Chapter 10—Ordinances and Authority
Joseph wisely called the plan of salvation “the plan of ordinances.” From ordinare, an ordinance is to arrange, appoint, or order. It is tied to ordination. That which has not received a fulness must be ordered or ordained, male (H4390), to be filled. Ordinances are the means of godliness, the purpose for our existence. They are God’s invitation and His answer to pertinent questions of salvation. Because ordinances prepare us to dwell in His presence, they must be handled with the utmost care. Worship must be performed precisely according to His word so we can enter into His rest to receive “the fulness of His glory” (D&C 84:24).
Ascension, which is the process of attaining godliness, depends on realizing power in His ordinances. Simply participating, performing, or having knowledge of ritual is not sufficient. We must accurately understand His laws and ordinances to access His promises.
Historically, rites continued to play a central role in worship even while divine ordinances suffered perversion. By corrupting beliefs, Satan strikes at the very foundation of Christ’s gospel, leaving a carefully modified yet false religion that is incapable of giving salvation. The adversary is quick to defile the sacred nature of ordinances by transforming them into a powerless but imitative copy that poisons our soul. Without a direct relationship with God, our performances are not ordinances at all. While they may have a form of godliness, counterfeit worship cannot reverse chaos, withstand judgment, or lift condemnation. Faith brings rebirth but unbelief brings chaos, disorder, curses, and confusion.
Evil moves from order to chaos, but ascending from chaos toward order is the creative work and glory of God. “The word create came from baurau which does not mean to create out of nothing; it means to organize the same as a man would organize materials and build a ship. Hence, we infer that God had materials to organize the world out of chaos—chaotic matter, which is element, and in which dwells all the glory.”
Joseph said of Genesis 1:2, “The word created should be formed or organized.” Paul taught “the worlds were framed by the word of God” (Hebrews 11:3). Framed, katartizo (G2675), is to put in order, complete, or align with God’s will—to fit together or join as one.
The second law of thermodynamics’s law of entropy suggests that the universe, if left to itself, will constantly move toward disorder. Sin, transgression, and disorder break the covenant and keep the world in “bondage to corruption” (JST Romans 8:21).
Chaos reigns unless acted on by righteousness since “light and truth forsake that evil one” (D&C 93:37). Binding through ordinances reverses chaos, renews creation, and establishes His “house of order” (D&C 88:119). His Spirit can only dwell in order, not confusion. God is glorified in this because glory is light and truth. Since we take whatever intelligence we obtain with us in the hereafter, if we desire the highest glory we must seek the fulness in mortality.
Understanding the conditional nature of ordinances is important. Today rituals are performed when we choose, but we cannot demand heaven recognize them. We need God’s seal, which is given at a time of His choosing. To be effective, ordinances must be performed by those with power who are “called and authorized of Jesus Christ.” Otherwise the ordination “is illegal, and of no advantage, and not accepted” by God.
Power and “authority of the priesthood” must be had if we desire higher priesthood privileges and “the power of godliness” (D&C 84:21). The “greater priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God” (D&C 84:19). “The power and authority of the higher, or Melchizedek Priesthood, is to . . . have the privilege of receiving the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, to have the heavens opened unto them, to commune with the general assembly and church of the Firstborn, and to enjoy the communion and presence of God the Father, and Jesus the mediator of the new covenant” (D&C 107:18–19). Gifts or endowments of light, knowledge, and priesthood are a witness of our acceptation.
Priesthood is given all who strictly adhere to His revealed laws. The endowment demonstrates that all the worthy qualify to receive the keys of priesthood power needed to enter His presence. The “voice of the Lord your God” decrees that “all those who receive my gospel are sons and daughters in my kingdom” (D&C 25:1). Many “faithful daughters . . . worshipped the true and living God” to receive all things (D&C 138:39). When the resurrected Christ appeared to Mary first, Peter asked, “Did he really speak with a woman without our knowledge and not openly!” Levi replied, “I see you contending against the woman like the adversaries. But if the Savior made her worthy, who are you indeed to reject her?” “By him, and through him, and of him . . . the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God” (D&C 76:24).
“Ye are to be taught from on high. Sanctify yourselves and ye shall be endowed with power, that ye may give even as I have spoken” (D&C 43:16). Being fully endowed means He declared us clean every whit and grants us authority and power to work in His name. The cleansing God requires is more extensive than performing ritual ordinances or believing we are clean. We are cleansed from iniquity through overcoming the traditions, errors, and sins of our generation, receiving God’s sure word of our approval. The difference between sins and iniquities is important.
The delusion that we receive priesthood through institutional conferral perpetuates a false sense of security that can lead to rejecting or persecuting those who receive priesthood directly from God. Conferral is not enough. Believing the gesture is sufficient to bestow priesthood power and authority ignores the scriptural prerequisite that recipients qualify spiritually and be called by God’s “own voice.” This is a fundamental tenet of His gospel. “We believe that a man must be called of God by ‘prophecy and by laying on of hands’ by those who are in authority to preach the gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof” (AF 1:5).
Assuming priesthood is given automatically with conferral believes God’s power is given in an instant of our choosing—but real priesthood power comes in a day of His choosing or electing us. God greatly desires all to obtain priesthood, but He is bound by law to not bestow His power unless the irrevocable covenant terms are met. Godliness must be received from on high. Those called of God come to Him and are elected to a divine commission, being “the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). This election comes from God, not from organizational assignments or promises from men who presume authority.
Priesthood is effective only if based on principles of righteousness. Any degree of variance, no matter how small, prohibits faith and causes His power to cease immediately. Any divine authority, if it ever existed, is withdrawn when the Spirit is not present. If this happens, even if we continue in our calling, we “fight against God” (D&C 121:38). “Men, as soon as they lose their faith, run into strifes, contentions, darkness, and difficulties; for the knowledge which tends to life disappears [along] with faith but returns when faith returns; for when faith comes, it brings its train of attendants with it” (LF 7:20).
Keys of His kingdom do not coerce or oppress to achieve a desired result. If keys or tokens are neglected or abused, priestcraft reigns and God will “neither recognize their priesthood nor ordinances as divine.” The righteous know keys are not given to be dangled over people. Instead, keys open the way to greater things. If error or sin remain, keys depart, leaving people with a form of godliness without power.
Those who receive ritual ordination often claim to ‘to hold priesthood.’ But holding infers a trust once priesthood has actually been given. Can we hold what we have not received? To receive is “to be endowed with.” To receive our endowment, enduo, means we are clothed and “put on the authority of the priesthood” (D&C 113:8). Being clothed in righteousness bestows this authority. Strong’s Dictionary defines authority, exousia (G1849), as “the ability or strength with which one is endued (endowed)” and “the right to exercise the power of authority.”
