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TeachingsoftheProphetsJosephFieldingSmithLesson 14: The Holy GhostPreparations: Read through and pray about Lesson 14 entitled The Gift of the HolyGhost in the Teachings of the Prophets, Joseph Fielding Smith manual. Read and prayabout the scriptures listed below as well as the lesson out line below. Adjust the outlineas necessary to meet the needs of your class. Also, as part of the lesson outline Icreated, I constructed a door that opens and closes on hinges made out of cardboard,painted white. I also made a window that Velcro’s on and two removable gold knobs.To redo the lesson, the door can be as simple or as complex as you’d like. I alsocreated handouts, as shown on the last page of the lesson.Scriptures: Pray about and read the following scriptures in advance:John 1:9Moroni 10:5D&C 88:3 -13John 14:26-27D&C 1:30D&C 93:2Ephesians 6:11-18D&C 33:11,15D&C 123:11-172 Peter 1:21D&C 46:7-8D&C 130:221 Nephi 13:37D&C 49:26-27Bible Dictionary: Holy2 Nephi 31:17-18D&C 50:21-22GhostAlma 34:37-39D&C 84:44-46, 88Scripture 1:D&C 50:21-22TeacherIntroduction:It is my prayer that we may all be edified here today as we learnabout the Holy Ghost. Now, we have all had spiritualexperiences involving promptings from the Holy Ghost, whichwe should treasure up in our hearts and share whenappropriate. However, many of these experiences are toosacred to share and should be kept locked up in our hearts untilsuch time as we feel impressed to share them with those welove. We could spend an entire lesson and uplift one anotherthrough the precious stories of faith we could tell. However,today I feel impressed to focus more on these three areas aspertaining to the Holy Ghost.Teacher - WritingActivity:Divide the board into three columns. At the top of each columnwrite the questions.Column 1:What blessings do we receive when we have the Holy Ghost asour constant companion?Column 2:What can we do every day to prepare to receive thecompanionship of the Holy Ghost?Column 3:In what ways would your life be incomplete without the Gift ofthe Holy Ghost?

Teacher:Throughout the lesson we are going to be answering theseimportant questions, so when you have something to add to oneof the columns, let me know and I will add it. Together we willdiscover how vitally important and precious the gift of the HolyGhost is. Lets start by clarifying what we already know.Who is the Holy Ghost and what is his mission and purpose?(D&C 130:22, 2 Nephi 31:18)Quote 1:“The Holy Ghost is the third member of the Godhead. He is aSpirit, in the form of a man. The Father and the Son arepersonages of tabernacle; they have bodies of flesh and bones.The Holy Ghost is a personage of Spirit, and has a spirit bodyonly. His mission is to bear witness of the Father and the Sonand of all truth. He partakes of the things of the Father and theSon and reveals them to those who serve the Lord infaithfulness. It was through the teachings of the Comforter, ofHoly Ghost, that the teachings of Jesus Christ were recalled bythe apostles. It is through the teachings of the Holy Spirit thatprophecy comes.” Joseph Fielding SmithTeacher:So the primary mission of the Holy Ghost is to bear witness ofthe Father and the Son, to testify of the divinity of Christ, and totestify of all truth. He is also called the Comforter, the Testator,Revelator, and Sanctifier. Because of the unique office that heholds in the Godhead, His companionship is the greatest giftthat man can enjoy. Who has scripture 2 and question 2?Scripture 2:1 Nephi 13:37Teacher:What is the difference between the POWER of the Holy Ghostand the GIFT of the Holy Ghost?Wait to allow the class time to answer, and then move on toquote 2.Quote 2:“The Holy Ghost is manifested to men on the earth both as thepower of the Holy Ghost and as the gift of the Holy Ghost. Thepower can come upon one before baptism and is the convincingwitness that the gospel is true. By the power of the Holy Ghost aperson receives a testimony of Jesus Christ and of His work andthe work of His servants upon the earth. The gift can come onlyafter proper and authorized baptism and is conferred by thelaying on of hands. The gift of the Holy Ghost is the right tohave, whenever one is worthy, the companionship of the HolyGhost.” (Bible Dictionary, Holy Ghost)Teacher Only:Hold up the door you made in advance, draw one on the board,or ask the class to close their eyes and picture it in their heads.

