by Barbara Wilkinson, June 2004 Women’s Council Web Class
“The gifts of the Spirit are
NOT given for your ENJOYMENT, but for your employment.”
Corrie ten Boom
It is important that we understand the functions of
the Holy Ghost are given to help us in our employment, that is, our service for
the Lord. Unfortunately, too many people
see the Holy Ghost only as a good feeling that accompanies a good sermon or
reunion, etc. That is only a minor part
of the function of the Holy Ghost.
The major function of the Holy Ghost is to help us bring about God’s eternal purposes. We need to see:
Another analogy is God is the Judge and Christ is
the Lawyer. But it doesn’t give us the function of the Holy Ghost, so that’s
why I’ve searched out the many functions of the Holy Ghost – so that I could
better understand his job in God’s eternal plan.
We need to see God and Christ as giving us our
assignments and the Holy Ghost guides and directs our work and gives us extra
POWER when needed to accomplish the assignment.
That is, the Holy Ghost is the one that works with us in our daily life
and assignments. If we don’t understand
this, we will not understand why at times we have the Holy Ghost in great power
and other times He seems to be far from us.
We have Him in great power when we are busily engaged in God’s eternal
purpose, and we have little of His power when we get side tracked in the daily
functions of life and forget about our eternal purposes. At times when the Holy Ghost seems to be far
from us, we are on one of the 3 lower level responses of the Parable of the Sower.
1.
You don’t even understand the word or Satan takes away the word that
was sown in your hearts.
2.
You receive the word with joy, but because of afflictions and
tribulation you are offended by the word.
3.
You hear the word but the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of
riches and lust for worldly things choke the word and you are unfruitful.
Matthew 13:18ff; Mark
4:14ff; Luke 8:11ff
We need to understand that we change our levels of response continually depending on the subject and what’s going on around us. For example, when you are in the process of moving, you are so busy with worldly cares that you don’t have time to do much work for the Lord, so you are unfruitful. Another example is in areas of the gospel that we don’t have a strong understanding. In those areas Satan can easily deceive us and lead us from the truth. A third example: at times when people make fun of “your church,” or Joseph Smith and his gold plates etc. you are offended by their words and you do not speak up in defense of the fullness of the gospel or Joseph Smith’s gold plates. At times like these we don’t have a large portion of the Holy Ghost with us because we don’t desire it, because we are afraid of witnessing so don’t want the people to know we are a member of the church and that we believe in the Book of Mormon.
So to more fully understand the functions of the Holy Ghost, read the lists given below and think about times and situations that you have read about peoples’ response and how they have received or not received the Holy Ghost in power and why. Some of these examples will be your own personal experiences, others will be ones you have read about or happened to other people. Often they are things that we are looking forward to experiencing if and when we have a part in the great endowment.
Unfortunately, we can’t word search the term
“functions of the Holy Ghost” because it doesn’t exist. So you need to watch for the things that we
are told the Holy Ghost or Spirit has or is doing. Just last year while reading through the Book
of Mormon I decided to make a list of all the functions of the Holy Ghost I
found while reading through the Scriptures.
I was amazed when I found around 30 functions of the Holy Ghost in only
235 pages of the Book of Mormon. NOTE:
in making this list, I included the functions of the Spirit, the Holy
Ghost, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ and the
Comforter, etc., that is, any of the many names used for the Spirit.
This lesson is simply a list of the things I
found. Some I’ve quoted, some I’ve
paraphrased. I suggest you look them up and read them in context to determine
who, what, when, where and why these functions occurred.
Because this is just a list of functions, it is also
your worksheet. THERE WILL NOT BE A
SEPARATE WORKSHEET ASSIGNMENT GIVEN TO GO WITH THIS LESSON.
Keep this in an easily found place and refer to it
when you find a function of the Holy Ghost. If I didn’t list it, add what you
have found to the list. This list will
be a good source of reference in years to come.
But take the time right now to read about the functions that are most
interesting to you.
ANOTHER ASSIGNMENT: Read the Scripture narrative of
your favorite ministers and see when, why, and how they experienced the POWER
of the Holy Ghost. People such as Enoch
[Gen
As you can tell, this assignment is a life long
job. Ask God to open your eyes to the
functions of the Holy Ghost in the lives of those who have left a record, and
to what He is doing in your life.
Understand the purpose of this lesson is to open your eyes to the experiences
people have had with the Holy Ghost, and to understand why it happened.