A difference exists between institutional authority and God’s real authority and power. Authority is a witness or legally valid right, sanction, or permission bestowed by a master or author who holds the right to rule. From the Latin auctor, one who creates or causes to grow, it is related to augere, meaning to increase. Authority, epitassó (G2004), is a duty to arrange or order. Only through living faith in Him can we truthfully claim His authority. What we ‘hold’ is immediately lost or removed if not handled with care. To truly possess priesthood power is rare, for attaining godliness is a process few endure.
The lesser priesthood is also named for Levi, the only Israelite tribe that remained true to God when the golden calf was worshipped. The tribe of Levi’s faithful devotion qualified them to receive priesthood responsibilities of the preparatory gospel. Aaronic priesthood “is called the Levitical priesthood, consisting of priests to administer in outward ordinances, made without an oath; but the priesthood of Melchizedek is by an oath and covenant.”
This Aaronic portion of the endowment bestows some power but not the fulness. If faithful to the Aaronic, greater endowments await. Joseph explained, “All priesthood is Melchizedek, but there are different portions or degrees of it.” Further, “all other priesthoods are only parts, ramifications, powers, and blessings belonging to the same, and are held, controlled, and directed by it.” All true and holy “prophets [who] had the Melchizedek Priesthood were ordained by God Himself.” They knew Him and were accepted, for “God will not acknowledge that which He has not called, ordained, and chosen.”
Attaining priesthood may seem impossible since we are destined to sin, but Christ covers the faithful by His righteousness. Greater fulnesses, higher laws and covenants, and additional blessings are received commensurate to how true and faithful we are to His laws and ordinances. “Without [faith], there is no power” (LF 1:24).
It is vain to presume His authority without divine transformation. We must humble ourselves to dust, arise, and overcome to receive a throne, but priestcraft claims these privileges prematurely.
Some consider Aaronic duties an inferior obstacle in their pursuit of higher offices. “Many will love office, though devoid of wisdom” (Ascension of Isaiah 3:23). While the invitation is given to all, most set their hearts “upon the things of this world and aspire to the honors of men” (D&C 121:35). Aspiring to higher titles or positions than we spiritually qualify for will damn us. Vain aspirations forfeit eternal life. Many who claim God’s name do not have His authority.
Christ refused to accept honor or glory until He fulfilled God’s will. In contrast, Satan prematurely sought a title, honor, and glory without doing the work required, but was able to convince many to follow him.
To not receive His authority and power keeps us ignorant of higher truths and firmly bound by the chains of hell. Alma described the chains as not having knowledge of God’s mysteries.
The knowledge we receive is tied to the “heed and diligence” given. “Awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words and exercise a particle of faith” (Alma 12:9, 32:27). “Arouse [your] minds to enquire after the knowledge of God” (LF 2:56). Our faculties are the “powers or capacities of the mind.” Unbelief results in derangement of our faculties, which may explain the phrase ‘coming to our senses’ as we awake to reality. God will restore our faculties’ proper function so we can think, feel, hear, and see as He does as we come to Him. A faculty is also power and authority. To arouse our faculties then is to attain degrees of power and authority by increasing our spiritual capacity. It is to be on the path of godliness.
To ‘awake and arouse’ is required to ‘awake and arise.’ Belief awakens our spirit, faith arouses our faculties, and through repentance and remission of sins we arise. Otherwise we remain in the “sleep of hell” (2 Nephi 1:13), held captive by its chains of darkness and veil of unbelief. “The righteous one will arise from sleep . . . and walk in the paths of righteousness” (1 Enoch 92:3). Joseph declared,
Do we believe men have the authority to change or overrule God’s order? If so, we do not believe God. But LDS presidents declare that the one who holds the organizational office as church president, their living prophet, has the right to change the order of heaven. Remember, Cain attempted something contrary to the order of heaven—with disastrous results. True prophets know the order of heaven is fixed and God Himself can neither change it nor contradict former revelations.
Man’s ways are not God’s ways, so Joseph warned, “Do not attempt to place the law of man on a parallel with the law of heaven.” True apostles boldly declare, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). Men do not have the right to alter the order of heaven—even God cannot do such and remain God. Men only have the right to choose how they will respond to His decrees. When confronted about their changes to the original order over the years, the Catholics reluctantly admitted
Believing we can modify what He revealed is to “counsel your God,” a grievous offense. “For although a man may have many revelations and have power to do many mighty works, yet if he boasts in his own strength, and sets at naught the counsels of God, and follows after the dictates of his own will and carnal desires, he must fall and incur the vengeance of a just God upon him” (D&C 3:4).
It is priestcraft, not priesthood, that tolerates variance and compromise, so authority ceases and disorder begins the moment we deviate from His unchangeable path. We should not support that which is contrary to His order. The moment we attempt to change His decrees or ordinances, His power is removed. In other words, priesthood immediately becomes priestcraft when we attempt to change what God revealed.
While laws and covenants may be revealed or withdrawn according to our choices and worthiness, God will not alter the path to Him. When disparity exists between what He requires and what people desire, higher laws and ordinances can be withheld. Removal of His power, in any degree, serves as a damning witness that the people are unwilling to live up to His terms and have rejected the covenant.
Moroni testified, “I know that God is not a partial God, neither a changeable being; but he is unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity” (Moroni 8:18). Since God cannot change, we cannot expect to receive His power and godliness if we vary from what He revealed or attempt to do what is contrary to His nature. His is “an unchangeable priesthood.” The challenge and irony of mortality is that so many seek to change what God reveals instead of changing themselves.
In 1834, prevailing beliefs of the restored church acknowledged this. “We believe that God is the same in all ages and that it requires the same holiness, purity, and religion to save a man now as it did anciently; and that as He is no respecter of persons, always has, and always will, reveal himself to men when they call upon him.”
Without correct beliefs, men “could not tell what their privileges were, nor how far they were authorized to exercise faith in him, or whether they were authorized to do it at all, but all must be confusion” (LF 3:23) Changing doctrines or symbols impacts our ability to understand ordinances, priesthood, and promises. Because perverting sacred things turns His sanctuary into a place where He can no longer dwell, it must be set in order again. “Mine house is a house of order, saith the Lord God, and not a house of confusion” (D&C 132:8).
Twice Jesus attempted to cleanse Jerusalem’s temple from its perversions. His righteous zeal for God’s house to be put in its true order “consumed” Him and ultimately required His life. “He that will not take up his cross and follow me and keep my commandments, the same shall not be saved” (D&C 56:2).
