(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

OFFICES (I. E., FUNCTIONS) OF THE HOLY GHOST.

SPECIAL TEXT: "When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me." (St John xv.26.)

DISCUSSION.

1. Review of Former Statement: It has already been pointed out in Lesson X, when considering the Holy Ghost in association with the Father and the Son in the Godhead, that his chief office, in the sense of function, is to be a witness for the two other divine personages of the Godhead, and for the truth of God—for the whole volume of it. That description of his office, however, was merely incidental, as explained in a footnote at the time, and followed only so far as was necessary to indicate merely the chief work of this divine Spirit.

2. Chief Function of the Holy Ghost—Witness for God: It was there emphasized, however, that the chief function of the Holy Ghost was to be Witness for God the Father, and for Jesus Christ:

"Ye have received the Holy Ghost, which witnesses of the Father and of the Son."^[A] "No man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost"^[B]

[Footnote A: II Nephi xxxi:18.]

[Footnote B: I Cor. xii.]

"But when the Comforter is come ... he shall testify of me."^[A]

[Footnote A: St. John v;26.]

These passages were relied upon to emphasize that conclusion; and to these the following may be added: "I bear record of the Father," said Jesus to the Nephites, "and the Father beareth record of me, and the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father and me." "Whoso believeth in me, believeth in the Father also, and unto him will the Father bear record of me: for he will visit him with fire and with the Holy Ghost. And thus will the Father bear record of me and the Holy Ghost will bear record unto him of the Father and me; for the Father, and I and the Holy Ghost are one."^[A]

[Footnote A: III Nephi xi:32-36.]

This chief office of the Holy Ghost established, we may now proceed to the consideration of other functions of this Divine Personage.

3. Comforter: As the time drew near for Jesus to make his great sacrifice, and then depart from the immediate presence of his disciples, he manifested a great desire to comfort them, and this he did by promising to send to them from the Father, the Holy Ghost, that he (the Holy Ghost) might abide with them forever.

"If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of Truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you."^[A]

[Footnote A: St. John xiv:16, 17. It will doubtless be of interest to note in this connection another promise following immediately upon this one relative to the Holy Ghost as a Comforter, and very generally overlooked even by Christians, namely, a promise that both the Father and Son would also take up their abode with those who keep the commandments. "I will not leave you comfortless," said the Christ in the verse following the one given in the text above, "I will come unto you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him. If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." When Orson Hyde gave a "spiritual interpretation" to the last statement, to the effect that it is "our privilege to have the Father and Son dwelling in our hearts," the Prophet Joseph answered: "When the Savior shall appear, we shall see him as he is. We shall see that he is a man like ourselves, and that the same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy. The appearing of the Father and the Son, in that verse (John xiv:23) is a personal appearance; and the idea that the Father and the Son dwell in a man's heart is an old sectarian notion, and is false." (Doc. and Cov., Sec. cxxx.)]

4. The Holy Ghost as Teacher: Continuing his discourse on the Comforter, Jesus said:

"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."^[A]

[Footnote A: John xiv:26.]

In continuation of his remarks on this subject, to the disciples, he told them he had many things to say unto them, but they could not bear them at that time. "Howbeit," said he, "when he, the Spirit of Truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you."^[A]

[Footnote A: John xvi:13-15.]

From these passages four important things are learned respecting the powers of the Holy Ghost:

(1) That he will teach all things; and, what is equivalent, "guide into all truth." (2) He will bring all things to remembrance, that is, whatsoever things have been stored in the mind. (3) He will show things to come. (4) He will take of the things of God and reveal them unto men.

Of the excellence and importance of these several powers it is scarcely needful to speak, since their excellence is evident upon the mere enumeration of them, yet one cannot refrain from looking at them more in detail. How excellent a thing it is to have a teacher competent to teach "all things," and "guide into all truth." In view of the fact that the saints possessed the Holy Ghost, and that the Holy Ghost has these powers, one can understand the reasonableness of John's remarks to the saints, in which he says:

"But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. * * * The anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him."^[A]

[Footnote A: John ii;20, 27.]