FUNCTIONS
OF THE Holy Ghost I FOUND AS I
READ THROUGH THE BOOK OF MORMON
2Nephi 11:78-80 - Jesus Christ manifests Himself
unto ALL who believe on his name by the power of the Holy Ghost in working
miracles, signs, wonders according to their faith. This will happen in the last
days.
2 Nephi 12:1 - Nephi spoke as the Spirit
constrains him, that is, the Holy Ghost told him exactly what to say.
Read Chapter 11 to understand exactly what God
told him to say.
The following are interesting scriptural examples of
the supreme control Spirit of God or the Holy Ghost had over what men were told
to say or told not to say:
Jer
20:9 -
Jeremiah refused to prophesy to the people any more because they were
persecuting him. But the Holy Ghost was
like a burning fire in his bones and he had to say what the Lord told him to
say.
3
Nephi 12:5 - While
abridging the Book of Mormon, Mormon decided to include all the things written
about Christ’s visit to this continent, but the Lord told him not to, that he
was to include only a small portion, the reason: “I will try the faith of My
people.” God told him exactly what to put in and what
to leave out.
2 Nephi
2 Nephi
2 Nephi 14:6 - The Holy Ghost will tell you all
things you must do.
2 Nephi 14:9 - The Spirit will stop you from
uttering if He needs to.
2 Nephi
2 Nephi 15:1 - We speak by the power of the Holy
Ghost and the Holy Ghost carries it to the hearts of the people.
John
Jacob 3:26, DC 33:2b - You prophesy by the Spirit/ power
of the Holy Ghost.
Jacob 4:3 - Servants of the Lord go forth in
His power.
Jacob
Words of Mormon
Mosiah 3:3 - The Holy Ghost caused a mighty change in their
hearts that they had no desire to do evil, but to do good.
Mosiah 3:4 - The Holy Ghost can show you a great view of that
which was to come, that is prophecy.
Alma 7:29 - The Spirit of God makes known to
them all things, according their DESIRES, FAITH, PRAYERS of
a.
that which had been revealed--- revelation
b.
of that which is to come--- prophecy
Alma 11:26-28 - The Lord poured out His
Spirit upon the minds of people to prepare their hearts to receive the word
which shall be taught to them at the time of Christ’s coming, so they will not
harden their hearts against the word or be unbelievers, but that they will
receive the word with joy when He came to them.
Alma
13:21,35 – Directed by the Spirit of the Lord as to where to go
and preach the word of God. [We should
pray that God would lead us to those who would be receptive to our testimony of
Jesus Christ and the gospel.]
Alma 12:14-15 – They prayed and fasted much
that God would grant a portion of His Spirit to go with them, that they might
be instruments in God’s hand to bring, if possible, the people to a knowledge
of the truth.
DC 10:10a,b - “… seek not to declare my word, but first
seek to obtain my word, and then shall your tongue be loosed; then, if
you desire, you shall have my Spirit, and my word; yea, the power of God
unto the convincing of men;”
DC 12:4a, b “… if you shall ask the Father in my
name, in faith believing , you shall receive the Holy Ghost, which giveth
utterance, that you may stand as a witness of the things of which you have
both heard and seen; and also, that you
may declare repentance unto this generation.
DC 16:4c -
“Ask the Father in my name in faith believing that you shall receive,
and you shall have the Holy Ghost which manifesteth all things, which is
expedient unto the children of men.
DC 16:5e - “…
to ordain priests and teachers to declare my gospel, according to the power of
the Holy Ghost which is in you, and according to the callings and gifts of God
unto men;…”
DC 17:9
- The priesthood are to conduct meetings as they are led by the Holy Ghost
DC
17:12a,b - Elders, priest, teachers, or deacons are to
be ordained by the power of the Holy Ghost
DC
19:1a,b - Joseph Smith Jr. was inspired by the Holy
Ghost to lay the foundation of the church.
DC
19:3a - Those working in the vineyard are to believe in God’s word that is
given by the Holy Ghost, which manifests that Jesus was crucified for the sins
of the world, for the remission of sins unto those with a contrite heart.
DC 22:19a “...discerning of the spirits by
the Spirit of God.” Priesthood are
to test the spirit and if it is not of God, they are to warn the people. It is
one of the promises to the Melchisedec priesthood.
DC
23:3a - Joseph was to write things which shall be given to him by the
Comforter, and expound all scriptures unto the church, and it would be given to
him the moment he needed it, to be spoken or written.
DC
27:1, 2c - Taught by the Comforter, concerning the revelations and commandments
God has given.