If we believe Christ that Isaiah’s words apply to latter-day readers, then we must accept that ordinances can suffer from neglect or perversion. “The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant” (Isaiah 24:5). Many consider reforms to be an improvement, believing their modified worship is acceptable and perhaps even needed to grow membership by appealing to the world, but changing ordinances brings severe penalties.
When priest and people reject truth, curses will come. The calamity results from their actions that break the covenant. At the time of the restoration, God declared the same fate awaits this land if unbelief and unrighteousness rule. In 1831, the Lord warned,
We take “pleasure in unrighteousness” when we “believe not the truth” or “receive not the love of the truth.” Offering “in righteousness” avoids curses. “The power, glory, and blessings of the priesthood could not continue with those who received ordination, only as their righteousness continued. For Cain also being authorized to offer sacrifice, but not offering it in righteousness, was cursed. It signifies, then, that the ordinances must be kept in the very way that God has appointed. Otherwise, their priesthood will prove a cursing instead of a blessing.”
A curse is a real possibility to those who make covenants with the Lord and “received ordination,” but do not do what He requires. By honoring covenants, we “establish his righteousness” and glorify God. Any leader or follower who does not seek to establish His righteousness risks the penalties which still remain in effect even if men have chosen to remove mention of them from the endowment.
Enoch said “those who alter” the Lord’s work are “sinners and blasphemers . . . who do evil” (1 Enoch 108:6). Enoch lived among the most wicked of men who were deceived by their supposed righteousness and progress. “The peculiar evil of the times consisted not so much in the catalog of human viciousness, long as it was, as in the devilish and systematic efficiency with which corruption was being riveted permanently on the social order. It was evil with a supernatural twist . . . [Those sent] to impart heavenly instructions to men themselves yielded to earthly temptation . . . and used the great knowledge entrusted to them to establish an order of things on earth in direct contradiction to what was intended by God.”
Satan’s influence is so strong that he “deceiveth the whole world” (Revelation 12:9). Their perverse organization mirrors God’s order so people are easily deceived.
In the last days, God again finds His people lacking knowledge and discernment. “The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy” (Psalm 14:2–3). “They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are out of course” and corrupted (Psalm 82:5). They “leave the paths of uprightness [and] walk in the ways of darkness” (Proverbs 2:13), having lost the spirit of understanding. They “knoweth not whither [they] goeth” (John 12:35).
“The distinguishing characteristics between true and false churches are so evident that none need be mistaken. The one enjoys the Holy Spirit with all its gifts, as set forth in the word of God; the others profess to enjoy the Spirit, but have none of the gifts and operations ascribed to it . . . The method by which we determine that a church enjoys the Holy Spirit is by its diversity of operations or manifestations. If these cease, we have every reason to believe that the Holy Spirit has departed also.”
Joseph withstood the power of darkness before the light of restoration broke forth. Truth “open[s] their eyes so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people who are set apart by faith in me” (Acts 26:18, NLT). God seeks to rescue us “from the power of darkness” and bring us “into the kingdom of the Son whom He loves” (Colossians 1:13, ISV).
“I have commanded you to bring up your children in light and truth” (D&C 93:40) but we cannot do it if we remain in unbelief. You “have not taught your children light and truth, according to the commandments, and that wicked one hath power, as yet, over you” (D&C 93:42). Disobedience and error keep us in darkness.
For footnotes and references, click HERE.
Ascension, which is the process of attaining godliness, depends on realizing power in His ordinances. Simply participating, performing, or having knowledge of ritual is not sufficient. We must accurately understand His laws and ordinances to access His promises.
Historically, rites continued to play a central role in worship even while divine ordinances suffered perversion. By corrupting beliefs, Satan strikes at the very foundation of Christ’s gospel, leaving a carefully modified yet false religion that is incapable of giving salvation. The adversary is quick to defile the sacred nature of ordinances by transforming them into a powerless but imitative copy that poisons our soul. Without a direct relationship with God, our performances are not ordinances at all. While they may have a form of godliness, counterfeit worship cannot reverse chaos, withstand judgment, or lift condemnation. Faith brings rebirth but unbelief brings chaos, disorder, curses, and confusion.
Evil moves from order to chaos, but ascending from chaos toward order is the creative work and glory of God. “The word create came from baurau which does not mean to create out of nothing; it means to organize the same as a man would organize materials and build a ship. Hence, we infer that God had materials to organize the world out of chaos—chaotic matter, which is element, and in which dwells all the glory.”
Joseph said of Genesis 1:2, “The word created should be formed or organized.” Paul taught “the worlds were framed by the word of God” (Hebrews 11:3). Framed, katartizo (G2675), is to put in order, complete, or align with God’s will—to fit together or join as one.
The second law of thermodynamics’s law of entropy suggests that the universe, if left to itself, will constantly move toward disorder. Sin, transgression, and disorder break the covenant and keep the world in “bondage to corruption” (JST Romans 8:21).
These laws were not negotiable. The prophets and wise ones of Israel had a vision of the creation held in existence by a system of divine bonds, and when these were broken, creation began to disintegrate . . . Creation was held in place by a web of bonds, which they described as a covenant, meaning ‘the binding.’ Whatever broke those bonds was . . . sin.Priesthood binds evil chaotic forces, restores order, and maintains the covenant. Order conquers spiritual death, resurrects the dead, makes worlds, organizes offspring, and exalts the righteous—binding us to God.
The idea of creating by binding the forces of creation is very ancient, more ancient than the account of the creation we read in Genesis. It is . . . one which was widely known among ancient peoples. They believed in a cosmic or eternal covenant which kept all things in harmony, in accordance with the divine plan. To break this covenant was to release forces which could destroy the creation. It is interesting that the Hebrew word for covenant, berith, is thought to be related to the word for binding. Some say that this was the binding of an agreement between two parties, in the manner of the covenant at Sinai. But there could be this other meaning: the binding of the destructive forces. The word for covenant in Hebrew is also very similar to the word ‘create.’ Covenant . . . bind . . . create makes an interesting sequence in the light of the Enochic picture of creation.Powerful and orderly forces can reverse a destructive course. Ratified ordinances overcome chaos to maintain the covenant. Power in the priesthood upholds order. Without it, worlds and spheres “would move through space in wild confusion, and system would rush against system, and worlds upon worlds would be destroyed, together with their inhabitants.” Such destruction awaits those who are not filled with light or power (ordination) or alter ordinances. To alter ordinances is to counsel God. It is an attempt to alter creation, the bounds of God, and nature itself.
Chaos reigns unless acted on by righteousness since “light and truth forsake that evil one” (D&C 93:37). Binding through ordinances reverses chaos, renews creation, and establishes His “house of order” (D&C 88:119). His Spirit can only dwell in order, not confusion. God is glorified in this because glory is light and truth. Since we take whatever intelligence we obtain with us in the hereafter, if we desire the highest glory we must seek the fulness in mortality.
