Prophetic statements pertaining to Acts 1-5

Regarding Acts 1:4-5; 2:4, 38; 4:8, 31

“Conversion … is such a significant change that the Lord and His prophets refer to it as a rebirth, a change of heart, and a baptism of fire” (True to the Faith, p, 40).

“Baptism by water is half a baptism, and is good for nothing without the other half … the baptism of the Holy Ghost…. The baptism of water, without the baptism of fire … is of no use.”(Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, 95.) 

Elder David A. Bednar said: “We must be baptized by immersion in water… We must also be baptized [or] immersed in the Spirit ‘and then cometh a remission of sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost’(2 N. 31:17)….  The statement ‘receive the Holy Ghost’ in our confirmation was a directive to strive for the baptism of the Spirit…. ‘Receive the Holy Ghost’ was not a passive pronouncement; [but] a priesthood injunction—an authoritative admonition.” (April 2006 & Oct 2010, Conference Report.) 

Elder Boyd K. Packer said “baptism by water is a symbolic witness of repentance. ... When [we] are teaching [about] baptism by water, we must always also teach about the baptism of fire.” (See ‘The gift of the Holy Ghost: What every Member should know." Aug 2006 Liahona).

“It is also through receiving the Holy Ghost … that we may be sanctified . . . becoming free from sin—pure, clean, and holy—through the Atonement of Jesus Christ … as we yield our hearts to God…. We may appropriately speak of sanctification as the baptism of the Spirit, or being baptized with fire, and with the Holy Ghost.” (Elder D. Todd Christofferson, June 2001 Ensign; March 2010 Liahona.)

Some personal experiences of the baptism of the Holy Ghost:

“[Several] weeks after I was baptized [in water], I began to reflect upon the fact that I had not obtained [the baptism of the Holy Ghost] and I began to feel very uneasy…. At length, realizing that the usual time had come for secret prayer, I … knelt as I was in the habit of doing…. I had no sooner opened my lips in an effort to pray, than … the Spirit of God descended upon me, completely enveloping my whole person, filling me from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet, and O the joy and happiness I felt! …. It was a complete baptism--a tangible immersion in the Holy Ghost…” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Lorenzo Snow, 59, 61.)

“The feeling that came upon me was that of pure peace, of love and of light…. I felt as if I wanted to do good everywhere to everybody.... There was not one par-ticle of desire for evil left in my soul.” (Teachings of the Presidents: Joseph F. Smith, 59.)

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin told of a friend who “had prayed often and long” to receive the baptism of fire and had nearly given up on receiving it. “One morning, while pondering the scriptures, he felt something surge through his body from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet. ‘I was immersed in a feeling of such intense love and pure joy,’ he explained, ‘there was no room in me for any other sensation.’” (April 2003 Conference Report.)

Regarding Acts 2:44; 4:32-5:2

President Wilford Woodruff said, “Those who contribute of the means which the Lord gives them to assist the poor … give Satan less power to lead them astray…. [T]hose who supply themselves and their families with luxuries and advantages that [others can’t afford], are in danger…”(October 1887 Conference Report.)

President Joseph F. Smith said, “[Zion] is to be built … preparatory to the second coming …. Latter-day Saints [in the beginning] entered into a communal order similar to the one instituted by the Savior's disciples at Jerusalem, as briefly mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. ‘They had all things common’ meaning their material possessions… [S]uch a system had sanctified the City of Enoch in antediluvian days, and … the same system had flourished among the Nephites for two centuries after the coming of Christ.” (Messages of the First Presidency 4:237)

President Spencer W. Kimball said, “Many are starving, and we throw away much and waste much…. As [members] gain control of their desires and … see their own wants in light of others’ needs … they insure not only temporal salvation but also spiritual sanctification.”(See October 1974 and October 1977 Conference Report).

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin said, “Far too many in the world experience hunger ... ache with cold … suffer from sickness … grieve for their children … mourn for the safety of their families. These people are our brothers and our sisters….  If, while we have the means to do so, we do not … come to their aid, we are in danger of being among those the prophet Moroni spoke of when he said, ‘Behold, ye do love money, and your substance … more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted.’ (April 2001 Conference Report.)

Elder D. Todd Christofferson has said that to “establish Zion” we must “care for the poor and needy with such effectiveness that we eliminate poverty among us.” He quoted D&C 70:14, “In your temporal things you shall be equal [or] the abun-dance of the manifestations of the Spirit shall be withheld,” and cited D&C 49:20, “[T]he earth, is ordained for the use of man for food and for raiment, and that he might have in abundance. But it is not given that one man should possess … above another, wherefore the world lieth in sin.” (Oct 2008 Conference Report.)

Elder Robert D. Hales has said, “Living at the subsistence level ... relationships with family, friends, neighbors, and the Lord are weakened [and many] do not have the time, energy, or interest to seek spiritual things.” When we are “faced with the choice to buy, consume, or engage in activities, we need to learn to say ‘We can’t afford it’ but also, ‘We can afford it, but we don’t need it.’” He warned us against acquiring “things we do not really need” with funds “we could have used to help [others].” (See April 2009 Conference Report.)

“[T]he temporal and spiritual are inseparable” (President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, October 2011 Conference Report).