Joseph Smith is the
greatest of prophets, after Jesus Christ Himself. As Hyrum Smith
declared, "There were prophets before, but Joseph has the
spirit and power of all the prophets."
"The Prophet's voice
was like the thunders of heaven," observed Joseph L.
Robinson, resident of Nauvoo, "yet his language was meek and
his instructions edified much. There was a power and majesty
that attended his words and preaching that we never beheld
in any man before. . . . He was highly charged with the Holy
Ghost, which was his constant companion."
"I want your prayers
and faith that I may have the instruction of Almighty God
and the gift of the Holy
Ghost," Joseph told the Saints, "so that I may
set forth things that are true and which can be easily
comprehended by you, and that the testimony may carry
conviction to your hearts and minds of the truth of what I
shall say."
"I . . . know that no
man could explain the scriptures, throw them wide open to
view so plain that none could misunderstand their meaning,
except he had been taught of God," said Joseph's friend
Wandle Mace. "He, as it were, turned the key, and the door
of knowledge sprang wide open, disclosing previous
principles, both new and old."
gift of the Holy Ghost
It is the right of every worthy baptized member of the Church to have the constant influence of the Holy Ghost. Following a person's baptism into the true Church of Jesus Christ, he receives the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands from one who has the proper authority (see Acts 8:12-25; Moroni 2:1-3; D–C 39:23). Receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost is often spoken of as a baptism by fire (see Matthew 3:11; D–C 19:31; The Guide to the Scriptures, "Gift of the Holy Ghost," 93–94).
