THE HOLY GHOST.--HOW IMPARTED.
The manner in which the saints under the teachings of the apostles
received the baptism of the Holy Ghost was through the laying on of
hands. In proof of this I call attention once more to the labors of
Philip in the city of Samaria.
It is already known how he taught them the Gospel, how they believed it
and were baptized; then we are informed that "when the apostles which
were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they
sent unto them Peter and John: who, when they were come down, prayed
for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost (for as yet he was
fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the
Lord Jesus.) Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the
Holy Ghost."[A]
[Footnote A: Acts viii: 14-17.]
Previous to the labors of Philip among the Samaritans, one Simon Magus,
a magician, had given it out that he himself was some great one, and
his influence among the people was considerable. But he, too, became
converted to the teachings of Philip, and was astonished at the power
which attended his administrations, for the sick were healed, the lame
were cured, and unclean spirits cast out of those who were possessed of
them. Afterwards when the apostles John and Peter came and conferred
the Holy Ghost upon those whom Philip had baptized, Simon was present:
"And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the
Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying. Give me also this
power, that on whomsoever I lay my hands, he may receive the Holy
Ghost. But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because
thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money."[B]
[Footnote B: Acts viii: 18-20.]
Paul, it will be remembered, found a number of men at Ephesus who
claimed to have been baptized unto John's baptism, but when Paul
questioned them as to the Holy Ghost, they had not heard even that
there was such a spirit. So doubting the validity of their baptism,
he re-baptized them; after which, "when Paul had laid his hands upon
them, the Holy Ghost came upon them; and they spake with tongues and
prophesied."[C]
[Footnote C: Acts xix: 1-6.]
The same apostle, also, in writing to Timothy, exhorts him to "stir
up the gift of God which was in him, and which he had received by the
putting on of his [Paul's] hands,"[D] alluding, no doubt, to the time
that Paul bestowed the Holy Ghost upon him by the laying on of hands.
[Footnote D: II. Tim. i: 6.]
That this practice of laying on hands for the bestowal or baptism of
the Holy Ghost continued in the primitive Christian Church for a long
period--at least for three centuries--is evident from the following
testimony:
Of the rites and ceremonies of the third century Mosheim says: "The
effect of baptism was supposed to be the remission of sins: And it was
believed that the bishop, by the imposition of hands and by prayer
conferred those gifts of the Holy Spirit which were necessary for
living a holy life."[E]
[Footnote E: Mosheim's Church History (Murdock), Vol. I, p. 189.]
In a note on the foregoing question, Murdock, the most accurate
translator of Dr. Mosheim's great work on church history, says: "This
may be placed beyond all controversy by many passages from the fathers
of this century. And as it will conduce much to an understanding of the
theology of the ancients, which differed in many respects from ours, I
will adduce a single passage from Cyprian. It is in his Epistle, No.
73, p. 131: 'It is manifest where and by whom the remission of sin
conferred in baptism is administered. They who are presented to the
rulers of the church, obtain by our prayers and imposition of hands the
Holy Ghost.'"[F]
[Footnote F: Mosheim's Church Hist., Vol. I, p. 189.]
In another passage Cyprian writes: "Our practice is, that those who
have been baptized into the Church should be presented, that by prayer
and imposition of hands they may receive the Holy Ghost." While
Augustine, in the fourth century, says: "We still do what the apostles
did when they laid their hands on the Samaritans and called down the
Holy Ghost upon them."[G]
[Footnote G: Laying on hands was employed in the Church for other
purposes than imparting the Holy Ghost. It was the manner of
administering to the sick (Mark xvi: 18; Acts xxviii, 8); and also of
conferring authority or priesthood on men (see Acts vi: 5, 6; viii:
17; xiii: 3); but as we here are only dealing with the ordinance as
it relates to a means of imparting the Holy Ghost, I do not stop to
discuss the other purposes for which it was employed.]
