The Second Comforter.
What Is the Second Comforter?
As demonstrated through the symbolism of the temple ceremony, the end-goal for each person in this life is to part the veil and enter God’s presence.
This is the experience of receiving the Other Comforter or the Second Comforter. It is most often referred to in the scriptures as entering the Lord’s rest or the rest of the Lord.
- This event takes place in the fulness of Christ’s glory, also referred to as the exceedingly high mountain or as the seventh heaven in the apocryphal books of The Ascension of Isaiah and the Book of Enoch.
The experience consists of seeing the Lord Jesus Christ face to face in the fullness of his glory (Moses 1:1-11; D&C 84:23-24).
This experience is the promise of eternal life, or being sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise (D&C 88:3-4). It is also known as having one’s calling and election made sure (2 Peter 1:10). The Second Comforter may be considered the capstone to the gospel of Jesus Christ, or the end goal (2 Ne. 31:20; 2 Ne. 32:6; D&C 14:7).
However, there are higher degrees of spiritual ascension that follow after it (D&C 76:51-70).
Joseph Smith said:
“…that when any man obtains this last Comforter he will have the personage of Jesus Christ to attend him or appear unto him from time to time, and even he will manifest the Father unto him, and they will take up their abode with him, and the visions of the heavens will be opened unto him and the Lord will teach him face to face, and he may have a perfect knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God.”
- Joseph Smith Jr.
Discourse, 27 June, 1839; John 14:12-27
Not all appearances of Christ can be counted as a Second Comforter experience. There are several aspects to the Second Comforter which must be noted:
- One must receive the baptism of fire/baptism of the Holy Ghost prior to receiving it. In other words, the First Comforter precedes the Second Comforter (D&C 84:19-22) .
- A male must also receive the first order of the Melchizedek Priesthood and have it sealed upon him prior to receiving the Second Comforter. One must be transfigured immediately prior to entering Christ’s presence (Moses 1:2,9).
- The experience takes place in the “seventh heaven” or the “exceedingly high mountain” which is Christ’s presence in the fullness of his glory (Moses 1:1; 1 Ne. 11:1; D&C 84:24).
- While this event is both sacred and intimate, a person will feel overwhelmed at the terrible gulf separating them from Christ’s glory and the level of his sacrifice (Moses 1:10; 3 Ne. 11:16-17 – note in 3 Nephi, this was not a Second Comforter experience, yet the people were still overwhelmed at Christ’s glory and sacrifice even though they were being shown a lesser degree of it).
Click "Next" above to go in order, or skip to your preferred topic below...
On The Path of Ascension?
Subscribe for event updates and you’ll never miss notifications on doctrinal based Zoom event invites, in-person doctrine study meet-ups, movie nights and much, much more!