For the word of the Lord is truth, and whatsoever is truth is light, and whatsoever is light is Spirit, even the Spirit of Jesus Christ. And the Spirit giveth light to every man that cometh into the world; and the Spirit enlighteneth every man through the world that hearkeneth to the voice of the Spirit. And every one that hearkeneth to the voice of the Spirit cometh unto God, even the Father. (D&C 84:45–47)Privileges cannot be granted without commensurate faith. Every ritual ordinance performed in this life—baptism, washings, confirmation, vestments, endowments, sealing, or other—is a type or pattern of what we may receive from God. “A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven” (John 3:27).
Understanding the conditional nature of ordinances is important. Today rituals are performed when we choose, but we cannot demand heaven recognize them. We need God’s seal, which is given at a time of His choosing. To be effective, ordinances must be performed by those with power who are “called and authorized of Jesus Christ.” Otherwise the ordination “is illegal, and of no advantage, and not accepted” by God.
Power and “authority of the priesthood” must be had if we desire higher priesthood privileges and “the power of godliness” (D&C 84:21). The “greater priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God” (D&C 84:19). “The power and authority of the higher, or Melchizedek Priesthood, is to . . . have the privilege of receiving the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, to have the heavens opened unto them, to commune with the general assembly and church of the Firstborn, and to enjoy the communion and presence of God the Father, and Jesus the mediator of the new covenant” (D&C 107:18–19). Gifts or endowments of light, knowledge, and priesthood are a witness of our acceptation.
Priesthood is given all who strictly adhere to His revealed laws. The endowment demonstrates that all the worthy qualify to receive the keys of priesthood power needed to enter His presence. The “voice of the Lord your God” decrees that “all those who receive my gospel are sons and daughters in my kingdom” (D&C 25:1). Many “faithful daughters . . . worshipped the true and living God” to receive all things (D&C 138:39). When the resurrected Christ appeared to Mary first, Peter asked, “Did he really speak with a woman without our knowledge and not openly!” Levi replied, “I see you contending against the woman like the adversaries. But if the Savior made her worthy, who are you indeed to reject her?” “By him, and through him, and of him . . . the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God” (D&C 76:24).
“Ye are to be taught from on high. Sanctify yourselves and ye shall be endowed with power, that ye may give even as I have spoken” (D&C 43:16). Being fully endowed means He declared us clean every whit and grants us authority and power to work in His name. The cleansing God requires is more extensive than performing ritual ordinances or believing we are clean. We are cleansed from iniquity through overcoming the traditions, errors, and sins of our generation, receiving God’s sure word of our approval. The difference between sins and iniquities is important.
When a person repents and ceases to do evil, God forgives him, and he is then guiltless and without sin. Nevertheless, the effects of his transgressions —also called ‘iniquities’—may still follow him or succeeding generations until those effects, too, are expiated and he succeeds in entirely reversing the curse. Abraham, who came from an idolatrous and dysfunctional background, achieved this. By his faith and obedience to God, he turned a cursed situation around for himself and for succeeding generations.Power in the priesthood binds evil forces. This is required for Zion to loose “herself from the bands of her neck,” which are “the curses of God” (D&C 113:9–10). That Zion is bound confirms a condemned status exists that must be overcome through being cleansed of sin and iniquity. When Joseph inquired about the commandment to “put on thy strength, O Zion” (Isaiah 52:1), the Lord revealed that it referred to those
whom God should call in the last days, who should hold the power of priesthood to bring again Zion, and the redemption of Israel; and to put on her strength is to put on the authority of the priesthood, which she, Zion, has a right to by lineage; also to return to that power which she had lost. (D&C 113:8)Lost because of iniquity, power in the priesthood must be obtained to bring Zion again. If we choose not to live up to the covenant, His power cannot remain with us.
The Lord will have a place whence His word will go forth, in these last days, in purity. For if Zion will not purify herself so as to be approved of in all things, in His sight, He will seek another people; for His work will go on until Israel is gathered, and they who will not hear His voice must expect to feel His wrath. Let me say unto you, seek to purify yourselves and also the inhabitants of Zion lest the Lord’s anger be kindled to fierceness . . . for the wrath of heaven awaits her if she repents not.Holy priesthood cannot be obtained in any other way or for any other purpose than as God directs. Priesthood comes from inward conversion, not outward actions like reaching a specific age, passing an interview, or being selected for specific church positions. Under Joseph’s leadership, priesthood was not bestowed in such a predictable manner. Major changes in priesthood conferral occurred after the LDS migrated to the Salt Lake valley and intensified after the turn of the century.
The delusion that we receive priesthood through institutional conferral perpetuates a false sense of security that can lead to rejecting or persecuting those who receive priesthood directly from God. Conferral is not enough. Believing the gesture is sufficient to bestow priesthood power and authority ignores the scriptural prerequisite that recipients qualify spiritually and be called by God’s “own voice.” This is a fundamental tenet of His gospel. “We believe that a man must be called of God by ‘prophecy and by laying on of hands’ by those who are in authority to preach the gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof” (AF 1:5).
Assuming priesthood is given automatically with conferral believes God’s power is given in an instant of our choosing—but real priesthood power comes in a day of His choosing or electing us. God greatly desires all to obtain priesthood, but He is bound by law to not bestow His power unless the irrevocable covenant terms are met. Godliness must be received from on high. Those called of God come to Him and are elected to a divine commission, being “the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). This election comes from God, not from organizational assignments or promises from men who presume authority.
Having been approved of God, [Abraham] was ordained an high priest after the order of the covenant which God made with Enoch, it being after the order of the Son of God; which order came, not by man, nor the will of man; neither by father nor mother; neither by beginning of days nor end of years; but of God. And it was delivered unto men by the calling of his own voice, according to his own will, unto as many as believed on his name. (JST Genesis 14:27–29)Ritual ordination is an invitation, not a right. Men may ceremonially confer an opportunity to attain God’s power and authority, but only if God recognizes the recipient as being worthy, and the covenant terms met, is its power bestowed. No ordination is effective unless attended by God’s power and seal, so relying on men in positions of authority to obtain priesthood denies His power. We need not wait for man to choose us for an office or calling to obtain priesthood power, for it is faith in the Lord that qualifies us to receive what He offers. Obtaining priesthood blessings comes from a direct personal relationship with the Lord, which is something no authority, leader, or church can give—or take from—us unless we give them power to do so by believing we need them in the middle of our relationship with God.