In subsequent centuries, however, this part of the Gospel was lost,
or neglected by some of the sects of Christendom, and when announced
among them today, it is not unfrequently regarded as a new doctrine.[H]
Yet it is not. We have seen that it was a doctrine practiced by the
apostles and their immediate successors. Indeed it is named directly
as one of the principles of the doctrine of Christ by Paul. The
following is the passage: "Therefore not leaving the principles of the
doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again
the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward
God, of the doctrine of baptisms, _and of laying on of hands_ and of
resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment."[I] And here it
may be well to call attention to the fact, that it is written that
"Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ,
hath not God."[J] And since the religious world has very generally
lost sight of this important doctrine of the laying on of hands for
imparting the Holy Ghost, it is one evidence, among many others, that
they have not God; for the absence of this part of the Gospel proves
that they have not continued in the doctrine of Christ.
[Footnote H: It is a mistake to suppose all Christendom have neglected
the practice of this ordinance. The Catholics teach that "Confirmation
[by the laying on of hands] is a sacrament instituted by our Lord,
by which the faithful, who have already been made children of God by
baptism, receive the Holy Ghost by prayer, unction (or anointing with
holy oil called _chrism_), and the laying on of the hands of a bishop,
the successor of the apostles. It is thus that they are enriched with
gifts, graces and virtues, especially with the virtue of fortitude,
and made perfect Christians and valiant soldiers of Jesus Christ to
stand through life the whole warfare of the world, the flesh and the
devil. The first recorded instance of confirmation being administered
to the faithful is in the eighth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles,
where St. Peter and St. John confirmed the Samaritans who had been
already baptized by St. Philip. 'They prayed for them that they might
receive the Holy Ghost. * * * Then laid they their hands on them and
they received the Holy Ghost'"(Catholic Belief, Bruno pp. 97, 98). The
Church of England, and of course the Episcopal churches in the colonies
and the United States teach practically the same.]
[Footnote I: Heb. vi: 1, 2.]
[Footnote J: II. John: 9.]
In restoring the Gospel to the earth in the present dispensation, it
seems, from the frequency with which it is mentioned, that particular
prominence is given to this doctrine and ordinance through which the
Holy Ghost is imparted. Out of the many passages in the Doctrine and
Covenants relating to the subject I select the following:
In April, 1830, the same month and year in which the Church of Christ
in this dispensation was organized, the Lord in explaining the office
and calling of an apostle, said: "An apostle is an elder, and it is his
calling to baptize; * * * and to confirm those who are baptized into
the Church, by the laying on of hands for the baptism of fire and the
Holy Ghost, according to the scriptures."[K]
[Footnote K: Doc. and Cov., sec. xx: 38, 41.]
In a revelation to James Covill given in January, 1831, calling him to
obedience to the Gospel and appointing him to be his servant, even a
minister for Christ, the Lord said: "And this is my Gospel: repentance
and baptism by water, and then cometh the baptism of fire and the Holy
Ghost, even the Comforter, which showeth all things, and teacheth the
peaceable things of the Kingdom." After calling him to be his servant
the Lord said: "And again it shall come to pass, that on as many as
ye shall baptize with water, ye shall lay your hands, and they shall
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."[L]
[Footnote L: Doc. and Cov., sec. xxxix; 6, 23.]
Then in a revelation given to Sidney Rigdon, Parley P. Pratt and Lemon
Copley, through Joseph the Prophet, on the occasion of these men
being sent with the Gospel to the Shakers, the Lord said: "Go among
this people and say unto them, like unto mine apostle of old, whose
name was Peter; believe on the name of the Lord Jesus. * * * Repent
and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, according to the holy
commandment, for the remission of sins; and whoso doeth this shall
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, by the laying on of the hands of
the Elders of this Church."[M]
[Footnote M: Ibid., sec. xlix: 11-14.]
As this last is a general law, I do not consider it necessary to cite
further passages, though the revelations of the Lord contained in the
Doctrine and Covenants are replete with them. Sufficient has been said
to show that the doctrine has been made prominent in this dispensation.
