Chapter 11—A Strange Act
It is a paradox that strange roads and a strange building lead people away from God, yet God calls part of His latter-day work strange: “that I may proceed to bring to pass my act, my strange act, and perform my work, my strange work” (D&C 101:95).
These seemingly contradictory phrases elicit many questions. Since ‘strange’ things distance us from God, is it possible that He would allow a work that is strange? What is the difference between His act and His strange act? Or His work from His act? Can there be distinct acts and works, both under His watchful direction, that occur simultaneously? Can they be polarized but interrelated?
Because God refers to “my act, my strange act, my work, my strange work,” we know that He is aware and involved. He revealed several purposes of His act and strange act, His work and strange work.
Pray ye, therefore, that [people’s] ears may be opened unto your cries, that I may be merciful unto them that these things may not come upon them. What I have said unto you must needs be, that all men may be left without excuse; that wise men and rulers may hear and know that which they have never considered. That I may proceed to bring to pass my act, my strange act, and perform my work, my strange work, that men may discern between the righteous and the wicked, saith your God. (D&C 101:92–95)
Almost immediately after the gospel was restored in the early 1800s, the latter-day apostasy began. God allows it because we have freedom to make our own choices. This apostasy, which is part of His strange act, plays a useful role in the Lord’s work. God “works out everything to its proper end—even the wicked for a day of disaster” (Proverbs 16:4, NIV).
Satan’s clever counterfeits are a major part of the strange act. Strange roads, strange building, strange people, and a strange land are gifts to those who are willing to faithfully endure this telestial world without succumbing to its enticements.
God’s act sets things in order while His strange act provides divinely orchestrated tests to prove our faith, refine the faithful, and increase our discernment. His act is brought to pass to fulfill His work. God’s work prepares us for greater things as we emerge victorious from all that is strange to build a spiritual house of God. His strange act is a necessary part of the preparations He designed for the establishment of Zion.
For ye have sinned against me a very grievous sin, in that ye have not considered the great commandment in all things that I have given unto you concerning the building of mine house; for the preparation wherewith I design to prepare mine apostles to prune my vineyard for the last time, that I may bring to pass my strange act, that I may pour out my Spirit upon all flesh. (D&C 95:3–4)
These preparations include pruning the vineyard. Once we properly discern good from evil, truth from error, and are endowed with power from on high, God’s act is brought “to pass” as the Spirit is poured out in abundance, a promise of Zion.
Malachi relates this pouring out to “a great endowment and blessing.” “Prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:10). Opening the windows of heaven is promised when we “offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness” (Malachi 3:3).
What is the difference between offering to God and making an offering in righteousness to God? Cain and Abel both offered sacrifice, but only Abel’s was accepted. Abel humbly sought the Lord in His revealed manner of worship. “Cain loved Satan more than God. And Satan commanded him, saying, Make an offering unto the Lord” (Moses 5:18). Cain listened to Satan’s voice and offered fruits instead, varying from the precise ordinance that God revealed.
Although raised with the gospel, Cain did not believe knowledge of God was necessary. Ritual was enough. “Cain hearkened not, saying, Who is the Lord that I should know him?” (Moses 5:16). Because Cain could not sacrifice in righteousness, his offering must be refused.
Cain offered of the fruit of the ground, and was not accepted, because he could not do it in faith, he could have no faith, or could not exercise faith contrary to the plan of heaven. It must be shedding the blood of the Only Begotten to atone for man; for this was the plan of redemption; and without the shedding of blood was no remission; and as the sacrifice was instituted for a type, by which man was to discern the great Sacrifice which God had prepared; to offer a sacrifice contrary to that, no faith could be exercised, because redemption was not purchased in that way, nor the power of atonement instituted after that order; consequently Cain could have no faith; and whatsoever is not of faith, is sin.
But Abel offered an acceptable sacrifice, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God Himself testifying of his gifts. Certainly, the shedding of the blood of a beast could be beneficial to no man, except it was done in imitation, as a type, or explanation of what was to be offered through the gift of God Himself; and this performance done with an eye looking forward in faith on the power of that great Sacrifice for a remission of sins.
Acceptable offerings “must be authorized by ordination” and this ordination must come from God Himself. “God will not acknowledge that which He has not called, ordained, and chosen.” Joseph explained, “‘By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and by it he being dead, yet speaketh’ (Hebrews 11:4). How doth he yet speak? Why he magnified the Priesthood which was conferred upon him,” glorifying God. A sure witness of God’s acceptance comes as we magnify (receive power in) priesthood. Priesthood conferred by men is not enough. “The power, glory, and blessings of the priesthood could not continue with those who received ordination, only as their righteousness continued,” but few make the sacrifices required to qualify.
