New Testament Blog Post #12 - The Holy Ghost

As you study the following verses, make a list of what the Savior taught about (1) what the Holy Ghost does, and (2) what disciples must do to receive the Holy Ghost.

I was asked to study some verses in John 14, 15, and 16, to make a list of things the Savior taught about what the Holy Ghost does and what disciples must do to receive it. Then I was asked to add to that list from other resources from the Church. The list I created is as follows:

The Holy Ghost is a comforter, and can abide in us forever.

He can teach us all things and bring all things to our remembrance that we have been taught by the Savior.

He can give us peace.

He can testify of Christ.

He can reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.

He can guide us into all truth.

He can show us things to come.

He can glorify Christ, and be a vessel for the Savior to give things (truth, I would presume) to us.

It can “quicken all the intellectual faculties.”

It “increases, enlarges, expands, and purifies all the natural passions and affections and adapts them, by the gift of wisdom, to their lawful use.”

“It inspires, develops, cultivates, and measures all the fine-toned sympathies, joys, tastes, kindred feelings and affections of our nature.”

“It inspires virtue, kindness, goodness, tenderness, gentleness, and charity.”

“It develops beauty of person, form and features.”

“It tends to health, vigor, animation and social feeling.”

“It invigorates all the faculties of the physical and intellectual man.”

“It strengthens, and gives tone to the nerves.”

“It is, as it were, marrow to the bone, joy to the heart, light to the eyes, music to the ears, and life to the whole being.”

He instructs and enlightens “the minds of those who, through their faithfulness, have obeyed the commandments of the Father and the Son.”

“He bears witness of the truth.”

“He quickens the minds of those who have made covenants and reveals to them the mysteries of the kingdom of God.”

He carries out the will of the Father and the Son, and is a special messenger from them.

He is manifested to men in two forms, as the power of the Holy Ghost and as the gift of the Holy Ghost. The power of the Holy Ghost can come before baptism and provide witness of the truthfulness of the gospel. Consequently, it can provide people with testimonies of the truthfulness of the gospel.

The gift of the Holy Ghost comes after proper and authorized baptism. It acts as a cleansing agent to purify and sanctify those who receive it from sin.

The manifestation of the gift of the Holy Ghost came on the Twelve Apostles to prepare them for their ministries to the world.

Words spoken by the power of the Holy Ghost can carry a conviction of the truth to the hearts of those who hear.

The Holy Ghost can lead a person to know of future events.

Then I was asked to write responses to the following tasks:

Describe how the Holy Ghost helped the Apostles fulfill their missions after the Savior’s death and resurrection.

Well, from looking at the list, there are a lot of ways the Holy Ghost could potentially help the Apostles in their mission. I would sort of have to look at each of their ministries to know for sure. But I think that the power of the Holy Ghost would be helpful in helping their words touch the hearts of those they preached to. The Holy Ghost’s ability to testify of Christ would do the same,  as would a number of its other abilities, including glorifying Christ and bearing witness of the truth. Certainly the gift of the Holy Ghost would be a comfort to the Apostles and give them peace in those situations when they were in mortal danger or imprisoned, and I would guess the Holy Ghost’s ability to quicken the intellect would help them if they ever got into a public contention with someone, like how Abinadi contended with the priests of Noah and the Savior contended with the Pharisees. The Holy Ghost probably also cleansed and purified the Apostles, like it is meant to do to all of us. And possibly, it helped the Apostles to know about important future events.

Write a paragraph about a time when the Holy Ghost blessed you in one of the ways you listed above. Give an example of how the Holy Ghost has inspired you.

I think the most significant and memorable moments like this in my life have been about the Holy Ghost testifying of truth. If you’re reading this post, and you do not share my beliefs, you’re may be scoffing right now at the audacious suggestion that anyone could presume to know anything by way of such a nebulous idea as “the Holy Ghost.” And I know where you’re coming from. It’s been hard for me to reach the point that I could believe that there’s something that I cannot see or hear, but that I can feel, that testifies of truth. I haven’t ever seen an angel or a deceased religious figure as a spirit or anything like that, and I haven’t had the experience of hearing a voice. But I have on occasion felt something good as people have given testimony of principles of the gospel. And that feeling appears to me to be pretty consistent in each experience. For instance, when I was working on a tech crew at the Nauvoo Pageant (a play put on by my Church in Nauvoo, IL that reenacts some of the experiences of the Church’s early founders there), I worked in a light tower, using a spotlight. I remember particularly one night that I heard a few lines being delivered near the end of the pageant,

“So on a night like this, when moonlight streams in through your open window—”

“Or you hear the whistle of a riverboat, far, far away—”

“You feel—you know—that there’s more to life than what we see.”
“…and someplace yet to go.”
“…beyond where we have been.”
Those last two lines struck me deeply, and I felt something inside me sort of swell, like a part of me knew that those words were true—that there is a life after this one. And I have had similar experiences with other teachings of the gospel. And those experiences match Alma’s description of the word being like a seed in The Book of Mormon, which leads me to believe that what I am experiencing in those moments is true and real.