=Article 4.=--We believe that the first principles and ordinances
of the Gospel are:--... (4) Laying on of hands for the gift of
the Holy Ghost.
=1. The Holy Ghost Promised.=--John the Baptist, proclaiming in the
wilderness repentance and baptism by water, foretold a second higher
baptism, which he characterized as being of fire and the Holy Ghost;
this was to follow his administration,[454] and was to be given by
that Mightier One whose shoes the Baptist considered himself unworthy
to bear. That the holder of this superior authority was none other
than the Christ is proved by John's solemn record:--"Behold the Lamb
of God.... This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is
preferred before me.... And I knew him not, but he that sent me to
baptize with water, the same said unto me: Upon whom thou shalt see
the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is he which
baptizeth with the Holy Ghost."[455]
[454] Matt. iii, 2-3, 11; Mark i, 8; Luke iii, 16.
[455] John i, 29-33.
=2.= In declaring to Nicodemus[456] the necessity of baptism, the
Savior did not stop with a reference to the watery birth alone, that
being incomplete without the quickening influence of the Spirit; born
of water and of the Spirit is the necessary condition of him who is to
gain admittance to the kingdom. Many of the scriptural passages quoted
in proof of the purpose and necessity of baptism, show baptism by fire
and the Holy Ghost to be closely associated with the prescribed
ordinance of immersion in water.
[456] John iii, 3-5.
=3.= Christ's instructions to His apostles comprise repeated promises
concerning the coming of the "Comforter," and the "Spirit of
Truth,"[457] by which expressive terms the Holy Ghost is designated.
In His last interview with the apostles, at the termination of which
He ascended into heaven, the Lord repeated these assurances of a
spiritual baptism, which was then soon to take place.[458] The
fulfillment of this great prediction was realized at the succeeding
Pentecost, when the apostles, having assembled together, were endowed
with mighty power from heaven,[459] being filled with the Holy Ghost
so that they spake in tongues other than their own as the Spirit gave
them utterance. Among other manifestations of this heavenly gift, may
be mentioned the appearance of flames of fire like unto tongues, which
rested upon each of them. The promise so miraculously fulfilled upon
themselves was repeated by the apostles to those who sought their
instruction. Peter, addressing the Jews on that same day, declared, on
the condition of their acceptable repentance and baptism, "Ye shall
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."[460]
[457] John xiv, 16-17, 26; xv, 26; xvi, 7, 13.
[458] Acts i, 5.
[459] Acts ii, 1-4.
[460] Acts ii, 38.
=4.= Book of Mormon evidence is not less conclusive regarding the Holy
Spirit's visitation unto those who obey the requirements of water
baptism. Nephi, Lehi's son, bore solemn record of this truth,[461] as
made known to him by the voice of God. And the words of the
resurrected Savior to the Nephites come in plainness indisputable, and
with authority not to be questioned, proclaiming the baptism of fire
and the Holy Ghost unto all those who obey the preliminary
requirements.[462]
[461] II Nephi xxxi, 8, 12-14, 17.
[462] III Nephi xi, 36; xii, 2.
=5.= Unto the Saints in the dispensation of the fulness of times, the
same great promise has been made. "I say unto you again," spake the
Lord in addressing certain elders of the Church, "that every soul that
believeth on your words, and is baptized by water for the remission of
sins shall receive the Holy Ghost."[463]
[463] Doc. and Cov. lxxxiv, 64.
=6. Personality and Powers of the Holy Ghost.=--The Holy Ghost is
associated with the Father and the Son in the Godhead. In the light of
revelation, we are instructed as to the distinct personality of the
Holy Ghost. He is a Being endowed with the attributes and powers of
Deity, and not a mere thing, force, or essence. The term Holy Ghost
and its common synonyms, Spirit of God,[464] Spirit of the Lord, or
simply, Spirit,[465] Comforter,[466] and Spirit of Truth,[467] occur
in the scriptures with plainly different meanings, referring in some
cases to the person of God, the Holy Ghost, and in other instances to
the power or authority of this great Being. The context of such
passages will show which of these significations applies.
