Today the Holy Ghost is rousing the world, awakening mortals from the dream of life in matter to the infinite possibilities of Life as Spirit. Everywhere we see signs of peoples stirring, seeking to throw off the yoke of materialism with its limitations and bondage. It is true the effort appears to be mostly along the lines of materiality; nevertheless the awakening is going on, and it will not cease until the supremacy of Spirit is fully recognized.
What is this Holy Ghost, this spiritual power which the world so sorely needs? On the Day of Pentecost, described in the Book of Acts, it was an overwhelming influx of spiritual light—a light so great that those of many nations who had gathered to hear the apostles preach were enabled to hear and understand the sacred message each in his own tongue.
The Holy Ghost is a term which came into use in the New Testament, though the apostles refer to it on more than one occasion as the source of illumination of the seers of the past (see II Pet. 1:21, Hebr. 3:7, Acts 28:25). By the Holy Ghost, the Virgin Mary conceived her child; to Zacharias came the promise that his son, later known as John the Baptist, should be filled with the Holy Ghost; Jesus was baptized of the Holy Ghost and was so filled with it that wherever he went the sick were healed, the sorrowing comforted, and sinners reformed. As the apostles grew in spirituality, they received the Holy Ghost and were endowed with its power. And to all mankind the Master promised the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost.
