Thy Constant Companion

After speaking of the baptism of the Savior and inviting us to follow Him, Nephi gave us this promise, “If ye shall follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing to take upon you the name of Christ, by baptism—yea, by following your Lord and your Savior down into the water, according to his word, behold, then shall ye receive the Holy Ghost” (2 Nephi 31:13). In other words, those who will covenant with the Savior through baptism will receive the Holy Ghost to guide and direct them. Nephi further expounded what this means, “For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do” (2 Nephi 32:5). By covenanting with the Lord we can receive the Holy Ghost to guide and direct using, showing us the things that we can do. This is a greatest promises of what the Lord “will do for covenant Israel” as President Nelson invited us to search out.

His promise to give His Spirit to His covenant people is one that we find all throughout the scriptures. When the Savior was among the Nephites He gave them these words: “And if ye do always remember me ye shall have my Spirit to be with you” (3 Nephi 18:7). This of course is repeated in the sacrament prayer on both the bread and the water found in the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants: “That they may… witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him, and keep his commandments which he hath given them, that they may always have his Spirit to be with them” (Moroni 4:3). If we keep our covenant with Him, He will send His Spirit to be with us. In our dispensation He told Oliver Cowdery, “Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart” (Doctrine and Covenants 8:2). Of Jared Carter the Lord said, “And I will send upon him the Comforter, which shall teach him the truth and the way whither he shall go” (Doctrine and Covenants 79:2). The Savior specifically promised those preaching the gospel in our day: “And the Spirit shall be given unto you by the prayer of faith” (Doctrine and Covenants 42:14). The Lord also said to Thomas B. Marsh, “Go your way whithersoever I will, and it shall be given you by the Comforter what you shall do and whither you shall go” (Doctrine and Covenants 31:11).  Edward Partridge received this promise from the Lord as He entered into the gospel covenant: “And I will lay my hand upon you by the hand of my servant Sidney Rigdon, and you shall receive my Spirit, the Holy Ghost, even the Comforter, which shall teach you the peaceable things of the kingdom” (Doctrine and Covenants 36:2). To another the Savior promised, “Let him be humble before me, and be without guile, and he shall receive of my Spirit, even the Comforter, which shall manifest unto him the truth of all things, and shall give him, in the very hour, what he shall say” (Doctrine and Covenants 124:97). Again we see that if we will do our part to humbly keep our covenants before the Lord, He will send us His Spirit. And in a glorious promise in Liberty Jail the Lord said to the Prophet Joseph: “The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever” (Doctrine and Covenants 121:46). That blessing I believe is for all of us who remain faithful to the Lord. As we keep our covenants with Him, we will have His Spirit to guide us throughout all the challenges of mortality.