First Comforter, Holy Ghost
Gifts necessary
"We cannot be the people that God designs we should be, unless we seek after and obtain these spiritual gifts. It should be the constant prayer of all the Latter-day Saints for the Lord to give us those gifts that are suited to our condition, and that will make us perfect, because the bestowal of these gifts is for the express purpose of making those who are entitled to them perfect before the Lord." (George Q. Cannon, Mill. Star, 62:354)
“The way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the Keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived [as an authority can], for the Lord God is his name. And whoso knocketh to him will he open; and the wise, and the learned, and they that are rich, who are puffed up because of their learning, and their wisdom, and their riches - yea, they are they whom he despiseth; and save they shall cast these things away, and consider themselves fools before God, and come down in the depths of humility, He will not open unto them.” (2 Nephi 9:41-42)
If you already know everything, how can you ask questions?
"This first Comforter or Holy Ghost has no other effect than pure intelligence. It is more powerful in expanding the mind, enlightening the understanding, and storing the intellect with present knowledge..." (Joseph Smith, HC 3:25, p. 380)
"THE SPIRIT OF REVELATION is in connection with these blessings. A person may profit by noticing the first intimation of the spirit of revelation; for instance, when you feel pure intelligence flowing into you, it may give you sudden strokes of ideas, so that by noticing it, you may find it fulfilled the same day or soon; (i. e.) those things that were presented unto your minds by the Spirit of God, will come to pass; and thus by learning the Spirit of God and understanding it, you may grow into the principle of revelation, until you become perfect in Christ Jesus." (Joseph Smith, HC 3:25, p. 381)
"Therefore it is given to abide in you; the record of heaven; the Comforter; the peaceable things of immortal glory; the truth of all things; that which quickeneth all things, which maketh alive all things; that which knoweth all things, and hath all power according to wisdom, mercy, truth, justice, and judgment." (Moses 6:61)
Those with authority laid on hands and the real effect was that they immediately received, and others could tell by the gifts received that the recipients had the Holy Ghost.
"...[the three Nephites] did go forth upon the face of the land, and did minister unto all the people, uniting as many to the church as would believe in their preaching; baptizing them, and as many as were baptized did receive the Holy Ghost." (3 Nephi 28:18)
"Then [Peter and John] laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money..." (Acts 8:17-18)
The Holy Ghost fell upon Joseph and Oliver and stayed with them after being baptized only:
"Immediately on our coming up out of the water after we had been baptized, we experienced great and glorious blessings from our Heavenly Father. No sooner had I baptized Oliver Cowdery, than the Holy Ghost fell upon him, and he stood up and prophesied many things which should shortly come to pass. And again, so soon as I had been baptized by him, I also had the spirit of prophecy, when, standing up, I prophesied concerning the rise of this Church, and many other things connected with the Church, and this generation of the children of men. We were filled with the Holy Ghost, and rejoiced in the God of our salvation.
"Our minds being now enlightened, we began to have the scriptures laid open to our understandings, and the true meaning and intention of their more mysterious passages revealed unto us in a manner which we never could attain to previously, nor ever before had thought of." (JSH 1:73-74)
"And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost, even as the Lamanites, because of their faith in me at the time of their conversion, were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not." (3 Nephi 9:20)
"And the Spirit shall be given unto you by the prayer of faith; and if ye receive not the Spirit ye shall not teach....And as ye shall lift up your voices by the Comforter, ye shall speak and prophesy as seemeth me good; For, behold, the Comforter knoweth all things, and beareth record of the Father and of the Son." (D&C 42:14, 16-17)
"THE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST by the laying on of hands, cannot be received through the medium of any other principle than the principle of righteousness, for if the proposals are not complied with, it is of no use, but withdraws." (Joseph Smith, HC 3:25)
"There are two Comforters spoken of. One is the Holy Ghost, the same as given on the day of Pentecost, and that all Saints receive after faith, repentance, and baptism." (Joseph Smith, HC 3:25)
"Baptism is a sign to God, to angels, and to heaven that we do the will of God, and there is no other way beneath the heavens whereby God hath ordained for man to come to Him to be saved, and enter into the kingdom of God, except faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, and baptism for the remission of sins, and any other course is in vain; then you have the promise of the gift of the Holy Ghost." (Joseph Smith, HC 4:32)