Priesthood is effective only if based on principles of righteousness. Any degree of variance, no matter how small, prohibits faith and causes His power to cease immediately. Any divine authority, if it ever existed, is withdrawn when the Spirit is not present. If this happens, even if we continue in our calling, we “fight against God” (D&C 121:38). “Men, as soon as they lose their faith, run into strifes, contentions, darkness, and difficulties; for the knowledge which tends to life disappears [along] with faith but returns when faith returns; for when faith comes, it brings its train of attendants with it” (LF 7:20).
Behold, there are many called, but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen? Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world, and aspire to the honors of men, that they do not learn this one lesson—that the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness.
That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man. Behold, ere he is aware, he is left unto himself, to kick against the pricks, to persecute the saints, and to fight against God. We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion. Hence many are called, but few are chosen. (D&C 121:34–40)It is alarming that virtually all who are ritually ordained have no priesthood or authority. They “suppose” priesthood is theirs, but God cannot recognize their priesthood if unrighteousness exists “in any degree.” Obtaining power proves too tempting for most, as Abraham Lincoln wisely noted: “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”
Keys of His kingdom do not coerce or oppress to achieve a desired result. If keys or tokens are neglected or abused, priestcraft reigns and God will “neither recognize their priesthood nor ordinances as divine.” The righteous know keys are not given to be dangled over people. Instead, keys open the way to greater things. If error or sin remain, keys depart, leaving people with a form of godliness without power.
Those who receive ritual ordination often claim to ‘to hold priesthood.’ But holding infers a trust once priesthood has actually been given. Can we hold what we have not received? To receive is “to be endowed with.” To receive our endowment, enduo, means we are clothed and “put on the authority of the priesthood” (D&C 113:8). Being clothed in righteousness bestows this authority. Strong’s Dictionary defines authority, exousia (G1849), as “the ability or strength with which one is endued (endowed)” and “the right to exercise the power of authority.”
A difference exists between institutional authority and God’s real authority and power. Authority is a witness or legally valid right, sanction, or permission bestowed by a master or author who holds the right to rule. From the Latin auctor, one who creates or causes to grow, it is related to augere, meaning to increase. Authority, epitassó (G2004), is a duty to arrange or order. Only through living faith in Him can we truthfully claim His authority. What we ‘hold’ is immediately lost or removed if not handled with care. To truly possess priesthood power is rare, for attaining godliness is a process few endure.
There are very few of the children of Father Adam and Mother Eve who will be prepared to go into the Celestial kingdom. Those who prepare themselves here below, through (1) obedience to the Gospel, (2) receiving through their faithfulness the keys of the Priesthood, and (3) sanctifying themselves through the truth, they are preparing to become the sons of God . . . [but few] will ever attain to this highest state of glory.Faith in the Lord must exist to access the Aaronic priesthood, which “holdeth the key of the ministering of angels and the preparatory gospel” (D&C 84:26). Aaronic keys “administer in outward ordinances, the letter of the gospel, the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, agreeable to the covenants and commandments” (D&C 107:20), tying Aaronic keys to His first laws and ordinances.
The lesser priesthood is also named for Levi, the only Israelite tribe that remained true to God when the golden calf was worshipped. The tribe of Levi’s faithful devotion qualified them to receive priesthood responsibilities of the preparatory gospel. Aaronic priesthood “is called the Levitical priesthood, consisting of priests to administer in outward ordinances, made without an oath; but the priesthood of Melchizedek is by an oath and covenant.”
This Aaronic portion of the endowment bestows some power but not the fulness. If faithful to the Aaronic, greater endowments await. Joseph explained, “All priesthood is Melchizedek, but there are different portions or degrees of it.” Further, “all other priesthoods are only parts, ramifications, powers, and blessings belonging to the same, and are held, controlled, and directed by it.” All true and holy “prophets [who] had the Melchizedek Priesthood were ordained by God Himself.” They knew Him and were accepted, for “God will not acknowledge that which He has not called, ordained, and chosen.”
Attaining priesthood may seem impossible since we are destined to sin, but Christ covers the faithful by His righteousness. Greater fulnesses, higher laws and covenants, and additional blessings are received commensurate to how true and faithful we are to His laws and ordinances. “Without [faith], there is no power” (LF 1:24).
It is vain to presume His authority without divine transformation. We must humble ourselves to dust, arise, and overcome to receive a throne, but priestcraft claims these privileges prematurely.
[You think] ye could sit upon your thrones, and because of the exceeding goodness of God ye could do nothing and he would deliver you . . . Do ye suppose that the Lord will still deliver us while we sit upon our thrones and do not make use of the means which the Lord has provided for us? . . . Do ye suppose that God will look upon you as guiltless while ye sit still and behold these things? Behold I say unto you, Nay. Now I would that ye should remember that God has said that the inward vessel shall be cleansed first, and then shall the outer vessel be cleansed also. (Alma 60:11, 21, 23)Those who suppose, by their calling and service, that they will “have a place to sit down in the kingdom of God with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob, and also all the holy prophets” will be disappointed unless their “garments are cleansed and are spotless, pure and white,” for believing we can obtain it any other way sees God as “a liar” which makes us “the children of the kingdom of the devil” (Alma 5:24–25).
Some consider Aaronic duties an inferior obstacle in their pursuit of higher offices. “Many will love office, though devoid of wisdom” (Ascension of Isaiah 3:23). While the invitation is given to all, most set their hearts “upon the things of this world and aspire to the honors of men” (D&C 121:35). Aspiring to higher titles or positions than we spiritually qualify for will damn us. Vain aspirations forfeit eternal life. Many who claim God’s name do not have His authority.
Beware how they take my name in their lips—Many there be who are under this condemnation, who use the name of the Lord, and use it in vain, having not authority. Wherefore, let the church repent of her sins, and I, the Lord, will own them; otherwise, they shall be cut off. (D&C 63:61–63)Because vanity or unbelief do not lead to faith, His authority cannot exist among those under condemnation. Being condemned prohibits priesthood authority and power. Vanity and unbelief prohibit many from receiving Aaronic priesthood’s power.
Great big Elders, as [Joseph] called them, who caused him much trouble, to whom he had taught in private counsel, they would then go forth into the world and proclaim the things he had taught them as their own revelations; said the same aspiring disposition will be in this Society and must be guarded against; that every person should stand and act in the place appointed, and thus sanctify the Society and get it pure. He said he had been trampled under foot by aspiring Elders, for all [who] were infected with that spirit . . . could not be exalted.It is “folly and nonsense of the human heart for a person to be aspiring to other stations than those to which they are appointed of God for them to occupy. It was better for individuals to magnify their respective callings and wait patiently till God shall say to them, ‘Come up higher’.”