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. (D&C 121:35–36)
God bestows His promises when certain conditions are met, and ritual ordination alone is not sufficient. There must be a spiritual transformation and a direct connection with heaven. Acceptable offerings depend on our conversion and rebirth. “Put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). Holiness results from a spiritually transforming remission of sins, an event that must be attended by the power of the Holy Ghost. No ritual, rite, or priest alone can sanctify us, for it is a right exclusively reserved by God.
They, after being sanctified by the Holy Ghost, having their garments made white, being pure and spotless before God, could not look upon sin save it were with abhorrence; and there were many . . . who were made pure and entered into the rest of the Lord their God. (Alma 13:12)
Righteousness and holiness are inseparably connected. As we make an offering in righteousness worthy of acceptation, God is glorified and “exalted in judgment and . . . sanctified in righteousness” (2 Nephi 15:16).
We must become refined, pure, and holy to become Israel. Malachi rebukes those who claim to be Israel spiritually but are estranged from God. Because of vanity and unbelief, they do not seek His presence nor could they endure it. Like Israel of old, covenant makers in latter days are commanded to make acceptable offering in righteousness. If this does not occur, chastening judgment and withdrawal of His blessings and Spirit must come.
God is “bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise” (D&C 82:10). We must take this warning seriously because “even from the days of your fathers, ye are gone away from mine ordinances and have not kept them” (Malachi 3:7). This verse appears in the Bible, Book of Mormon (3 Nephi 24:7), Doctrine & Covenants (D&C 1:15), and was proclaimed by angel Moroni at the Restoration.
Speaking directly to “all men,” even “ye people of my church,” God’s anger “is kindled” because “they have strayed from mine ordinances and have broken mine everlasting covenant” (D&C 1:1, 13, 15). They wander in strange roads and paths that imitate the real path to God—a strange act.
Is it a problem to change or modify an ordinance? Some professed believers claim revelation, but if the Lord’s own voice is not the actual source of the change, it will lead us astray. God will not and cannot change—so He cannot excuse us from doing so either. If variance is permitted then He would be a God who changes, “a respecter of persons” (D&C 1:35). God is not, was not, and cannot vary. If perversion or change are permitted, He would cease to be God and “the works of justice would be destroyed” (Alma 42:13–25). We must understand that
God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and in him there is no variableness neither shadow of changing . . . If ye have imagined up unto yourselves a god who doth vary, and in whom there is shadow of changing, then have ye imagined up unto yourselves a god who is not a God of miracles. (Mormon 9:9–10)
Making changes to accommodate suggestions, conveniences, social demands, or progressive reforms is a grievous abomination. From the beginning of time, all legitimate ordinances are established on the same fixed and unalterable terms and laws. Joseph emphatically taught,
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.
God set the ordinances to be the same forever and ever.
Any variance makes an offering ‘strange.’ Since God Himself cannot vary, how can we expect to attain holiness if we vary from what He revealed? To be like Him, we must live like Him. Innovation and deviation cannot accompany our offerings. “I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed” (Malachi 3:6). “All things pertaining to that dispensation” in the last days “should be conducted precisely in accordance with the preceding dispensations.” Only worshipping in “the very way that God has appointed” can be accepted. Modified ordinances are more similar to Cain’s cursed offering than we may realize. Since order (from ratified ordinances) staves off chaotic forces, serious judgment results if we do not return to His ways. Not preserving ordinances and their laws leads us down strange roads, cutting us off from priesthood and its blessings.
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.
Without righteousness and obedience with exactness, ordination will become a curse. Cain was authorized, but that was not enough. His offering still was not accepted. This means ritual participation or authority alone is no guarantee of God’s favor. Their priesthood will become a curse to all who covenant (say) but do not present (d0) acceptable offerings. Saying, but not doing, condemns us.
They shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon and the former commandments which I have given them, not only to say, but to do according to that which I have written.(D&C 84:57)
It is the repetitive message of scripture. We cannot simply rely on others, even if they’re “authorized,” to grant our ordinances of salvation. “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught” (Isaiah 29:13, NIV). Precepts of men, even when mingled with scripture, will lead us astray.