[464] Matt. iii, 16; xii, 28; I Nephi xiii, 12.
[465] I Nephi iv, 6; xi, 8; Mos. xiii, 5; Acts ii, 4; viii, 29; x,
19: Rom. viii, 10, 26; I Thess. v, 19.
[466] John xiv, 16-26; xv, 26.
[467] John xv, 26; xvi, 13.
=7.= The Holy Ghost undoubtedly possesses personal powers and
affections; these attributes exist in Him in perfection. Thus, He
teaches and guides,[468] testifies of the Father and the Son,[469]
reproves for sin,[470] speaks, commands, and commissions,[471] makes
intercession for sinners,[472] is grieved,[473] searches and
investigates,[474] entices,[475] and knows all things.[476] These are
not mere figurative expressions, but plain statements of the
attributes and characteristics of this great Personage. That the Holy
Spirit is capable of manifesting Himself in the true form and figure
of God, after which image man is shaped, is indicated by the wonderful
interview between the Spirit and Nephi, in which He revealed Himself
to the prophet, questioned him concerning his desires and belief,
instructed him in the things of God, speaking face to face with the
man. "I spake unto him," says Nephi, "as a man speaketh; for I beheld
that he was in the form of a man, yet nevertheless I knew that it was
the Spirit of the Lord; and he spake unto me as a man speaketh to
another."[477] However, the Holy Ghost does not possess a tangible
body of flesh and bones, as do both the Father and the Son, but is a
personage of spirit.[478]
[468] John xiv, 26; xvi, 13.
[469] John xv, 26.
[470] John xvi, 8.
[471] Acts x, 19; xiii, 2; Rev. ii, 7; I Nephi iv, 6; xi, 2-8.
[472] Rom. viii, 26.
[473] Eph. iv, 30.
[474] I Cor. ii, 4-10.
[475] Mos. iii, 19.
[476] Alma vii, 13.
[477] I Nephi xi, 11.
[478] Doc. and Cov. cxxx, 22.
=8.= Much of the confusion existing in our human conceptions
concerning the nature of the Holy Ghost arises from the common failure
to segregate our ideas of His person and powers. Plainly, such
expressions as being filled with the Holy Ghost,[479] and the Spirit
falling upon men, have reference to the powers and influences which
emanate from God, and which are characteristic of Him; for the Holy
Ghost may in this way operate simultaneously upon many persons, even
though they be widely separated; whereas the actual person of the Holy
Ghost cannot be in more than one place at a time. Yet we read that
through the power of the Spirit, the Father and the Son operate in
their creative acts and in their general dealings with the human
family.[480] The Holy Ghost may be regarded as the minister of the
Godhead, carrying into effect the decisions of the Supreme Council.
[479] Luke i, 15, 67; iv, 1; Acts vi, 3; xiii, 9; Alma xxxvi, 24;
Doc. and Cov. cvii, 56.
[480] Gen. i, 2; Neh. ix, 30; Job xxvi, 13; Psalms civ, 30; Isa.
xlii, 1; Acts x, 19; I Nephi x, 19; Alma xii, 3; Doc. and Cov. cv,
36; xcvii, 1.
=9.= In the execution of these great purposes, the Holy Ghost directs
and controls the numerous forces of Nature, of which indeed a few, and
these perhaps of the minor order, wonderful as even the least of them
seems to man, have thus far been made known to the human mind.