Christ refused to accept honor or glory until He fulfilled God’s will. In contrast, Satan prematurely sought a title, honor, and glory without doing the work required, but was able to convince many to follow him.
To not receive His authority and power keeps us ignorant of higher truths and firmly bound by the chains of hell. Alma described the chains as not having knowledge of God’s mysteries.
The knowledge we receive is tied to the “heed and diligence” given. “Awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words and exercise a particle of faith” (Alma 12:9, 32:27). “Arouse [your] minds to enquire after the knowledge of God” (LF 2:56). Our faculties are the “powers or capacities of the mind.” Unbelief results in derangement of our faculties, which may explain the phrase ‘coming to our senses’ as we awake to reality. God will restore our faculties’ proper function so we can think, feel, hear, and see as He does as we come to Him. A faculty is also power and authority. To arouse our faculties then is to attain degrees of power and authority by increasing our spiritual capacity. It is to be on the path of godliness.
To ‘awake and arouse’ is required to ‘awake and arise.’ Belief awakens our spirit, faith arouses our faculties, and through repentance and remission of sins we arise. Otherwise we remain in the “sleep of hell” (2 Nephi 1:13), held captive by its chains of darkness and veil of unbelief. “The righteous one will arise from sleep . . . and walk in the paths of righteousness” (1 Enoch 92:3). Joseph declared,
I think that it is high time for a Christian world to awake out of sleep, and cry mightily to that God, day and night, whose anger we have justly incurred. Are not these things a sufficient stimulant to arouse the faculties, and call forth the energies of every man, woman, or child that . . . is in any degree endeared to the budding cause of our glorious Lord?Authority is inseparably connected to believing that God, His word, and ordinances cannot change. An increasingly prevalent belief is that ordinances can be altered to some degree for the sake of convenience, to meet the needs of changing social or cultural demands. If these changes come from those who claim priesthood authority, many readily believe God must accept such modifications but this contradicts His gospel.
Do we believe men have the authority to change or overrule God’s order? If so, we do not believe God. But LDS presidents declare that the one who holds the organizational office as church president, their living prophet, has the right to change the order of heaven. Remember, Cain attempted something contrary to the order of heaven—with disastrous results. True prophets know the order of heaven is fixed and God Himself can neither change it nor contradict former revelations.
Man’s ways are not God’s ways, so Joseph warned, “Do not attempt to place the law of man on a parallel with the law of heaven.” True apostles boldly declare, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). Men do not have the right to alter the order of heaven—even God cannot do such and remain God. Men only have the right to choose how they will respond to His decrees. When confronted about their changes to the original order over the years, the Catholics reluctantly admitted
that they have been changing things all along . . . [but they believed that] once the church had received divine authority, there was no limit to the changes that might be introduced without danger of corruption, since the church had the authority to make the changes. But it was precisely these self-initiated changes in the church that worried the apostles. ‘They went out from us,’ says John of the perverters (1 John 2:19). It is entirely possible for important churchmen of high position to preach ‘another Jesus’ and to ‘pervert the gospel of Christ’ and to ‘corrupt the word of God’ (2 Corinthians 2:17) and to ‘wrest . . . [the] scriptures’ unto their own destruction (2 Peter 3:16).The early Saints noted the necessity of faith to validate priesthood and ordinances: “Now as far as all other modern religious systems differ from the foregoing principles [of the gospel], so far we disfellowship them.”
Believing we can modify what He revealed is to “counsel your God,” a grievous offense. “For although a man may have many revelations and have power to do many mighty works, yet if he boasts in his own strength, and sets at naught the counsels of God, and follows after the dictates of his own will and carnal desires, he must fall and incur the vengeance of a just God upon him” (D&C 3:4).
It is priestcraft, not priesthood, that tolerates variance and compromise, so authority ceases and disorder begins the moment we deviate from His unchangeable path. We should not support that which is contrary to His order. The moment we attempt to change His decrees or ordinances, His power is removed. In other words, priesthood immediately becomes priestcraft when we attempt to change what God revealed.
No man [can] change thy holy place; and it is not possible that he should change it . . . because he hath no power over it. (Odes of Solomon 4:1–2)Reforms are a sign of priestcraft. God “set the ordinances to be the same forever and ever.” Qumran knew it was “His glorious design that they accomplish their task without change.” Joseph said,
Ordinances instituted in the heavens before the foundation of the world, in the priesthood, for the salvation of men, are not to be altered or changed. All must be saved on the same principles.So important is order to eternal life that God’s plan for mankind is called the “plan of ordinances.” God restored the ordinances based on the same laws and under the same conditions required of all men. Our creative touches to ordinances and doctrines may be presented in a positive way, but the Lord cannot tolerate it. Believing God will modify ordinances believes in a false god. Thinking He can accept transgression of His bounds is a foolish belief, even a vain imagination that leads us astray, separates us from God, and keeps us under Satan’s power. The “heathen . . . imagine a vain thing . . . blessed are all they that put their trust in Him” (Psalm 2:1, 12). Even if “the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes” the Lord judges differently. Transgressing God’s bounds forced Adam and Eve to be cast out from His presence, and we must expect the same. “Men will be punished for their own sins” (AF 1:2).
While laws and covenants may be revealed or withdrawn according to our choices and worthiness, God will not alter the path to Him. When disparity exists between what He requires and what people desire, higher laws and ordinances can be withheld. Removal of His power, in any degree, serves as a damning witness that the people are unwilling to live up to His terms and have rejected the covenant.
Moroni testified, “I know that God is not a partial God, neither a changeable being; but he is unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity” (Moroni 8:18). Since God cannot change, we cannot expect to receive His power and godliness if we vary from what He revealed or attempt to do what is contrary to His nature. His is “an unchangeable priesthood.” The challenge and irony of mortality is that so many seek to change what God reveals instead of changing themselves.
In 1834, prevailing beliefs of the restored church acknowledged this. “We believe that God is the same in all ages and that it requires the same holiness, purity, and religion to save a man now as it did anciently; and that as He is no respecter of persons, always has, and always will, reveal himself to men when they call upon him.”
No sooner are the minds of men made acquainted with the truth on this point, that he is no respecter of persons, than they see that they have authority by faith to lay hold on eternal life, the richest boon of heaven. (LF 3:23)But ordinances and doctrines again have suffered significant changes at the hands of leaders who adhered to social pressures, committee discussion, convenience, or persuasive suggestions. Nibley lamented,
In all my years of going through the temple, I have marked a growing list of changes, a steady subsiding towards what is easier to do, and especially easier to accept, in our busy, telestial business world to accommodate greater convenience, comfort, efficiency, and complacency.Scripture is full of prophetic warnings and historical accounts of the covenant people succumbing to the temptation to modify God’s work, bringing His gospel into disorder. The pattern of changing ordinances has repeated itself in each dispensation to its demise. Every dispensation began as a revelation or restoration of what had become corrupted.
