary who goes forth to teach the gospel in a foreign language, if he is prayerful, receives this gift (Answers To Gospel Questions, vol. 5).

“Let your women keep silence in the churches” 1 Cor. 14: 33 -35 Others say that in this context Paul is discussing primarily the disruption of worship by women involved in noisy discussions surrounding tonguesspeaking and prophecy (New International Version, 2277).

“May women speak in the Church? Yes, in the sense of teaching, counseling, testifying, exhorting, and the like; no, in the sense of assuming rule over the Church as such, and in attempting to give direction as to how God’s affairs on earth should be regulated. ” ‘A woman has no right to found or organize a church, they are subject to the Priesthood, that it is not their province to rule and reign, that the bishop’s wife is not the Bishop’” (Elder Bruce R. Mc. Conkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 2: 387 -88).

“First fruits of the Resurrection” 1 Cor. 15: 20 -23 There is an order of priority within each of the resurrections. Order is determined by obedience. The most righteous man was the first, the sons of perdition will be the last (Elder Bruce R. Mc. Conkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, vol. 2, 396).

Baptism for the Dead 1 Cor. 15: 29 -30 Several scholars have demonstrated that baptism for the dead was an orthodox early Christian practice (Nible and Miller). The NIV handles it in the following way: The present tense suggests that at Corinth people were currently being baptized for the dead. But because Paul does not give any more information about the practice, many attempts have been made to interpret the concept.

1. Living believers were being baptized for believers who died before they were baptized, so they too, in a sense, would not miss out on baptism. 2. Christians were being baptized in anticipation of the resurrection of the dead. 3. New converts were being baptized to fill the ranks of Christians who had died. At any rate, Paul mentions this custom almost in passing, using it in his arguments substantiating the resurrection of the dead, but without necessarily approving the practice. Probably the passage will always remain obscure. Baptism for the dead is one of the signs of the true Church! 1 Cor. 15: 40 -42: The JST adds the “Telestial” to the end of verse 40.

Eamonn Mc. Cann: What if Mormons are right and Catholics and Protestants are wrong?

Flesh and Blood 1 Cor. 15: 50 Joseph Smith taught that when our flesh is quickened by the Spirit there will be no blood in this tabernacle (Teachings, 367).