Our desire for truth and righteousness has to be greater than our desire to remain content and at ease. The willingness to sincerely inquire of God differentiated Nephi from his unbelieving brothers. Nephi did not rely on his father, brothers, leaders, or church teachings for his testimony. He asked God directly if what Lehi taught was truth. After hearing Lehi’s words, Nephi “was desirous also that [he] might see, and hear, and know of these things, by the power of the Holy Ghost, which is the gift of God unto all those who diligently seek Him” (1 Nephi 10:17).
Because of his sincere desire and faith placed only in God, Nephi learned the truth for himself, which paved the way for his own ascension. Nephi asked his brothers, “Have ye inquired of the Lord?” Laman and Lemuel admitted, “We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us.” Nephi reminded them how to get revelation.
Lehi “truly spake many great things unto them, which were hard to be understood, save a man should inquire of the Lord” (1 Nephi 15:1–3). Not willing to find truth for themselves, Laman and Lemuel preferred to remain comfortable in blindness, believing “all is well in Zion” (2 Nephi 28:21). Refusing to ask God if the church could (or did) stray, or if the covenant could be (or was) broken is a sign of hard hearts. Stubbornness prevents answers. Wisdom and understanding only come through sincerely asking God in faith.
God promises that all who seek truth sincerely, with a real intent to know (regardless of how difficult or painful it may be), will find the truth. “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).
And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall (1) ask with a sincere heart, (2) with real intent, (3) having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost, ye may know the truth of all things. (Moroni 10:4–5, numerals added)
Moroni encourages all to ask God the same question that Nephi asked—what is the truth? When Joseph Smith asked God this question, the heavens parted to usher in the modern dispensation. In the midst of conflicting information and religious fervor, Joseph was not persuaded by preachers or men. Instead, he carefully considered his salvation and often pondered important questions, “What is to be done? Who of all these parties are right; or are they all wrong together? If any one of them be right, which is it, and how shall I know it?” To learn the truth, Joseph looked to scripture, which directed him to ask God, who “knoweth all things, and there is not anything save he knows it” (2 Nephi 9:20).
Some religions teach that once we gain a testimony of scripture, then all else that a church teaches must be true—but this is not what scripture says. Once we pray and know that scripture is God’s word, many are slow or resistant to ask God if their understanding of His word is correct and complete; or if those who claim to speak in His name truly do so; or if the teachings, beliefs, and practices that we inherit still align with His gospel. God warns that we have “inherited lies” (D&C 123:7).
We must never stop asking God for truth because the moment we believe we cannot be led astray, we have already been deceived. It is our choice, for “you cannot lead a person astray unless that person is willing to be led astray.” Refusing to ask God for truth, especially when it involves His gospel and that which claims His name, is a sign that we do not have faith in Him. It is also evidence of a hard heart.
They being hard in their hearts, therefore they did not look to the Lord as they ought. (1 Nephi 15:3)
Lehi rebuked the church at Jerusalem (just as Moroni rebuked latter-day readers) for the same sins that brought the demise of so many before them. In response, members of the church sought his life, refusing to understand that scripture was written for and about them. They failed to accept God’s message of their need for repentance. Their continued rebellion and refusal to repent caused the destruction of Jerusalem not long after Lehi departed from the city.
Are we living in a time that mirrors the days of Lehi more than we are comfortable admitting? The Book of Mormon begins with the account of Jerusalem’s waywardness and destruction for good reason. If we believe God then this is a subject worth serious contemplation, fasting, and prayer.
Without searching scripture, pondering, and sincerely inquiring of God, we cannot find truth which keeps us from the fulness. To depend on others for revelation, to be complacent or at ease, or to not ask God for knowledge puts our salvation at risk. Satan wants us to have a false sense of security so we will not learn the truth. Joseph was greatly concerned that all people, especially Latter-day Saints, would shirk from their duty and instead rely on leaders to get revelation for them, which is equated with being “darkened in their minds.” Joseph
read the 14th chapter of Ezekiel—said the Lord had declared by the Prophet that the people should each one stand for himself, and depend on no man or men in that state of corruption of the Jewish church, that righteous persons could only deliver their own souls. He applied it to the present state of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and said if the people departed from the Lord, they must fall, that they were depending on the Prophet, hence were darkened in their minds, in consequence of neglecting the duties devolving upon themselves.
Having priesthood conferred is no guarantee of salvation or power. “Priesthood is everlasting. If there is no change in ordinances, there is no change of priesthood. Wherever [pure] ordinances of the Gospel are, there is the Priesthood.” The reverse is also true: “Where there is no change of priesthood, there is no change of ordinances.”