Brigham Young vision of Joseph (version 1)
"Joseph stepped toward me, and looking very earnestly, yet pleasantly said, 'Tell the people to be humble and faithful, and be sure to keep the spirit of the Lord and it will lead them right. Be careful and not turn away the small voice; it will teach you what to do and where to go; it will yield the fruits of the kingdom. Tell the brethren to keep their hearts open to conviction, so that when the Holy Ghost comes to them, their hearts will be ready to receive it. They can tell the Spirit of the Lord from all other spirits; it will whisper peace and joy to their souls; it will take malice, hatred, strife and all evil from their hearts; and their whole desire will be to do good, bring forth righteousness and build up the kingdom of God. Tell the brethren if they will follow the spirit of the Lord they will go right. Be sure to tell the people to keep the Spirit of the Lord; and if they will, they will find themselves just as they were organized by our Father in Heaven before they came into the world. Our Father in Heaven organized the human family, but they are all disorganized and in great confusion.'" (Joseph Smith in vision to Brigham Young, 17 February 1847, in Brigham Young Office Files, 1832–1878, Archives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
Brigham Young vision of Joseph (version 2)
"Council as usual There was not much done of interest except some remarks of President Young which I will give in short It is in relation to a spell of sickness he had had lately. He spoke as follows:
"Another subject which I wanted to speak of is this: On Wednesday morning I was taken ill and it has been asked if I had a vision I was taken so suddenly sick. Just as I was getting out of my bed that I could not go out. I tried to return to the bed again, but could not even get back. As to how I felt, No one can tell how I felt, until he dies and goes through the vail and when he does that he can then tell how I felt.
"All that I know, is what my wife told me about it since. She said that I said, I had been where Joseph & Hyrum was. And again that I said, it is hard coming to life again. But I know that I went to the world of spirits; but what I saw I know not, for the vision went away from me, as a dream which you loose when you awake.
"The next day I had a dream. I dreamed that I saw Joseph sitting in a room, in the South West corner, near a bright window. He sat in a chair, with his feet, both on the lower round. I took him by the hand and kissed him on both cheeks, and wanted to know why we could not be together, as we once was. He said that it was all right, that we should not be together yet. We must be separated for a season. I said it was hard to be separated from him. He said, it was all right and putting his feet down on the floor.
"Now all you who know, how he looks, when he used to give council, know all about, how he looked then. I told him that the Latter Day Saints was very anxious to know about the law of adoption, and the sealing powers &c and desired word of council from him.
"Joseph said; do you be sure and tell the people one thing. Do you be sure and tell the brethren that it is all important for them to keep the spirit of the Lord, To keep the quiet spirit of Jesus, and he explained how the spirit of the Lord reflected on the spirit of man and set him to pondering on any subject, and also explained how to know the spirit of the Lord from the spirit of the enemy.
"He said the mind of man must be open to receive all spirits, in order to be prepared, to receive the spirit of the Lord; otherwise it might be barred so as not to receive the spirit of the Lord, which always brings peace and makes one happy and takes away every other spirit. When the small still voice speaks always receive it, and if the people will do these things, when they come up to the father, all will be as in the beginning, and every person stand as at the first.
"I saw how we were organized before we took tabernacles and every man will be restored to that which he had then, and all will be satisfied. After this I turned away & saw Joseph was in the edge of the light; but where I had to go was as midnight darkness. He said I must go back, so I went back in the darkness.
"I want you all to remember my dream for I it is a vision of God and was revealed through the spirit of Joseph." (Joseph Smith in vision to Brigham Young, Minutes of Meeting at Winter Quarters, 28 February 1847, MS, Brigham Young Papers, Church Archives)
Baptism without receiving the Holy Ghost is not valid. It's the whole point of baptism.
"You might as well baptize a bag of sand as a man, if not done in view of the remission of sins and getting of the Holy Ghost. Baptism by water is but half a baptism, and is good for nothing without the other half--that is, the baptism of the Holy Ghost." (Joseph Smith, TPJS section 6, p. 314)
If the person receiving baptism's heart is not right, or those who they trusted as their teachers did not teach faith in God, but trust in the arm of flesh for example, their baptism will be fruitless; for God cannot be deceived.
"Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name." (Jacob, 2 Nephi 9:41)
"For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost." (2 Nephi 31:17)
"And it came to pass that many of the Lamanites did come down into the land of Zarahemla, and did declare unto the people of the Nephites the manner of their conversion, and did exhort them to faith and repentance. Yea, and many did preach with exceedingly great power and authority, unto the bringing down many of them into the depths of humility, to be the humble followers of God and the Lamb." (Heleman 6:4-5)
What was their "great power and authority"? The power of God himself; their words were rejoiced over in the heavens and the Holy Ghost testified with them.
The Holy Ghost removes carnal desires, replaces with desire to do good.
Faith comes by hearing the word of God. (This presupposes the speaker is in possesion of it, or in other words, is speaking by the power of the Holy Ghost)
Gift of prophecy is the hallmark of having the Holy Ghost.
"And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.
"And we, ourselves, also, through the infinite goodness of God, and the manifestations of his Spirit, have great views of that which is to come; and were it expedient, we could prophesy of all things.
"And it is the faith which we have had on the things which our king has spoken unto us that has brought us to this great knowledge, whereby we do rejoice with such exceedingly great joy." (King Benjamin, Mosiah 5:2-4)
"And they had viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth. And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things; who shall come down among the children of men. And it came to pass that after they had spoken these words the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience, because of the exceeding faith which they had in Jesus Christ who should come, according to the words which king Benjamin had spoken unto them." (Mosiah 4:2-3)
"Heaven responds to questions." (Denver Snuffer)
Revolutionary Faith: My Faith Experience
"After admitting to God that I didn’t know what to do anymore, He spoke to me very clearly: 'Stop listening to everybody else. Get off the roller coaster and just follow ME!'"
She had a broken heart and contrite spirit, she was pure before the Lord in similitude of the parable of the two men who went to the temple to pray.
This is why people like her will not be burned at His coming. It will be tolerable for her. She will inherit Terrestrial glory, and then as she learns more truth and light she can inherit everlasting burnings.
This is why the crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephriam who follow men (some of Thomas, some of Gordon) will look up, being in torment and plead for April to drop some cool water on their tongue. This Christian sinner who in utter humility knew more about God and his power than those who claim they are sealed by keys.
http://revolfaith.com/2012/10/05/my-faith-experience-part-1/
http://revolfaith.com/2012/10/06/my-faith-experience-part-2/
http://revolfaith.com/2012/10/06/my-faith-experience-part-3/
http://revolfaith.com/2012/10/07/my-faith-experience-part-4/
Light of Christ,
Holy Spirit,
Holy Ghost,
Holy Spirit of Promise
Nephi on Holy Spirit
Holy Ghost and Holy Spirit
God's Many Works
Baptism of Fire and the Holy Ghost
2 Nephi 31:18
2 Nephi 32:1-2
2 Nephi 32:3
"Therefore, verily I say unto you, lift up your voices unto this people; speak the thoughts that I shall put into your hearts, and you shall not be confounded before men; For it shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment, what ye shall say. But a commandment I give unto you, that ye shall declare whatsoever thing ye declare in my name, in solemnity of heart, in the spirit of meekness, in all things. And I give unto you this promise, that inasmuch as ye do this the Holy Ghost shall be shed forth in bearing record unto all things whatsoever ye shall say." (D&C 100:5-8)
--
"Neither take ye thought beforehand what ye shall say; but treasure up in your minds continually the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that portion that shall be meted unto every man." (D&C 84:85)
--
"And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say: For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say." (Luke 2:11-12)
"Joseph also said that the Holy Ghost is now in a state of Probation which if he should perform in righteousness he may pass through the same or a similar course of things that the Son has." (Joseph Smith, August 27 1843, Words of Joseph Smith, p. 245)
"No man can receive the Holy Ghost without receiving revelations. The Holy Ghost is a revelator." (Joseph Smith, HC 6:3, p. 58)
