The Essential Role of the Holy Ghost

Book of Mormon Notes - Wednesday, June 26, 2024, Moroni 2-6

On this day, twenty-eight years ago, I entered the Missionary Training Center to prepare for my mission in southern Italy for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

As I reread Moroni chapters 2-6 in Italian, it stands out to me how important the gift of the Holy Ghost is for the Church of Jesus Christ. Everything in Moroni’s final chapters points to the essential role of the Holy Ghost in everything about the Lord’s Church. The gift of the Holy Ghost makes all the difference. When the Jaredites lost or abandoned this gift, destruction followed. When the Nephites lost or abandoned this gift, destruction followed. If the Gentile lose or abandon this gift, destruction will follow. Everything depends upon the Holy Ghost and the gift of the Holy Ghost.

The Holy Ghost dispenses gifts that direct the progress of the Church of Jesus Christ. When Jesus Christ first appeared to the Nephites at the Temple in Bountiful, He taught His disciples how to pray mightily and bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost upon His other followers. The ordination and organization of teaching and ministering efforts was done by the gift of the Holy Ghost:

The manner which the disciples, who were called the elders of the church, ordained priests and teachers-

After they had prayed unto the Father in the name of Christ, they laid their hands upon them, and said:

In the name of Jesus Christ I ordain you to be a priest (or if he be a teacher, I ordain you to be a teacher) to preach repentance and remission of sins through Jesus Christ, by the endurance of faith on his name to the end. Amen.

And after this manner did they ordain priests and teachers, according to the gifts and callings of God unto men; and they ordained them by the power of the Holy Ghost, which was in them. (Moroni 3:1-4)

What were the priests and teachers ordained to preach? They were ordained to preach the Good News, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, namely repentance and remission of sins through Jesus Christ, by the endurance of faith on his name to the end.

Thus the Church of Jesus Christ is a unique organization. It is not a man-made organization that is directed by the ideas or precepts of men. The Church of Jesus Christ was and is organized by the Lord Himself and directed by the power of the Holy Ghost. It is Heavenly Father’s organization for leading souls unto Christ and salvation. Souls are lead unto salvation by the preaching of repentance and remission of sins through Jesus Christ, by the endurance of faith on his name to the end. This preaching and the receiving of this preaching is done by the Holy Ghost.

Notice that the priests and teachers were chosen according to the gifts and callings of God unto men, and ordained by the power of the Holy Ghost. This is a very different way of operating than any man-made organization. Moroni’s final words, therefore, include instructions to the latter-day Lamanites about how to organize and conduct the affairs of the Lord’s Church. Moroni knew more than he could tell about the things that the Lord did and taught in order to establish Zion among the Nephites who had gathered at the Temple in Bountiful. Moroni’s final words include portions of the Lord’s instructions for the establishment of Zion that the Lamanites will yet undertake in the last days.

Moroni also included the Lord’s very specific instructions about the administration of the sacrament of the Lord’s supper. In other words, this is precisely how the Lord taught the Nephites at the Temple in Bountiful to bless and administer the sacrament:

The manner of their elders and priests administering the flesh and blood of Christ unto the church; and they administered it according to the commandments of Christ; wherefore we know the manner to be true; and the elder or priest did minister it- (Moroni 4:1)

The elders and priests knelt down with the Church and prayed to the Father in the name of Christ. (Moroni 4:2) Moroni recorded the blessing on the bread, symbolic of the flesh of Christ:

O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it; that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him, and keep his commandments which he hath given them, that they may always have his Spirit to be with them. Amen. (Moroni 4:3)

The Prophet Joseph Smith picked up where Moroni left off. The Lord directed His Church among the early Saints in the same way that He did among the Nephites in Bountiful. Moroni also recorded the blessing on the wine, symbolic of Christ’s blood:

O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee, in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this wine to the souls of all those who drink of it, that they may do it in remembrance of the blood of thy Son, which was shed for them; that they may witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they do always remember him, that they may have his Spirit to be with them. Amen. (Moroni 5:2)

Notice again how essential the Holy Ghost is to everything in the sacrament prayers. The whole point of the ordinations, preaching of repentance and faith in Christ, and baptism is that disciples of Christ may always have the Holy Ghost to be with us. The Holy Ghost is the sine qua non of the Lord’s work and of His Church. The Prophet Joseph Smith put it this way:

In our interview with the President, he interrogated us wherein we differed in our religion from the other religions of the day. Brother Joseph said we differed in mode of baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. We considered that all other considerations were contained in the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Remember the Nephites at Bountiful? What did they most desire and pray for?

And they did pray for that which they most desired; and they desired that the Holy Ghost should be given unto them. (3 Nephi 19:9)

Moroni’s own record brings us back to the core of the Book of Mormon: Christ’s ministry among the Nephites in Bountiful as recorded in Third Nephi. Moroni’s final words inspire in me a desire to study Third Nephi more closely and attentively while remembering that Moroni’s father Mormon could only include a lesser portion of what Jesus Christ did and taught among the Nephites. Mormon left out these important portions regarding the ordinances and the operations of the Holy Ghost in Christ’s Church, but his son Moroni was inspired to include them in his own record. The Lord preserved Moroni’s life and inspired him to include these sacred things in his own record in order to bless and instruct the future Lamanites and all those who seek to build up the Kingdom of God on the earth in the last days.

After recording the manner of conferring the gift of the Holy Ghost, ordaining priests and teachers, and administering the sacrament, Moroni teaches concerning baptism, repentance, and the conducting of Church meetings. Again, everything in the Church is done according to the Holy Ghost. I will focus on Moroni 6 in my next post.