Lesson 25 -- "The rest of the story"

The tone and spirit of the class on Sunday was successfully set by thought provoking talks in Sacrament Meeting from Sister Rosa Sprague and Patriarch David Thompson, and a beautiful musical number by the Baird family. Class discussion was lively with the participation by many who shared their thoughts with the rest of the class.

Covered in class this Sunday: We asked members to share their favorite Church blessings and then recognized that none of these would be possible without the restored priesthood of God on the earth today. We discussed that the restoration of the priesthood both through heavenly visitations and by revelations given directly through the Prophet Joseph Smith was gradual and spanned the year just prior to the organization of the Church, 1829, to 1835 (the year that the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and First Quorum of the Seventy were called and set apart in this dispensation. We talked about how a young Newel K. Whitney at first declined his call to serve as the second bishop in Kirtland, but the Prophet told him: "Go and ask Father for yourself." Enough to convince Whitney to accept the new calling (a calling he magnified for over 18 years). We briefly discussed the limited view of priesthood held by most protestant faiths today and that the only solid position is held by the Catholic Church (that of apostolic succession). The subject of Elder Orson F. Whitney's oft quoted "A Catholic Utterance" [see quote in my previous blog posting] was discussed at length. As Latter-day Saints we do understand the strength of our position and declare to the world that the Protestants are operating sans priesthood because they have no concept of apostolic succession or priesthood restoration. Either the Catholics are correct in their view of the priesthood or we are. One position or the other is correct. Our message to the world is that the Lord's true Church will have and bear His priesthood (the Melchizedek Priesthood), which vanished from the earth in New Testament times.

The topic of the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood (see D&C 84: 33-44) was discussed in great detail. We started out by naming the oath that priesthood holders enter into. This is:

• Faithful to the obtaining of the Aaronic and Mechizedek Priesthoods



• Magnify their callings



• Receive the Lord's servants



• Give heed to the words of eternal life
  

It was pointed out that women in the Church have an equal claim to the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood through the exercise of their spiritual gifts. We read a quote from President Hinkley about magnifying the priesthood and enlarging our callings in the Church when we "serve with diligence and enthusiasm." A quote from Elder Maxwell reminded us to find the correct balance so we do not neglect our families.

We then named the covenants that the Lord promises all worthy priesthood holders. These are:

• Sanctify us by the Spirit



• Renew our bodies



• Give the blessings promised to Abraham and his posterity



• Make us His elect or chosen people



• Give us all that the Father has



• Give His angels charge over us

Principles for using the priesthood:

The Lord was has been generous in His counsel about how best to use the power of the priesthood to bless the lives of others. Perhaps one of His earliest counsels in this regard was recorded in the Book of Mormon: "What manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am" [3 Nephi 27: 27]. D&C Section 121: 34-46 lays out in colorful detail the principles for correct use of the priesthood. It also reveals promises to those who use it righteously: "... and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distill upon thy soul as the dews from heaven. The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever" [D&C 121: 45-46].

Finally we listened to a quote from Elder M. Russell Ballard: "Those who hold the priesthood must never forget that they have no right to wield priesthood authority like a club over the heads of others in the family or in Church callings. … Any man who … seeks to use the priesthood in any degree of unrighteousness in the Church or in the home simply does not understand the nature of his authority. Priesthood is for service, not servitude; compassion, not compulsion; caring, not control” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1993, 105; or Ensign, Nov. 1993, 78).