Gravitation, sound, heat, light, and the still more mysterious,
seemingly supernatural power of electricity, are but the common
servants of the Holy Spirit in His operations. No earnest thinker, no
sincere investigator supposes that he has yet learned of all the
forces existing in and operating upon matter; indeed, the observed
phenomena of nature, yet wholly inexplicable to him, far outnumber
those for which he has devised even a partial explanation. There are
powers and forces at the command of God, compared with which,
electricity, the most occult of all the physical agencies controlled
in any degree by man, is as the pack-horse to the locomotive, the foot
messenger to the telegraph, the raft of logs to the ocean steamer. Man
has scarcely glanced at the enginery of creation; and yet the few
forces known to him have brought about miracles and wonders, which but
for their actual realization would be beyond belief. These mighty
agencies, and the mightier ones still to man unknown, and many,
perhaps, to the present condition of the human mind unknowable, do not
constitute the Holy Ghost, but the mere means ordained to serve Divine
purposes.
=10.= Subtler, mightier, and more mysterious still than any or all of
the physical forces of nature, are the powers that operate upon
conscious organisms, the means by which the mind, the heart, the soul
of man may be affected. In our ignorance of the true nature of
electric energy, we speak of it as a fluid; and so by analogy the
forces through which the mind is governed have been called spiritual
fluids. The true nature of these higher powers is unknown to us, for
the conditions of comparison and analogy, so necessary to our frail
human reasoning, are wanting; still the effects are experienced by
all. As the conducting medium in an electric current is capable of
conveying but a limited current, the maximum strength depending upon
the resistance offered by the conductor, and, as separate circuits of
different degrees of conductivity may carry currents of widely varying
intensity, so human souls are of varied capacity with respect to the
diviner powers. But as the medium is purified, as the obstructions are
removed, so the resistance to the energy decreases, and the forces
manifest themselves with greater perfection. By analogous processes of
purification, may our spirits be made more susceptible to the power of
life, which is an emanation from the Spirit of God. Therefore are we
taught to pray by word and action for a constantly increasing portion
of the Spirit, that is, the power of the Spirit, which is a measure of
the favor of God unto us.
=11. The Office of the Holy Ghost= in His ministrations among men is
very fully described in scripture. He is a Teacher sent from the
Father;[481] and unto those who are entitled to His tuition He will
reveal all things necessary for the soul's advancement. Through the
influences of the Holy Spirit, the powers of the human mind may be
quickened and increased, so that things past may be brought to
remembrance. He will serve as a guide in things divine unto all who
will obey Him,[482] enlightening every man,[483] in proportion to his
humility and obedience;[484] unfolding the mysteries of God,[485] as
the knowledge thus revealed may tend to spiritual growth; conveying
knowledge from God to man;[486] sanctifying those who have been
cleansed through obedience to the requirements of the gospel;[487]
manifesting all things;[488] and bearing witness unto men concerning
the existence and infallibility of the Father and the Son.[489]
[481] John xiv, 26.
[482] Doc. and Cov. xlv, 57.
[483] Doc. and Cov. lxxxiv, 45-47.
[484] Doc. and Cov. cxxxvi, 33.
[485] I Nephi x, 19.
[486] Doc. and Cov. cxxi, 43.
[487] Alma xiii, 12.
[488] Doc. and Cov. xviii, 18.
[489] John xv, 26; Acts v, 32; xx, 23; I Cor. ii, 11; xii, 3; III
Nephi xi, 32.
=12.= And not alone does the Holy Ghost bring to mind the past, and
explain the things of the present, but His power is manifested
likewise in prophecy concerning the future;--"He shall show you things
to come," declared the Savior to the Apostles in promising the advent
of the Comforter. Adam, the first prophet of earth, under the
influence of the Holy Ghost "predicted whatsoever should befall his
posterity unto the latest generation."[490]
[490] Doc. and Cov. cvii, 56.
=13.= The power of the Holy Ghost then is the spirit of prophecy and
revelation; His office is that of enlightenment of the mind,
quickening of the intellect, and sanctification of the soul.
=14. To Whom is the Holy Ghost given?= Not to all indiscriminately.
