TESTIMONY OF PAUL.
The World:—Paul, after your conversion did you receive the gift of the Holy Ghost?
Paul—I did. Ananias, being sent of the Lord, came to me in Damascus, and placing his hands upon me, said: "Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou earnest, has sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost." (Acts 9: 17.)
The World:—Did anyone ever receive the Holy Ghost under your administration?
Paul:—Yes, many. On one occasion, while Apollos was at Corinth, I passed through the upper coasts and came to Ephesus. There I found certain disciples who told me that they had been baptized. I asked them if they had received the Holy Ghost since they believed, and they answered that they had not—that they had not even heard of the Holy Ghost. I asked them with what baptism they had been baptized, and they replied, "Unto John's baptism." I told them that John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on Him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. I then laid my hands upon them and prayed for them that the Lord would bestow upon them His Holy Spirit. The Lord hearkened unto my prayer and acknowledged my administration, for the Holy Ghost came upon them and they spake with tongues and prophesied. (Acts 19: 1-6.) Timothy also received this precious gift by the laying on of my hands. (II Tim. 1: 6.)
The World:—How does the Holy Ghost operate upon those who receive it?
Paul:—In divers ways. "There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues; but all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will." (I Cor. 12: 4-11.) All these gifts, and many others, were enjoyed by the primitive Christians, and were inseparably connected with the true Gospel of Christ.
The World:—Did you not write an epistle to the Corinthian saints in which you told them that the gifts of prophecy, tongues, etc., would cease?
Paul:—I did. I told them that such gifts would cease when that which is perfect should come. I read from my epistle: "Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. * * * For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as I am known." (I Cor. 13: 8-10, 12.) I wrote an epistle to the Ephesians, in which I told them that the spiritual gifts which Christ had placed in His Church were to continue "till we all come to the unity of the faith." The following is an extract from my epistle: "Wherefore he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men." "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." (Eph. 4: 8, 11-13.)
The World:—The witness is excused. (To the Latter-day Saints):—Do the members of your Church enjoy the gifts of the Holy Ghost?
Latter-day Saints:—They do. "We believe in the gifts of the Holy Ghost being enjoyed now as much as they were in the days of the Apostles; we believe that the revelations of the Holy Ghost are necessary to organize the Priesthood; that no man can be called to fill any office in the ministry without it; we also believe in prophecy, in tongues, in visions, in revelations, in healings; and that these things cannot be enjoyed without the Holy Ghost; we believe that holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, and that holy men in these days speak by the same power; we believe in its being a comforter and a witness-bearer; that it brings things past to our remembrance, leads us into all truth, and shows us of things to come; we believe that no man can know that Jesus is the Christ but by the Holy Ghost."
The World:—Have you received authority from the Lord to confer the Holy Ghost upon those who comply with the laws and ordinances of the Gospel?
Latter-day Saints:—We have. The authority was conferred upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery by the Apostles Peter, James and John.
The World:—Have the gifts of the Holy Ghost been made manifest in this dispensation?
Latter-day Saints:—They have. On the evening of March 27th, 1836, Joseph Smith met the quorums of the Priesthood in the Kirtland Temple and instructed them respecting the ordinance of the washing of feet, and in relation to the spirit of prophecy. He called upon the congregation to speak, and not to fear to prophesy good concerning the Saints; "for if you prophesy," said he, "the falling of these hills, and the rising of the valleys, the downfall of the enemies of Zion, and the rising of the Kingdom of God, it shall come to pass. Do not quench the Spirit, for the first one that shall open his mouth shall receive the Spirit of prophecy." Brother George A. Smith arose, and began to prophesy, when a noise was heard like the sound of a rushing mighty wind, which filled the temple, and all the congregation simultaneously arose, being moved upon by an invisible power; many began to speak in tongues, and prophesy; others saw glorious visions; and the Temple was filled with angels, which fact the Prophet declared to the congregation. The people of the neighborhood came running together, hearing an unusual sound within, and seeing a bright light like a pillar of fire resting upon the Temple, and were astonished at what was transpiring." (Compendium pp. 267-8.)
The World:—Do you promise the Holy Ghost to all those who repent and obey the Gospel which you preach?
Latter-day Saints:—We do. In sending forth His servants in these last days to proclaim the glad tidings of the Gospel of peace, the Lord said: "Therefore go ye into all the world, and whatsoever place ye cannot go into ye shall send, that the testimony may go from you into all the world unto every creature. And as I said unto mine apostles, even so I say unto you, for you are mine apostles, even God's high priests; ye are they whom my Father hath given me—ye are my friends; therefore, as I said unto mine apostles I say unto you again, that every soul who believeth on your words, and is baptized by water for the remission of sins, shall receive the Holy Ghost; and these signs shall follow them that believe. In my name they shall do many wonderful works; in my name they shall cast out devils; in my name they shall heal the sick; in my name they shall open the eyes of the blind, and unstop the ears of the deaf; and the tongue of the dumb shall speak; and if any man shall administer poison unto them it shall not hurt them; and the poison of a serpent shall not have power to harm them. But a commandment I give unto them, that they shall not boast themselves of these things, neither speak them before the world, for these things are given unto you for your profit and for salvation. Verily, verily I say unto you, they who believe not on your words, and are not baptized in water, in my name, for the remission of their sins, that they may receive the Holy Ghost, shall be damned, and shall not come into my Father's Kingdom, where my Father and I am. And this revelation unto you, and commandment, is in force from this very hour upon all the world, and the gospel is unto all who have not received it." (Doc. and Cov. 84: 62-75.) All who will, with honest hearts, receive the message which we bear—the message that God the Father has in these last days restored through the ministration of angels, the everlasting Gospel—shall receive a testimony by the manifestations of the Holy Spirit of its Divine authenticity. And these manifestations shall be such as to give them perfect knowledge of its truth.