Teacher- DoorActivity:Lets say that this door symbolizes the veil that was placed overall of God’s children at birth between earth and the Spirit World.The window (hold up the window) represents the Light of Christgiven to every man that comes into the world. This firstdoorknob represents the POWER of the Holy Ghost (hold up thePOWER doorknob) and the second doorknob represents theGIFT of the Holy Ghost (hold up the GIFT doorknob).To understand more fully the Holy Ghost and his role in oureternal progression, we need to first understand the Light ofChrist and it’s role in the Savior’At birth, every child is given theLight of Christ, which is a portion of Christ’s spirit. (Place thewindow on the door.) It is NOT to be confused with thePersonage of the Holy Ghost. (D&C 93:2, John 1:9) The Lightof Christ is our conscience. It is what guides men and womeneverywhere in their actions and their knowledge between rightand wrong. (D&C 84:44-46) To clarify this, lets read quote 3.Quote 3:“To describe the Light of Christ, I will compare or liken it to thelight of the sun. Sunlight is familiar to everyone; it is everywherepresent and can be seen and can be felt. Life itself dependsupon sunlight. The Light of Christ is like sunlight. It, too, iseverywhere present and given to everyone equally.This Lightof Christ, which gives life, is within you. The evil one will attemptto obscure it. It can be so clouded with confusion so far as toconvince you that it does not even exist. Just as sunlight is anatural disinfectant, the Spirit of Christ can cleanse the spirit.”President Boyd K. Packer (The Light of Christ, Ensign, April2005)Teacher:The Light of Christ is different from the Holy Ghost. It is anactual portion of Christ’s Spirit. The Light of Christ and the HolyGhost act in concert with each other, but they are not the samepower. It is through the Light of Christ by which all things aremade, it fills the immensity of space, it governs all things innature and in the heavens. (D&C 88:5-13) Who has quote 4?Quote 4:“Most members of the church have a basic understanding of theHoly Ghost.They know “the Holy Ghost.is a personage ofSpirit” and a member of the Godhead. But many do not knowthat there is another Spirit – “the light of Christ” – anothersource of inspiration, which each of us possesses in commonwith all other members of the human family. If we know aboutthe Light of Christ, we will understand that there is somethinginside all of us, and we can appeal to that in our desire to sharetruth. The Holy Ghost and the Light of Christ are different fromeach other. While they are sometimes described in thescriptures with the same words, they are two different anddistinct entities. It is important for you to know about both ofthem” President Boyd K. Packer (The Light of Christ, Ensign,April 2005)

Teacher:Everyone is given the Light of Christ equally, but the power ofthe Holy Ghost only comes to those who truly seek to know theeternal truths learned through the Light of Christ for anyone whochooses to follow that Light. The Light of Christ helps peoplewho are searching for the truth to recognize it when they hear it.The power of the Holy Ghost builds upon this recognition until atestimony is formed. Let’s read quote 5.Quote 5:”Regardless of whether this inner light, this knowledge of rightand wrong, is called the Light of Christ, moral sense, orconscience, it can direct us to moderate our actions – unless,that is, we subdue it or silence it.This Spirit of Christ [or Light ofChrist, as it is also referred to as] fosters everything that isgood, every virtue. It stands in brilliant, indestructible oppositionto anything that is coarse or ugly or profane or evil or wicked.Itis important for a teacher or a missionary or a parent to knowthat the Holy Ghost can work though the Light of Christ. Ateacher of gospel truths is not planting something foreign oreven new into an adult or a child. Rather, the missionary orteacher is making contact with the Spirit of Christ already there.The gospel will have a familiar “ring” to them. Then the teachingwill come “to the convincing of [those who will listen] that Jesusis the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto allnations” President Boyd K. Packer (The Light of Christ, Ensign,April 2005)Teacher – VisualAid:Anyone can feel the power of the Holy Ghost, but the decisionof who receives of this power is solely up the Lord. The powerdoorknob is only on the side where Christ dwells. (PlacePOWER knob on the inside of the door.) Who has quote 6?Quote 6:“We believe the Holy Ghost is a revelator and that he will beartestimony to honest people everywhere that Jesus is the Son ofGod, that Joseph Smith is a prophet, and that this church is ‘theonly true and living church upon the face of the whole earth.’(D&C 1:30) There is no need for anyone to remain in darkness;the light of the everlasting gospel is here; and every sincereinvestigator on earth can gain a personal witness from the HolySpirit of the truth and divine nature of the Lord’s work.Everyman can receive a manifestation of the Holy Ghost, even whenhe is out of the church, if he is earnestly seeking for the lightand for truth.” Joseph Fielding SmithTeacher – VisualAidWhat about the gift doorknob? (Hold up the gift doorknob)Who can obtain the gift of the Holy Ghost and when? In orderto answer this, can the people who have scripture 3, scripture 4and quote 7 read them in that order?Scripture 3:D&C 33:11,15Scripture 4:2 Nephi 31:17