Nephi testified that angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost. There are two kinds of beings in heaven who are angels in the literal sense: (1) resurrected beings who have bodies of flesh and bone and (2) spirits of just men made perfect who have not yet been resurrected (D&C 129:1–3). Righteous mortals may also be called angels (JST, Genesis 19:15). All are filled with the power of the Holy Ghost.
In Hebrew the word translated into English as “angels” is malachim, which also means “messengers.” Missionaries (which means all Latter-day Saints), for example, are messengers, so we may read this passage in this way: You, members and missionaries, speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, you speak the words of Christ. In order to do that, you must feast upon the words of Christ; the words of Christ will guide you in all things that you should do. Now, if you do not understand these words, it is because you are not specifically asking; you are not knocking, or inquiring of God, so you are not invited into the light but instead remain out in the dark.
Regarding the power of the Holy Ghost we might ask, Is it involved in other functions and operations besides assisting angels to speak? The answer is an emphatic yes! We cannot even begin to grasp the powers and performances of the Holy Ghost.
On a personal level, this means that the power available to every baptized and confirmed member of the Church who has received the gift of the Holy Ghost is so great as to be almost incomprehensible.
Elder James E. Talmage made this stunning statement: “Through the power of the Spirit, the Father and the Son operate in their creative acts and in their general dealings with the human family. The Holy Ghost may be regarded as the minister of the Godhead, carrying into effect the decision of the Supreme Council.
“In the execution of these great purposes, the Holy Ghost directs and controls the varied forces of nature, of which indeed a few, and these perhaps of minor order wonderful as even the least of them appears to man, have thus far been investigated by mortals. Gravitation, sound, heat, light, and the still more mysterious and seemingly supernatural power of electricity, are but the common servants of the Holy Ghost in His operations. No earnest thinker, no sincere investigator supposes that he has yet learned of all the forces existing in and operating upon matter; indeed, the observed phenomena of nature, yet wholly inexplicable to him, far outnumber those for which he has devised even a partial explanation. There are powers and forces at the command of God, compared with which electricity is as the pack-horse to the locomotive, the foot messenger to the telegraph, the raft of logs to the ocean steamer. With all his scientific knowledge man knows but little respecting the enginery of creation; and yet the few forces known to him have brought about miracles and wonders, which but for their actual realization would be beyond belief. These mighty agencies, and the mightier ones still to man unknown, and many, perhaps, to the present condition of the human mind unknowable, do not constitute the Holy Ghost, but are the agencies ordained to serve His purposes.” 96
The scriptures contain answers to all problems and questions: “The words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.” And how do the answers come? You store up the words, and when they are needed they will come. “The Holy Ghost … will show unto you all things what ye should do.” The Beloved Apostle later recorded Jesus saying, “The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, … he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:26).
The Holy Ghost
• Title: English ghost comes from Old High German geist, meaning “spirit”; der Heilige Geist would therefore mean “the Holy Spirit.” The term ghost is used in the biblical phrase “give up the ghost.” The Hebrew for “Holy Spirit” is Ruakh haKodesh; ruakh means “spirit” and “wind” (read John 3:8 for an interesting play on both meanings); kodesh means “holy,” so the phrase signifies “the Holy Spirit.”
• Other titles: The Spirit of God, the Spirit of the Lord, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, and the Comforter.
• Position: Third member of the Godhead. He became a God without a body. He is a personage of Spirit in the form of a man. 97 He can be in only one place, though his influence can extend far and wide. Because the Holy Ghost is a male personage, he is referred to as “he,” although it is proper to refer to the Spirit of God, in general, or the gift of the Holy Ghost as “it.” 98
• Purposes: All things are done by the power of the Holy Ghost (for example, “by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things”; Moroni 10:5). 99 He is a revelator, a testifier, a comforter, and a sanctifier. He enlightens us to know the mysteries of godliness, and he delivers messages from the Father and the Son.
• Definition: The “gift of the Holy Ghost” is the right to the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. The gift is conferred by the laying on of hands, and it operates through obedience.
• Sign: Dove
• Symbol: Fire
• History: From the beginning, Adam was full of the Holy Ghost (D&C 107:53–56). All the prophets had the Holy Ghost. 100 The gift was not needed when Christ was personally on earth but was received when he departed. 101
• Other: The Second Comforter is Jesus Christ himself, received in conjunction with having one’s calling and election made sure (receiving the more sure word of prophecy, or being sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise). 102
The Holy Ghost has no body of flesh and bone at present; we are instructed to avoid speculating about his origin or destiny. 103