DC
28:8c God created by the word of the power of His Spirit.
DC
29:1b-c - If your mind is more on things of this world and you don’t heed My
Spirit, you are left to inquire for yourself and ponder what you received.
DC
30:4b - “…it shall be given you by the Comforter what you
should do and whether you should go.”
DC
32:3c,d - those confirmed into My church by the laying
on of hands, He will give the gift of the Holy Ghost.
DC
34:4a - “I have called upon the weak… those who are
unlearned and despised to thresh the nations by the power of My Spirit.”
DC
35:1b - “… and you shall receive My Spirit, the Holy Ghost,
even the Comforter, which shall teach you the peaceable things of the kingdom.”
DC 36:1L – Holy Ghost bears record of the Father and
the Son
Genesis
6:35-38, and Ch. 7 - Defines the power of the Holy Ghost.
DC
42:2b,c - They were to go forth for a period of time,
and My Spirit will tell you when to return. Go forth in the power of My Spirit,
preaching My gospel, two by two, in My name… declaring
My word.
DC
42:5a,b - The elders, priests and teachers
of this church, were to teach the fullness of the gospel as found in the
Bible and Book of Mormon, and they were to observe the covenants, and articles
of the church and teach them as directed by the Spirit, and if they didn’t
receive the Spirit they were not to teach.
DC
42:5d - “…lift
up your voices by the Comforter, ye shall speak and prophesy as
seemeth ME good; for, behold, the Comforter knoweth all things, and beareth
record of the Father and of the Son.”
DC
43:4a,b - The elders are not sent to be taught, but to teach the things He puts into
their hands, by the power of My Spirit.
DC 46:5b“…gifts of the Spirit are given by the Spirit of
God.”
DC 50:4c - They are
ordained, “…to preach My gospel by the Spirit,
even the Comforter, which was sent forth to teach the truth…”
DC 52:1a - The elders are called and chosen by the
voice of His Spirit.
DC
52:3b - The elders are to journey, “… saying none other things
than that which the prophets and apostles have written, and that which is
taught them by the Comforter, through the prayer of faith.
DC
59:5d “ I,
the Lord, have spoken it and the Spirit beareth record.”
DC 61:5a - It is given by the Spirit to know all His
ways.
DC 62:3b - “…do according to judgment and
the directions of the Spirit. “
DC 63:11 - The Spirit gave Joseph the power to
discern who should go to
DC 63:16b - They were to seek themselves a house as
they were taught through prayer, by the Spirit.
DC 67:3b - “…for
no man has seen God at any time in the flesh, except quickened by the Spirit of
God.”
DC 68:1a, b
- “… proclaim the everlasting
gospel by the Spirit of the living God, from people to people… land to land, in
the congregations of the wicked… reasoning with and expounding all Scriptures
unto them. … that
they shall speak as they are moved upon by the Holy Ghost.”
DC 71:1 - “…proclaiming my gospel, the things
of the kingdom, expounding the mysteries thereof, out of the Scriptures,
according to the PORTION OF THE SPIRIT and POWER, which shall be given unto
you, even as I will.”
DC 75:2c - “calling
on the name of the Lord for the Comforter, which shall teach them all things
that are expedient for them, and inasmuch as they do this, I will be with them
even unto the end.”
DC 75:4d - the Comforter will make known to the
traveling minister where they should go.
DC 76:2d - “for
by my Spirit will I enlighten
them, and by my power will I make
known unto them the secrets of My will;
yea, even those things which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor yet entered
into the heart of men.
DC
76:3a - “…by the power of the Spirit our eyes were opened,
and our understandings were enlightened, so as to see and understand the things
of God;”
DC 78:1b - God will send the Comforter, which shall
teach the truth and the way you should go.
DC
83:7c-e - The Spirit gives light to everyone that comes into the world
and enlightens everyone who hearkens [to hear and DO] to the voice of
the Spirit.
DC
85:44b - “…by prayer and thanksgiving, ..the
Spirit shall give utterance, in all your doings in the house of the
Lord, in the school of the prophets, that it may become a sanctuary,
a tabernacle, of the Holy Spirit to your edification.”
DC 87:5b - by the manifestation of the Comforter, they
can receive revelations and learn the mysteries of the kingdom and how to set
in order the church.
DC
88:1d - Understand, those who read the Apocrypha, if they receive the Spirit
can receive truth and enlightenment by the Spirit and obtain benefits,
but whoever receives NOT the Spirit, cannot be benefited by reading the
Apocrypha.