And now... "the rest of the story:"

Just the other day, I was on the phone with my dear mom and master scriptorian (62 this year and living in Parowan, Utah) about how blessed we are to know that the Priesthood has been restored for good and it is here to stay: "and this shall never be taken again from the earth, until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness" [D&C 13: 1]. Joseph who was in his mid to late twenties during period from 1829 to 1835, could not have possibly known the true nature of, nor extent to which the priesthood keys would be prerequisite to the restoration -- but he did not have to know because the Originator of the Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God [see D&C 107] was his constant messenger. One by one the revelations came forward until by the spring of 1835, the "same organization that existed in the Primitive Church" [see Articles of Faith #6], had been restored together with all of the keys necessary to bring forth the Church out of obscurity. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints we boldly declare that this same basic organization is fully formed and functional today! [See: http://www.ldschurchnews.com/leaders/]

I love reading in D&C 90: 1-5, the Lord's promise to young Joseph Smith (age 28): "...thy sins are forgiven thee, according to thy petition, for thy prayers and the prayers of thy brethren have come up into my ears. Therefore, thou art blessed from henceforth that bear the keys of the kingdom given unto you; which kingdom is coming forth for the last time. Verily I say unto you, the keys of this kingdom shall never be taken from you, while thou art in the world, neither in the world to come; Nevertheless, through you shall the oracles be given to another, yea, even unto the church. And all they who receive the oracles of God, let them beware how they hold them lest they are accounted as a light thing, and are brought under condemnation thereby, and stumble and fall when the storms descend, and the winds blow, and the rains descend, and beat upon their house."

I found the word "oracle" intriguing. I knew it had something to do with the priesthood because it was one of our scripture chain scriptures this week, but what did the word "oracle" have to do with priesthood? The only time I remembered hearing it was on Star Trek and vaguely remembered reading it in Homer's Odyssey, so I looked it up in the Bible Dictionary -- nothing. Then I turned to the trusty OED (Oxford English Dictionary) and what I found there was amazing. Oracle is a word originally introduced to the English language from the French oracle, which derived from the Latin oraculum: "In Greek and Roman antiquity the instrumentality, agency, or medium, by which a god was supposed to speak or make known his will; the mouthpiece of the deity; the place or seat of such instrumentality, at which divine utterances were believed to be given... A response, decision, or message, given usually by a priest or priestess of a god, and, as was supposed, by his inspiration, at the shrine or seat where the deity was supposed to be thus accessible to inquirers... Transferred to Jewish, Christian, or other religious use... A vehicle or medium of divine communication. That part of the Jewish Temple where the divine presence was manifested; the holy of holies; also, the mercy-seat within it... Applied to the breastplate of the Jewish High Priest, the Urim and Thummim, by which divine messages were believed to be communicated... Divine revelation; a declaration or message expressed or delivered by divine inspiration; also the sacred scriptures (from Romans 3: 2)" [The Compact OED, New Edition, p. 1220].

The Robinson & Garrett Commentary on the D&C offers that the "oracles" are the divine revelations. D&C 90: 6-11 outlines the acceptable method for revealing God's "oracles" to the Church: "The Prophet Joseph will receive the word of God and will then share it with his counselors in the Presidency. Through the First Presidency, the word will then be delivered to the Church (see v. 4) and through the Church to the world (see v. 9)" [pp. 157-58]. "'Whenever new doctrines are to be introduced, they are first presented by the President to his counselors and then to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in a meeting of the council of the first presidency and the quorum of the twelve apostles. If unanimously approved [D&C 107:27], they are then presented to the membership of the Church at a general conference for a sustaining vote.' New doctrine (that is, new divine information as opposed merely to policy changes or to clarification of existing doctrine) comes to the Church collectively in no other way" [p. 158].

Looking for more information about the Priesthood? Read D&C Section 107 which may be divided as follows: (1) Two Priesthoods (1-7); Authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood (8-12); (3) Authority of the Aaronic Priesthood (13-20); (4) Presiding Officers, i.e., First Presidency, Twelve Apostles, Seventies, and their duties (21-35); (5) Standing High Councils (36-37); (6) Seventies to Preach the Gospel; (7) Patriarchs (v. 39); (8) Lineage of the Priesthood (42-52); (9) Adam's Blessing (53-57); (10) Addenda on the duties of the various officers in the Priesthood (58-100).

That's all for now... Have a great week Brothers and Sisters, and remember who you are! See you next Sunday when our lesson will be about preaching the Gospel.