Gift of the Holy Ghost a Higher Endowment

In 1902, the First Presidency responded to a question about the Holy Ghost, specifically, when did the apostles in the New Testament receive this sacred gift? The following is their reply:

The following inquiry has been received from an elder residing in Tooele County, with the request for a reply:

“There is a dispute here among the brethren as to when the Holy Ghost was received; was it at, or before the day of Pentecost?”

The answer to this question depends on what is meant by “receiving” the Holy Ghost. If reference is made to the promise of Jesus to His apostles about the endowment or gift of the Holy Ghost by the presence and ministration of the “personage of spirit,” called the Holy Ghost by revelation in Doctrine and Covenants, Sec. 130, verse 22, then the answer is, it was not until the day of Pentecost that the promise was fulfilled. But the Divine essence, called the Spirit of God, or Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost by which God created or organized all things, and by which the prophets wrote and spoke, was bestowed in former ages and inspired the apostles in their ministry long before the days of Pentecost. The words “Ghost and Spirit” are often used synonymously, and this causes some confusion, when the difference between the “personage of spirit” and the spirit “poured out from on high” is not taken into consideration. There is a universally diffused essence which is the light and life of the world, which proceedeth forth from the presence of God throughout the immensity of space, the light and power of which God bestows in different degrees to “them that ask him,” according to their faith and obedience, but the Holy Ghost, which Christ said He would send to His apostles from the Father (John 14:26) was and is a “personage of spirit,” and was not to come until Christ went away (John 16:7). Also the endowment from that divine being, the third person in the Holy Trinity, called “the gift of the Holy Ghost,” is a special blessing sealed upon baptized repentant believers in Jesus Christ, and is “an abiding witness.” The spirit of God may be enjoyed as a temporary influence by which divine light and power come to mankind for special purposes and occasions. But the gift of the Holy Ghost, which was received by the apostles on the day of Pentecost, and is bestowed in confirmation, is a permanent witness and higher endowment than the ordinary manifestation of the Holy Spirit.

We read that Jesus, after His resurrection, breathed upon His disciples and said, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” But we also read that He said, “Behold, I send the promise of my father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high” (John 20:22; Luke 24:49). We read further, “For the Holy Ghost was not yet given: because that Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:39). Thus the promise was made, but the fulfillment came after, so that the Holy Ghost sent by Jesus from the Father did not come in person until the day of Pentecost¹, and the cloven tongues of fire were the sign of His coming. This manifestation was repeated in this dispensation at the endowment in the Kirtland temple in the month of January, 1836. JOSEPH F. SMITH, ANTHON H. LUND, CHARLES W. PENROSE.²

This is in keeping with numerous other statements made by Joseph Smith and his successors. For example, Spencer W. Kimball taught:

When you received your confirmation, you were commanded to receive the Holy Ghost. He was not obligated to seek you out. The Lord says, “I will visit thy brethren according to their diligence in keeping my commandments,” (Enos 1:10.) If our lives are responsive and clean, if we are reaching and cultivating, the Holy Ghost will come, and we may retain him and have the peace his presence thus affords.³

Similarly, Wilford Woodruff stated:

You may have the administration of angels, you may see many miracles; you may see many wonders in the earth; but I claim that the gift of the Holy Ghost is the greatest gift that can be bestowed upon man.⁴

See also the post on the Holy Ghost in which Lorenzo Snow recounted his experience in receiving this sacred gift.

Sources:

1. Compare Andrew F. Ehat’s statement that “Conventional Christianity mistakenly believes that the powerful outpouring on the day of Pentecost recorded in Acts 2—the mighty rushing wind, the cloven tongues of fire over the heads of each of the disciples while they spoke in tongues—was all the endowment they were to receive. But, when read more closely, the scriptures reveal that the disciples’ endowment took place in a house (probably an upper room) and was interrupted by a multitude of curious men (see Acts 2:1-6).” What is an Endowment?↩
2. Clark, James R. Messages of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1965. 5:3-4.↩
3. Kimball, Spencer W. “Prayer”. Mar 1978. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 22 Aug 2009.↩
4. Woodruff, Wilford. as quoted in G. Homer Durham, ed. The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1946. 5.↩

Related posts

• Brother of Jared at the Veil
• Spiritual Knowledge
• Hebrews – To Ascend the Holy Mount
• What is an Endowment?
• Spiritual Gifts