DC
96:1b - those who receive you will receive Me, and you
will have the power to declare His word by the Holy Spirit.
DC 101:13d
- He was to write according to what was dictated by His Spirit.
DC
102:10c - It is a time of choosing, and those that are to be chosen will be
manifest to his servant by the voice of the Spirit and they shall be
sanctified.
OTHER FUNCTIONS OF
THE HOLY GHOST THAT I’VE FOUND OVER THE YEARS:
Genesis 4:9, 6:69; 3 Nephi
Genesis
Luke
DC 10:10a,b - “… seek not to declare my word, but first
seek to obtain my word, and then shall your tongue be loosed; then, if
you desire, you shall have my Spirit, and my word; yea, the power of God
unto the convincing of men;” So a major
purpose of the Spirit of God is to bring to our minds the Scriptures WE HAVE
LEARNED, so we can be valiant in testimony of Jesus Christ. [DC 76:6g] UNDERSTAND: God can not bring to your memory scriptures you haven’t
learned or memorized. Years ago my
husband was trying to teach a business associate the importance of
baptism. While discussing the subject he
kept asking God to give him the Scriptures on the subject, but he never was
given them. Afterwards, he prayed and fasted asking God to tell him why he hadn’t received that
promise. The Lord told him He couldn’t
give to Max, that which he had never learned. He was told to study the New
Testament and learn the Scriptures needed to teach Christians the fullness of
the gospel.
The Holy Ghost is the Comforter. The word comforter means to strengthen. “… and he shall teach you
all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I
have said unto you. [John 14:26] We need strength, that is, the
courage and knowledge to witness. EVERYONE is afraid to witness… even Paul, Alma and the 4 sons of Mosiah
admitted to being afraid to witness. The Holy Ghost gave them the courage to
witness even when they were afraid for their lives. “But ye shall receive
power, after that the Holy Ghost is come unto you; and ye shall be witnesses
unto me both in
Who is the BEST witness of
Christ and the fullness of the gospel that you know? Pay attention to how that person witnesses
and copy him or her. Ammon,
one of the 4 sons of Mosiah who went to witness to
the Lamanites, was very successful in witnessing to King Lamoni. First of all he went as a friend and servant,[
Acts
Acts
Ammon witnessed of the same problem
among the Lamanites: “… and as many as heard
his words, believed, and were converted unto the Lord… But there were many
among them who would not hear his
words; therefore they went their way… [But the people who did hear his
word] … did all declare unto the people the self-same
thing; that their hearts had been changed; that they had no more desire
to do evil. [
Nevertheless,
I did harden my heart, for I was called many times, and I would not hear;
therefore I knew concerning these things, yet I would not know;
Therefore I went on rebelling against
God, in the wickedness of my heart, even until the fourth day of THIS
seventh month, which is in the tenth year of the reign of the Judges. [when he met
Notice, on the 4th day of the 7th
month he met
Because of Amulek’s
preaching many people in Ammonihah were converted and
began to study their Scriptures etc. But many others refused to hear the word
of God, so did not receive the Holy Ghost. To receive the word of God,’ we must
take the word into our heart, believe and obey it.
Acts 13:4; Alma 9:63-10:7 - Men were called by the Holy Ghost, and “…
sent forth by the Holy Ghost.” [Acts 13:4,
Acts 2:4“… speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” The spiritual gifts are given by the power of the
Holy Ghost.
Acts
Romans 5:5 - “… the love of God is shed abroad in
our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” A good example-- when the Lamanites were converted
by the sons of Mosiah, they were known for their
great love and faith.
Romans
Romans
1 Corinthians 6:19 - Your body is the temple of
the Holy Ghost, but when you don’t do what you have learned, “YOU
withdraw from the Spirit of the Lord , that it may have no place in you to
guide you in wisdom’s path, that ye may be blessed, prospered and preserved---
[Mos 1:79]
3 Nephi
Mormon 1:15 - “ And there
were NO GIFTS from the Lord, and the Holy Ghost did not come upon ANY, because
of their wickedness and unbelief.” Righteousness is required to
receive the Holy Ghost.
DC 86:3c - “…shall find wisdom,
and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures.”
1 Samuel
Ezekiel
Matthew
Romans
1 Corinthians
Alma 18:6; Alma 3: 75-81 - Revelation is defined as,
“… know that the word of God is true…by the Spirit of God.
1 Corinthians