The Redeemer declared to the apostles of old, "I will pray to the
Father and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with
you forever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive,
because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him."[491] Clearly, then, a
certain condition of the candidate is requisite before the Holy Ghost
can be bestowed, that is to say, before the person can receive a right
to the company and ministrations of the Spirit. God grants the Holy
Ghost unto the obedient; and the bestowal of this gift follows faith,
repentance, and baptism by water.
[491] John xiv, 16, 17.
=15.= The apostles of old promised the ministration of the Holy Ghost
unto those only who had received baptism by water for the remission of
sins;[492] John the Baptist gave assurances of the visitation of the
Holy Ghost to those only who were baptized unto repentance.[493] The
instance of Paul's rebaptizing the twelve disciples at Ephesus before
he conferred upon them the Holy Ghost, on account of a probable lack
of propriety or of authority in their first baptism,[494] has already
been dwelt upon. We read of a remarkable manifestation of power among
the people of Samaria,[495] to whom Philip went and preached the Lord
Jesus; the people with one accord accepted his testimony and sought
baptism. Then came unto them Peter and John, through whose
ministrations the Holy Ghost came upon the new converts, whereas upon
none of them had the Spirit previously fallen, though all had been
baptized.
[492] Acts ii, 38.
[493] Matt. iii, 11; Mark i, 8.
[494] Acts xix, 1-7; see page 146.
[495] Acts viii, 5-8, 12, 14-17.
=16.= The Holy Ghost dwells not in tabernacles unfit and unworthy.
Paul makes the sublime declaration that the body of man when filled
with the power of the Holy Ghost becomes a temple of this spirit; and
the apostle specifies the penalty prescribed for defiling a structure
sanctified by so holy a presence.[496] Faith in God leads to
repentance of sin, this is followed by baptism in water for the
remission of sins, and this in turn by the bestowal of the Holy Ghost,
through whose power come sanctification and the specific gifts of God.
[496] I Cor. iii, 16. See also vi, 19; II Cor. vi, 16; Doc. and
Cov. xciii, 35.
=17. An Exception to the Prescribed Order= is shown in the case of
the devout Gentile, Cornelius, unto whom, together with his family,
came the Holy Ghost, with such power that they spake with new tongues
to the glorification of God, and this before their baptism.[497] But
sufficient reason for this departure from the usual order is seen in
the prejudice that existed among the Jews toward other nations, which,
but for the Lord's direct instructions to Peter, would have hindered,
if indeed it did not prevent, the apostle from ministering unto the
Gentiles; as it was, his act was loudly condemned by his own people;
but he answered their criticisms with a recital of the lesson given
him of God, and the undeniable evidence of the Divine will as shown in
the reception of the Holy Ghost by Cornelius and his family before
baptism.
[497] Acts x.
=18.= And in another sense the Holy Ghost has frequently operated for
good through persons that are unbaptized; indeed, some measure of this
power is given to all mankind; for, as seen already, the Holy Spirit
is the power of intelligence, of wise direction, of development, of
life. Manifestation of the power of God, as made plain through the
operations of the Spirit, are seen in the triumphs of ennobling art,
the discoveries of true science, and the events of history; with all
of which the carnal mind may believe that God takes no direct concern.
Not a truth has ever been made the property of human kind except
through the power of that great Spirit who exists to do the bidding of
the Father and the Son. And yet the actual companionship of the Holy
Ghost, the divinely-bestowed right to His ministrations, the
sanctifying baptism with fire, are given as a permanent possession
only to the faithful, repentant, baptized candidate for salvation; and
with all such this gift shall abide, unless it be forfeited through
transgression.
=19. The Bestowal of the Holy Ghost= is effected through the ordinance
of an oral blessing, pronounced upon the candidate by the proper
authority of the Priesthood, accompanied by the imposition of hands by
him or those officiating. That this was the mode followed by the
apostles of old is evident from the Jewish scriptures; that it was
practiced by the early Christian Fathers is proved by history; that it
was the acknowledged method among the Nephites is plainly shown by the
Book of Mormon records; and for the same practice in the present
dispensation authority has come direct from heaven.