To my mind this ordinance is the most philosophical of any in the
Gospel. On one occasion as Jesus passed through a throng of people, a
woman who had been troubled with an issue of blood for twelve years,
and had spent all her living upon physicians, but received no benefit
from them, came up behind him, saying in her heart, if I can but touch
the hem of his garment I shall be healed. And it was so, even according
to her faith; for pressing through the crowd she laid hold of his
garment and was immediately made whole. "And Jesus said, who touched
me?" When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, "Master,
the multitude throng thee, and press thee, and sayest thou who touched
me? And Jesus said, somebody hath touched me; for I perceive that
virtue is gone out of me."[N]
[Footnote N: Luke viii: 43, 46.]
Now, what had happened. And why the expression--"Somebody hath touched
me; for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me." My answer would be
that the person of Jesus, aye, and also the very garments he wore, were
so charged with that divine influence, known to us as the Holy Spirit,
that when the woman with the issue of blood touched his garments, so
much of that Spirit left him to heal her that it was perceptible to
him, and he exclaimed, "Virtue is gone out of me!"
So, when a servant of God, filled with that Spirit, and with authority
to act in the name of Jesus Christ, lays his hands upon one who has
prepared himself for the reception of the Holy Ghost, through faith,
repentance, and baptism, a portion of that Holy Spirit passes from
the one who administers, to him upon whom he lays his hands and he
is baptized with it. These are the laws by which it is received and
conveyed; these are the conditions that must exist, in order that
men may obtain this holiest of all influences, and its full and free
enjoyment. And its transmission from one person to another by an
observance of the ordinances and principles of righteousness we have
now considered, is as natural and philosophical in the spiritual
things of the universe, as it is for electricity or steam to perform
the wonders which these forces are now made to enact in the commercial
and mechanical worlds; and which they will not perform, unless the
conditions by which their power is made available, are complied with.
I cannot do better in concluding this chapter than to quote a paragraph
or two from the works of Apostle Parley P. Pratt:
"To impart a portion of the Holy Spirit by the touch, or by the laying
on of hands; or to impart a portion of the element of life, from one
animal body to another, by an authorized agent who acts in the name of
God, and who is filled therewith, is as much in accordance with the
laws of nature as for water to seek its own level; air its equilibrium;
or heat and electricity their own mediums of conveyance.
"This law of spiritual fluid, its communicative properties, and the
channel by which it is imparted from one person to another, bear some
resemblance or analogy to the laws and operations of electricity. Like
electricity, it is imparted by the contact of two bodies, through the
channel of the nerves.
"But the two fluids differ widely. The one is a property nearly allied
to the grosser elements of matter; not extensively endowed with the
attributes of intelligence, wisdom, affection or moral discrimination.
It can therefore be imparted from one animal body to another,
irrespective of the intellectual or moral qualities of the subject
or recipient. The other is a substance endowed with the attributes
of intelligence, affection, moral discrimination, love, charity and
benevolence pure as the emotions which swell the bosom, thrill the
nerves, or vibrate the pulse of the Father of all.
"An agent filled with this heavenly fluid cannot impart of the same to
another, unless that other is justified, washed, cleansed from all his
impurities of heart, affections, habits or practices by the blood of
atonement, which is generally applied in connection with the baptism of
remission.
"A man who continues in his sins, and who has no living faith in the
Son of God, cannot receive the gift of the Holy Spirit through the
ministration of any agent, however holy he may be. The impure spirit
of such a one will repulse the pure element, upon the natural laws of
sympathetic affinity, or of attraction and repulsion."[O]
[Footnote O: Key to Theology, pp. 96, 97, 98.]
In other words, the Spirit of God will not dwell in unholy temples,
hence repentance and baptism for the remission of sins go before the
baptism of the Spirit that men may be cleansed of their sins, justified
before God, and their bodies by these means made fit dwelling-places
for the Holy Ghost--the living temples of God.