Moreover, to the extent that a man is guided into all truth, he is preserved from all error. There is no danger of his being deceived, or led astray by every wind of doctrine, or the cunning craftiness of false teachers, so long as he is in possession of that Spirit which guides into all truth. So taught Isaiah, who, in speaking of the time when the house of Israel should possess this Spirit, said:

"And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers;

"And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left."^[A]

[Footnote A: Isaiah xxx:20, 21.]

5. The Holy Ghost as Remembrancer: As to the second power enumerated, viz.: the power to bring all things to remembrance; it is a most practical and important function, as it would be impossible for man to live the law of the Gospel without some such grace being conferred upon him by the Lord. The law of the Gospel requires men not only to do good to those who do good to them, but to do good to those who despitefully use them; not only to lend to those who lend to them, but to lend to those of whom they may not hope to receive anything in return; to revile not those who may revile them—in a word, the law of the Gospel is summed up in this: "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good."^[A]

[Footnote A: Romans xii:21. See also Matt. v, vi.]

However fine this may be in theory, to carry it practically into the affairs of life is difficult. When reviled it seems but natural to answer railing with railing, blows with blows, and for injury inflicted, return as much in kind as is within one's power to inflict. And unless in possession of this grace bestowed by the Holy Ghost, viz., having brought to one's recollection the things of Christ's Gospel, being reminded in the very moment of temptation of these laws—when smarting under a sense of injustice, or suffering under wrongs heaped upon one—it would be difficult if not impossible to live up to these heaven-given precepts. But by having the Holy Spirit as one's prompter in the moments of temptation, and by cultivating the Christian virtue of patience, this law of the Gospel, so contravening the natural disposition of man, may be complied with, and the follower of Christ, like his Master, may be able to say for those who inflict injury upon him, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."

6. President Brigham Young on the Same: Along this line of thought the late President Brigham Young left on record, in a discourse delivered on the 28th of August, 1852, [Journal of Discourses, Vol. I], a very choice deliverance, in which he urged righteousness upon the ministry of the Church everywhere and at all times, through constant possession of the Holy Ghost. The passage follows:

"When I heard the brethren exhorting those who are going on missions, I wished them to impress one thing upon the minds of the elders, for it is necessary that it should be uppermost there, which may be the means of preserving them from receiving stains on their characters from which very probably they may never recover. If we get a blight on our characters before the Lord, or in other words, lose ground and backslide by transgression, or in any other way, so that we are not up even with the brethren, as we are now, we never can come up with them again. But this principle must be carried out by the elders wherever they go, whatever they do, or wherever they are. One thing must be observed and be before them all the time in their meditations, and in their practice, and that is, clean hands and pure hearts, before God, angels, and men. If the elders cannot go with clean hands and pure hearts, they had better stay here, and wash a little longer; don't go thinking when you arrive at the Missouri river, at the Mississippi, at the Ohio, or at the Atlantic, that then you will purify yourselves, but start from here with clean hands and pure hearts, and be pure from the crown of your heads to the soles of your feet, then live so every hour. Go in that manner, and in that manner labor, and return again as clean as a piece of pure, white paper. This is the way to go, and if you do not do that, your hearts will ache.

"How can you do it? Is there a way? Yes! Do the elders understand that way? They do. You cannot keep your hands clean, and your hearts pure, without the help of the Lord; neither will he keep you pure without your own help. Will you be liable to fall into temptation and be overtaken in sin? Yes, unless you live so as to have the revelation of Jesus Christ continually, not only to live in it today, or while you are preaching in a prayer meeting, or in a conference; but when you are out of the meetings. You must have the Holy Spirit all the time, on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and every day through the week, and from year to year, from the time you leave home until you return, so that when you come back, you may not be afraid if the Lord Almighty should come into the midst of the Saints and reveal all the acts and doings and designs of your hearts in your missions, but be found clean like a piece of white paper; that is the way for the elders to live in their ministry at home and abroad."