=20.= Among the instances recorded in the New Testament, we may
mention the following: Peter and John conferred the Holy Ghost upon
Philip's converts at Samaria, as already noted, and the ordinance was
performed by prayer and the laying on of hands.[498] Paul operated in
the same manner on the Ephesians whom he had caused to be baptized;
and "when he had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on
them, and they spake with tongues and prophesied."[499] Paul also
refers to this ordinance in his admonition to Timothy not to neglect
the gift so bestowed.[500] The same apostle, in enumerating the
cardinal principles and ordinances of the Church of Christ, includes
the laying on of hands as following baptism.[501]
[498] Acts viii, 14-17. Read the account of Simon, the magician,
in the same chapter.
[499] Acts xix, 2-6.
[500] II Tim. i, 6.
[501] Heb. vi, 1-2.
=21.= Alma so invoked the power of the Holy Ghost in behalf of his
co-laborers:[502]--"He clapped his hands upon all them who were with
him. And behold, as he clapped his hands upon them they were filled
with the Holy Spirit." The Savior gave authority to the twelve chosen
Nephites,[503] by touching them one by one; they were thus
commissioned to bestow the Holy Ghost.
[502] Alma xxxi, 36.
[503] III Nephi xviii, 36, 37.
=22.= In this dispensation, it has been made a duty of the Priesthood
"to confirm those who are baptized into the Church by the laying on of
hands for the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost."[504] The Lord has
promised that the Holy Ghost shall follow these authoritative acts of
His servants.[505] The ceremony of laying on of hands for the bestowal
of the Holy Ghost is associated with that of confirmation in the
Church. The officiating elder acting in the name and by the authority
of Jesus Christ, says, "_Receive ye the Holy Ghost_;" and "_I confirm
you a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints_."
Even these words are not prescribed, but their meaning should be
expressed in the ceremony; and to such may be added other words of
blessing and invocation as the Spirit of the Lord may dictate to the
officiating elder. This act completes the outward form of the baptism
so indispensable to salvation--the birth of water and of the Spirit.
[504] Doc. and Cov. xx, 41, 43.
[505] Doc. and Cov. xxxv, 6; xxxix, 6, 23; xlix, 11-14.
=23.= The authority to so bestow the Holy Ghost belongs to the higher
or Melchizedek Priesthood,[506] whereas water-baptism may be
administered by a priest, officiating in the ordinances of the lesser
or Aaronic order of priesthood.[507] This order of authority, as made
known through revelation, explains that while Philip had authority to
administer the ordinance of baptism to the converted Samaritans,
others who held the higher priesthood had to be sent to confer upon
them the Holy Ghost.[508]
[506] Doc. and Cov. xx, 38-43.
[507] Doc. and Cov. xx, 46, 50.
[508] See Acts viii, 5-17.
=24. Gifts of the Spirit.=--As already pointed out, the special office
of the Holy Ghost is to enlighten and ennoble the mind, to purify and
sanctify the soul, to incite to good works, and to reveal the things
of God. But, beside these general blessings, there are certain
specific endowments promised in connection with the gifts of the Holy
Ghost. Said the Savior, "These signs shall follow them that believe:
In my name shall they cast out devils, they shall speak with new
tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly
thing it shall not hurt them: they shall lay hands on the sick and
they shall recover."[509]
[509] Mark xvi, 17-18; Doc. and Cov. lxxxiv, 65-78.
=25.= These gifts of the Spirit are distributed in the wisdom of God
for the exaltation of His children. Paul thus discourses concerning
them: "Now, concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you
ignorant.... Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same
Spirit.... 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 faith by the same Spirit; to another the gift of healing by
the same Spirit. To another the working of miracles; to another
prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kind of
tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues. But all these
worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man
severally as he will."[510] No man is without some gift from the
Spirit; one person may possess several.
[510] I Cor. xii, 8; see also Moroni x, 8-18.