The Unspeakable Gift of the Holy Ghost

In this week’s Come, Follow Me lesson we have this powerful verse that came out of Liberty Jail: “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). One of the first principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that we can receive the gift of the Holy Ghost to guide us throughout our lives, and surely that was desperately needed for Joseph and his companions in that jail for those many months. This gift has been available since the beginning of the world. We read this about the days of Adam and his children: “And thus the Gospel began to be preached, from the beginning, being declared by holy angels sent forth from the presence of God, and by his own voice, and by the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Moses 5:58). So the gift of the Holy Ghost was given to the very first people on earth to guide and comfort them. Nephi spoke of it in his day when he warned, “Yea, wo be unto him that hearkeneth unto the precepts of men, and denieth the power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost!” (2 Nephi 28:26) Alma spoke of how blessed his people had been, saying, “Having been visited by the Spirit of God; having conversed with angels, and having been spoken unto by the voice of the Lord; and having the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and also many gifts, the gift of speaking with tongues, and the gift of preaching, and the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Alma 9:21). In the meridian of time Peter invited a group of people this way: “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call” (Acts 2:38-39). The promise to all of God’s children is that we can receive the gift of the Holy Ghost to be with us always if we will repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. And this has been the case since the beginning.

                In this dispensation the Lord and His prophets have spoken frequently of the gift of the Holy Ghost. One verse in particular highlights the way this gift has been available throughout the history of the world: “That as many as would believe and be baptized in his holy name, and endure in faith to the end, should be saved—Not only those who believed after he came in the meridian of time, in the flesh, but all those from the beginning, even as many as were before he came, who believed in the words of the holy prophets, who spake as they were inspired by the gift of the Holy Ghost, who truly testified of him in all things, should have eternal life” (Doctrine and Covenants 20:25-26). From the beginning the gift of the Holy Ghost has been given to the faithful, and the Lord promises the same to us in our day: “And whoso having faith you shall confirm in my church, by the laying on of the hands, and I will bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost upon them” (Doctrine and Covenants 33:15). It is so universally available that even those who have died and are waiting in the Spirit World are taught and offered it through the work we do in the temples: “Thus was the gospel preached to those who had died in their sins, without a knowledge of the truth, or in transgression, having rejected the prophets. These were taught faith in God, repentance from sin, vicarious baptism for the remission of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands” (Doctrine and Covenants 138:32-33).     

                 The Prophet Joseph Smith said this about the gift of the Holy Ghost available to us today: “We believe in the gift of the Holy Ghost being enjoyed now, as much as it was in the Apostles’ days; we believe that it [the gift of the Holy Ghost] is necessary to make and to organize the Priesthood, that no man can be called to fill any office in the ministry without it; we also believe in prophecy, in tongues, in visions, and in revelations, in gifts, and in healings; and that these things cannot be enjoyed without the gift of the Holy Ghost. We believe that the holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, and that holy men in these days speak by the same principle; we believe in its being a comforter and a witness bearer, that it brings things past to our remembrance, leads us into all truth, and shows us of things to come; we believe that ‘no man can know that Jesus is the Christ, but by the Holy Ghost.’ [See 1 Corinthians 12:3.] We believe in it [this gift of the Holy Ghost] in all its fullness, and power, and greatness, and glory.” He must have sought earnestly to enjoy that gift of the comforter and witness bearer as he was locked up in the terrible conditions of Liberty Jail. These words that came out of Liberty Jail should be of great comfort to all of those who seek to nurture that gift in our lives: “God shall give unto you knowledge by his Holy Spirit, yea, by the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost” (Doctrine and Covenants 121:26).