Spiritual Gifts

Jesus taught that signs will follow those that believe. He reaffirmed this promise in Joseph’s day on at least two occasions.

For I am God, and mine arm is not shortened; and I will show miracles, signs, and wonders, unto all those who believe on my name. And whoso shall ask it in my name in faith, they shall cast out devils; they shall heal the sick; they shall cause the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak, and the lame to walk. (D&C 35:8-9.)

Therefore, as I said unto mine apostles I say unto you again, that every soul who believeth on your words, and is baptized by water for the remission of sins, shall receive the Holy Ghost. And these signs shall follow them that believe—In my name they shall do many wonderful works; In my name they shall cast out devils; In my name they shall heal the sick; In my name they shall open the eyes of the blind, and unstop the ears of the deaf; And the tongue of the dumb shall speak; And if any man shall administer poison unto them it shall not hurt them; And the poison of a serpent shall not have power to harm them. (D&C 84:64-72.)

In Joseph’s day, members were expected to possess spiritual gifts: dramatic, undeniable external evidences of the power of God. The receipt of the Holy Ghost was taught to always bring spiritual gifts. Apostle Orson Pratt taught:

Whenever the Holy Ghost takes up its residence in a person, it not only cleanses, sanctifies, and purifies him, in. proportion as he yields himself to its influence, but also imparts to him some gift, intended for the benefit of himself and others. No one who has been born of the Spirit, and who remains sufficiently faithful, is left destitute of a Spiritual Gift. A person who is without a Spiritual Gift, has not the Spirit of God dwelling in him, in a sufficient degree, to save him; he cannot be called a Saint, or a child of God; for all Saints who constitute the Church of Christ, are baptized into the same Spirit; and each one, without any exception, is made a partaker of some Spiritual Gift. (Orson Pratt, Masterful Discourses, pp. 539–41.)

As modified as the endowment has become, some of the teachings on how true messengers are manifested have been preserved. True messengers always bring with them signs to identify God’s approval of their message. Echoing what we are taught in the modern endowment, Joseph Smith taught that true messengers bring with them the miracles the Savior promised:

If you will obey the Gospel with honest hearts, I promise you, in the name of the Lord, that the gifts as promised by our Saviour will follow you, and by this you may prove me to be a true servant of God. (Quoted in Hyrum Andrus, “Joseph Smith's Idea of the Gospel”.)

If the miracles of gifts of the Spirit were always present in Joseph’s day, have they continued to be in our day? In modern Mormonism, we hear testimonies of questionable miracles, such as someone with a priesthood blessing gradually recovering, or a missionary learning Spanish through months of immersive instruction and practice. Yet, Jesus’ list did not include subtle miracles. We do not see examples of the Lord’s explicitly listed undeniable miracles: healing the sick, causing the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the dumb to speak, the lame to walk, and invulnerability to poison.

God is not a changing God. If the manifestations of believers have changed from the time of Joseph, it can only be because the doctrines have changed since the time of Joseph.

Just as the presence of spiritual gifts is a witness of God’s approbation of the teachings offered, the lack of spiritual gifts is a sign of God’s disapproval of what is offered. At a minimum, one would expect these signs among the leadership of the church. Though we sustain leaders as prophets, seers, and revelators, they do not manifest any of these gifts, and haven’t since the death of Joseph (see “Prophet: Title or Description?”) Sidney Rigdon taught:

There is no society of which we have an account in the revelations of God, that he acknowledged as his own, except they had visions among them, and that as long as they continued to walk according to the directions of the Holy Spirit....We readily admit that a corrupt religion can exist, and false prophecies exist, and sectarian dogmas abound; men-made worshipers increase, and the world abound in a religion that the Lord was not the author of, and yet no visions be among them; but wherever the truth of heaven abounds, there will visions abound also; for it is a part of heaven’s scheme to save men, and without it, we are not authorized to say there is salvation. (Sidney Rigdon, “Faith of the Church,” Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate, 1:9, p. 133.)