Without correct beliefs, men “could not tell what their privileges were, nor how far they were authorized to exercise faith in him, or whether they were authorized to do it at all, but all must be confusion” (LF 3:23) Changing doctrines or symbols impacts our ability to understand ordinances, priesthood, and promises. Because perverting sacred things turns His sanctuary into a place where He can no longer dwell, it must be set in order again. “Mine house is a house of order, saith the Lord God, and not a house of confusion” (D&C 132:8).
Twice Jesus attempted to cleanse Jerusalem’s temple from its perversions. His righteous zeal for God’s house to be put in its true order “consumed” Him and ultimately required His life. “He that will not take up his cross and follow me and keep my commandments, the same shall not be saved” (D&C 56:2).
If we believe Christ that Isaiah’s words apply to latter-day readers, then we must accept that ordinances can suffer from neglect or perversion. “The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant” (Isaiah 24:5). Many consider reforms to be an improvement, believing their modified worship is acceptable and perhaps even needed to grow membership by appealing to the world, but changing ordinances brings severe penalties.
When priest and people reject truth, curses will come. The calamity results from their actions that break the covenant. At the time of the restoration, God declared the same fate awaits this land if unbelief and unrighteousness rule. In 1831, the Lord warned,
Prepare ye, prepare ye for that which is to come . . . the arm of the Lord shall be revealed; and the day cometh that they who will not hear the voice of the Lord . . . shall be cut off from among the people; for they have strayed from mine ordinances, and have broken mine everlasting covenant.
They seek not the Lord to establish his righteousness, but every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own god, whose image is in the likeness of the world, and whose substance is that of an idol, which waxeth old and shall perish in Babylon, even Babylon the great, which shall fall. (D&C 1:12, 14–16)In His first message in this dispensation, God personally taught Joseph the danger of changes to His gospel. Joseph’s many warnings against it is fully warranted for he was charged with the tremendous task of restoring God’s gospel after it became corrupted. Other prophets repeatedly warn us to preserve sacred things but because men have agency, this responsibility is often neglected.
We take “pleasure in unrighteousness” when we “believe not the truth” or “receive not the love of the truth.” Offering “in righteousness” avoids curses. “The power, glory, and blessings of the priesthood could not continue with those who received ordination, only as their righteousness continued. For Cain also being authorized to offer sacrifice, but not offering it in righteousness, was cursed. It signifies, then, that the ordinances must be kept in the very way that God has appointed. Otherwise, their priesthood will prove a cursing instead of a blessing.”
A curse is a real possibility to those who make covenants with the Lord and “received ordination,” but do not do what He requires. By honoring covenants, we “establish his righteousness” and glorify God. Any leader or follower who does not seek to establish His righteousness risks the penalties which still remain in effect even if men have chosen to remove mention of them from the endowment.
Enoch said “those who alter” the Lord’s work are “sinners and blasphemers . . . who do evil” (1 Enoch 108:6). Enoch lived among the most wicked of men who were deceived by their supposed righteousness and progress. “The peculiar evil of the times consisted not so much in the catalog of human viciousness, long as it was, as in the devilish and systematic efficiency with which corruption was being riveted permanently on the social order. It was evil with a supernatural twist . . . [Those sent] to impart heavenly instructions to men themselves yielded to earthly temptation . . . and used the great knowledge entrusted to them to establish an order of things on earth in direct contradiction to what was intended by God.”
Satan’s influence is so strong that he “deceiveth the whole world” (Revelation 12:9). Their perverse organization mirrors God’s order so people are easily deceived.
What made the world of Enoch so singularly depraved as to invite total obliteration was the deliberate and systematic perversion of heavenly things to justify wickedness. An early Christian writer, Hippolytus, says that the Anti-Christ imitates Christ in every particular. Each sends out his apostles, gives his seal to believers, does signs and wonders, claims the temple as his own, has his own church and assembly, etc. Such is the method of ‘the great Deceiver of the World’ against whom, says Hippolytus, ‘Enoch and Elias have warned us.’ We are reminded how Satan put forth his claim, ‘I am also a son of God’ (Moses 5:13) and commanded Cain to ‘make an offering unto the Lord’ (Moses 5:18–19) and to take his oaths ‘by [the name of] the living God’ (Moses 5:29), as if everything were still in proper order.
In the same spirit, Noah’s descendants in their wickedness still insisted that nothing had changed. The children of men said to Noah: ‘Behold, we are the sons of God. Have we not taken unto ourselves the daughters of men?’ (Moses 8:21). The apocrypha agree: ‘For in the days of Jared my father, they departed from the teaching of the Lord, from the covenant of heaven. And behold they commit sin and reject the proper way . . .
Sophisticated deception is the name of the game. ‘Woe unto you who deliberately go astray,’ cries Enoch, ‘who promote yourselves to honor and glory by deceitful practices . . . who misapply and misinterpret straightforward statements, who have given a new twist to the everlasting covenant, and then produce arguments to prove that you are without guilt!’Because “in the ordinances thereof the power of godliness is manifest” (D&C 84:20), altering one affects the other. In 1842 Joseph said, “We have treated lightly His commands and departed from His ordinances.” Joseph plainly noted a fixed relationship between ordinances and priesthood. Altering ordinances changes priesthood and loss of priesthood encourages changes to ordinances.
The priesthood is everlasting. If there is no change in ordinances, there is no change of priesthood . . . Where there is no change of priesthood, there is no change of ordinances.There is no valid excuse or justification for making covenants without understanding. Yet LDS president David O. McKay admitted the endowment “is seldom, if ever, really comprehended by our young folks when they first go through the temple,” but this is when covenants are made! Offering a modified endowment to the unprepared condemns us and them. We cannot make covenants we do not understand or keep without penalty. Knowledge is power, so without knowledge there is no priesthood or salvation. “As far as we degenerate from God, we . . . lose knowledge, and without knowledge we cannot be saved.”
In the last days, God again finds His people lacking knowledge and discernment. “The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy” (Psalm 14:2–3). “They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are out of course” and corrupted (Psalm 82:5). They “leave the paths of uprightness [and] walk in the ways of darkness” (Proverbs 2:13), having lost the spirit of understanding. They “knoweth not whither [they] goeth” (John 12:35).
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me. (Hosea 4:6)We cannot rely on perceived righteousness of any person or church for salvation. Joseph’s repetitive warnings to avoid these things confirms its very real potential in our day. “If a High Priest should be remiss in his duty, and should lead, or suffer the Church to be led astray, departing from the ordinances of the Lord, then it is [our] duty . . . [to] put in order the same.” To depart from the Lord’s ordinances leads people and church astray, and leaders can be guilty of it. “Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances and have not kept them. Return unto me and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts” (Malachi 3:7). The year before his martyrdom, Joseph prophesied that
the withdrawing of the Spirit of God from the earth await[s] this generation until they are visited with utter desolation. This generation is as corrupt as the generation of the Jews that crucified Christ; and if He were here today, and should preach the same doctrine He did then, they would put Him to death. If Christ should come to the earth and preach such rough things as He preached to the Jews, this generation would reject Him for being so rough.If people in Joseph’s day had such an adverse reaction to true points of Christ’s doctrine (and much has been de-emphasized, rejected, or lost since), what can be said about our spiritual condition today? How can we claim to know God any more than those in the early restoration who experienced ministering angels, healings, revelation, doctrine preached by the Spirit, miracles, and theophanies?
“The distinguishing characteristics between true and false churches are so evident that none need be mistaken. The one enjoys the Holy Spirit with all its gifts, as set forth in the word of God; the others profess to enjoy the Spirit, but have none of the gifts and operations ascribed to it . . . The method by which we determine that a church enjoys the Holy Spirit is by its diversity of operations or manifestations. If these cease, we have every reason to believe that the Holy Spirit has departed also.”
When we look back upon the history of the Church we find that the spiritual gifts were very abundant in the original Church, and that whenever the Saints met they were much blessed with the power . . . and manifestations of the spirit. But when the apostasy took place, the spirit of the Lord departed, its manifestations were fewer, and at last they were not known in the Church.The ancient order, which Joseph restored, existed “until the church went into darkness.” In other words, a church and its people lose light by not following the ancient revealed order. If we commit the same errors that caused apostasy in the primitive Christian church, we are in the same darkness. God said many ordained in the restored church walk in darkness, the same darkness that caused apostasy in the original church.
There are many who have been ordained among you whom I have called but few of them are chosen. They who are not chosen have sinned a very grievous sin in that they are walking in darkness at noon-day . . . If you keep not my commandments, the love of the Father shall not continue with you, therefore you shall walk in darkness. (D&C 95:5–6, 12)“Walk while ye have the light lest darkness come upon you . . . Believe in the light that ye may be the children of light” (John 12:35–36). Continuing in our own way rejects light.
Those will be rejected who cry ‘Lord! Lord!’ and try to get into the kingdom of Christ (Matthew 7:21). The time is coming when vast numbers shall claim Christ for their own . . . Many shall come in my name . . . ‘Go ye not therefore after them’ (Luke 21:8). It is true, the real church is going to be there for a time, but the story is one of constantly depressing gloom until, to use Polycarp’s famous phrase, after the apostles ‘the light went out.’
The beautiful and oft-quoted words, ‘I am the light of the world’ are rarely given in full, since their purpose is to make clear that the light is not going to remain in the world: ‘I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world’ (John 9:4–5).“He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12). We are warned against walking in darkness when His light is offered, just as we are warned against hypocrisy, for “if we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth” (1 John 1:6, ESV). Walking in darkness results from disobedience. It voids the covenant and puts us in Satan’s power. The great day of his power is a day of darkness as vanity and unbelief prevail in the hearts of men from the rivers to the ends of the earth. “The power of darkness” reigns when the chief priests reject Him.
Joseph withstood the power of darkness before the light of restoration broke forth. Truth “open[s] their eyes so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people who are set apart by faith in me” (Acts 26:18, NLT). God seeks to rescue us “from the power of darkness” and bring us “into the kingdom of the Son whom He loves” (Colossians 1:13, ISV).
[We must live] for the day of His power in our souls, made willing to submit to his righteousness, and to embrace him as the alone Savior and Redeemer, and be subject to him as King of saints, observing his commands, keeping his ordinances, and walking in his statutes and judgments with other saints, in a Gospel church state; which is Christ’s kingdom here on earth, where he reigns as King over God’s holy hill of Zion, being set there by his Father, from whom he has received this kingdom, and will deliver it to him, when it is complete and perfect.
Now those whom [God] snatches out of Satan’s hands, and breaks in upon their souls with divine light and knowledge, he brings into such a state and into this kingdom of Christ . . . He is always well pleased with all the chosen ones in him, who are the sons of God through him, and always beloved in him.Christ is the truth and “light which shineth in darkness” (D&C 11:11), so faith in Him brings light necessary to overcome evil and glorify God. “The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth. Light and truth forsake that evil one . . . That wicked one cometh and taketh away light and truth, through disobedience, from the children of men, and because of the tradition of their fathers” (D&C 93:36–37, 39).
“I have commanded you to bring up your children in light and truth” (D&C 93:40) but we cannot do it if we remain in unbelief. You “have not taught your children light and truth, according to the commandments, and that wicked one hath power, as yet, over you” (D&C 93:42). Disobedience and error keep us in darkness.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. (ESV)
And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved [‘exposed,’ ESV]. But he that doeth truth [‘lives by the truth,’ NIV] cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. (KJV) (John 3:16–21)“He that keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things” (D&C 93:28). Likewise, “every man whose spirit receiveth not the light is under condemnation” (D&C 93:32). We remain condemned until we obtain sufficient truth and light, which comes through doing what we have covenanted to do. Darkness perpetuates sin and iniquity. The unrepentant will eventually extinguish the light offered them by the restoration to bring severe judgments that result in mourning and devastation. When the awful realization comes, “they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord” but “shall not find it” (Amos 8:12).
[There] is a long period in which people go about seeking the Lord in vain and falsely but loudly proclaiming themselves to be the true heirs of the vineyard . . . O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? (Luke 9:41). ‘Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me’ ( John 14:30). Then, surprisingly enough, once he is gone, everyone—the wicked as well as the righteous—will desire Christ and seek after him, but in vain . . . The Lord is addressing not the wicked but His followers; even for them the quest will be vain. Plainly there are conditions and time limits attached to the promise ‘Seek and ye shall find’ (Matthew 7:7).
In their search, they are warned not to follow after any of the groups claiming to be the Church to have found Jesus. Those who are looking admit they have not found Him—they are not the church. All the rest are impostors! Once he has . . . shut the door, then all will call upon his name and clamor to be numbered among his followers—but then it will be too late. He will refuse to recognize them. ‘In vain do they worship me’ (Matthew 15:9) is not a denunciation of idolatry, but of those marching under the banner of Christ.Those who do not live up to their covenants “shall fall and never rise up again” (Amos 8:14). “These things occurred to [earlier covenant people] as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. So if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” (1 Corinthians 10:11–12, NIV).
For footnotes and references, click HERE.