If the promised miraculous signs do not attend a religion, it means that the believers in said religion do not have the truth, and do not have salvation.

First, miraculous signs should be claimed in all ages by the believers in the Gospel, because Jesus promised them, and has never intimated any repeal of that promise. All Gospel promises should be claimed by Gospel believers, until divine revelation repeals them. For instance, in the same verses, where Jesus promises these signs, he also promises salvation. As both of these Gospel blessings are promised, both should be claimed. None have the right to hope for the promised Salvation who have not the promised Signs. Indeed, those who have not the Signs, are not believers ; and, therefore, instead of having a right to Salvation, Jesus says expressly, that all such ‘shall be damned.’ (Orson Pratt, “Necessity of Miracles.”)

A lack of spiritual gifts shows a lack of faith. This is a shock to those who do not possess miracles yet consider themselves to have faith. They think they are exercising faith in God, but in reality their faith is in the false traditions of men.¹

Because faith is wanting, the fruits are. No man since the world was had faith without having something along with it. The ancients quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, women received their dead, etc. By faith the worlds were made. A man who has none of the gifts has no faith; and he deceives himself, if he supposes he has. Faith has been wanting, not only among the heathen, but in professed Christendom also, so that tongues, healings, prophecy, and prophets and apostles, and all the gifts and blessings have been wanting. (Joseph Smith, TPJS, p. 270.)

As Moroni explained, if you are not witnessing the miracles of visible ministration of angels, healings, tongues, visions, prophecy, etc., you are not in possession of the gospel of salvation:

And now, my beloved brethren, if this be the case that these things are true which I have spoken unto you, and God will show unto you, with power and great glory at the last day, that they are true, and if they are true has the day of miracles ceased? Or have angels ceased to appear unto the children of men? Or has he withheld the power of the Holy Ghost from them? Or will he, so long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man upon the face thereof to be saved? Behold I say unto you, Nay; for it is by faith that miracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men; wherefore, if these things have ceased wo be unto the children of men, for it is because of unbelief, and all is vain. For no man can be saved, according to the words of Christ, save they shall have faith in his name; wherefore, if these things have ceased, then has faith ceased also; and awful is the state of man, for they are as though there had been no redemption made. (Moroni 7:35-38.)

The opposite of faith is unbelief. Unbelief means refusing to believe, but in what? Faced with the implications of the lack of these promised gifts, modern Mormons have come up with three rationalizations. First, they claim that these gifts are had, but those who have them don’t speak of them.² The issue with this rationalization is that—beyond the fact that it allows everyone to assume they are the minority in not having these experiences—it shifts the signs from an individual witness to a communal one. The presence of signs is a witness meant for each individual, not a group. Second, they claim that while these gifts may not be had among the lay membership, the brethren experience them.

This failure to realize all the blessings and powers of the Priesthood does not apply to the elders and lesser Priesthood only; but it applies to the higher quorums, and comes home to ourselves, who are Apostles of Jesus Christ. We are presented before the Church, and sustained as prophets, seers and revelators, and we have received oftentimes the gift of prophecy and revelation, and have received many great and glorious gifts. But have we received the fullness of the blessings to which we are entitled? No, we have not. Who, among the Apostles have become seers, and enjoy all the gifts and powers pertaining to that calling? (Orson Pratt, JD 25:145.)

Third, they conclude that, since modern Mormons are the chosen people, though their experiences don’t match the descriptions in scripture, the definition of the words in scripture must have changed. Many in our day deny that God has a reason to perform miracles, or that he wills to perform only subtle miracles.³ They conclude that when God says “heal the sick,” he means leave the sick to be healed by a doctor or natural, slow means; that when he says “gift of tongues,” he means to learn languages like any other student learns;⁴ and that when he refers to the healing of the deaf, the dumb, the blind, and the raising of the dead, he wasn’t serious. Instead of comparing the scriptures to their experience, they force their experience onto what the scriptures say.