Priesthood power and binding ordinances are inseparably connected, so changes to ordinances must affect priesthood. Losing priesthood power degenerates ordinances more as modifications continue. When ordinances change, it muddies and shifts the path so God’s spirit and priesthood must depart, without them noticing. Without His guidance, more changes are made, adding sin to sin, especially by claiming it is done in His name.
Unfortunately, the modern endowment was, and continues to be, altered from its revealed original in many significant ways. Regardless of motive, modifying the sacred path to God ultimately stems from pride, vanity, and unbelief. Not comprehending the serious need to preserve pure truth, catering to convenience or carnal desires, and ignorance of symbolic or higher meanings of sacred things keep us lost to truth.
Evidence of this is found in current doctrine that “the highest order of the Melchizedek priesthood is patriarchal authority,” a statement that contradicts Joseph who rightfully placed patriarchal authority with ‘the second priesthood.’ Joseph distinguished three degrees or “grand orders of priesthood,” which is compatible with the “two priesthoods spoken of in scripture.”
Those holding the fulness of the Melchizedek Priesthood are kings and priests of the Most High God, holding the keys of power and blessings.
The second Priesthood is Patriarchal authority. Go to and finish the temple, and God will fill it with power, and you will then receive more knowledge concerning this priesthood.
The third is what 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.
Modern revelation clarifies, “There are two divisions or grand heads—one is the Melchizedek priesthood and the other is the Aaronic or Levitical Priesthood” (D&C 107:6). The preparatory Levitical priesthood is found in the telestial endowment, it being “an appendage to the greater” priesthood. “All priesthood is Melchizedek, but there are different portions or degrees of it.” Only when a temple is finished and filled “with power” is “more knowledge” be given about the essential Patriarchal order and authority. Sacred mysteries are veiled in scripture, concealed from the masses but revealed to the faithful. Sanctification is required to part the veil where further light and knowledge is given, that priests and priestesses may become kings and queens unto the Most High, thereby receiving the fulness.
A major catalyst for losing the doctrine of three orders of priesthood occurred in the 1920s, a decade that boasted numerous serious and tragic modifications to Christ’s gospel. In 1922, LDS apostle and Salt Lake Temple president George F. Richards oversaw a review of temple ordinances and submitted many changes to the First Presidency for consideration. Unfortunately, they implemented almost all of his suggestions, an “accomplishment” that Richards proudly documented in his journal.
Completed the rules and decisions for guidance of Temple Presidents and some changes in the ordinances . . . This is one of the accomplishments of my administration as Temple President of which I am greatly thankful and pleased . . . The ordinances are all being rewritten.
One of Richards’ accomplishments, which he considered an “important change,” was reducing the number of times priesthood robes were placed on shoulders—from three times to two. Richards’ modification admittedly did not come from revelation, but was based “on my own suggestion” in an effort to “shorten the services.” He records,
This day I went before the [First] Presidency and presented them an important change in the endowment ceremony by which the robes should be placed on the left shoulder first and then changed to the right shoulder once only before entering the Terrestrial room; also that Aaronic and Melchizedek be used instead of lower order of the Melchizedek and higher order of the Aaronic . . .
This on my own suggestion. I presented the suggestion of a change in the order of robing and in the wording of the ordinances . . . which were approved. This order is to place the robe on the left shoulder at that point in the Telestial room when formerly it was placed on the right shoulder, and change [it] onto the right shoulder at that point in the ceremony in the Telestial room where at present it is changed onto the left shoulder . . . This will shorten the services.
These modifications were unfortunate and unnecessary. In an increasingly evil world, should we not spend more time in the temple to escape the strong pull of Babylon? What does wanting to “shorten” time in the temple say about how much the people really feel about obtaining celestial glory? To shorten time spent in the temple in order to hurry back to the cares of the world, while changing the rites, severs knowledge, including that receiving degrees of priesthood power comes by realizing each covenant’s blessings.
Although Nauvoo’s ceremony placed robes on the right then left to represent degrees of priesthood offered in the endowment, sometime during or after Brigham Young’s tenure three robe placements were incorporated in a right–left–right pattern, implying the highest priesthood is obtained during the endowment rite itself. In 1922, for the sake of convenience, Richards returned to two robe placements but switched it to a left–right pattern. Modifications continue, and in 2018 under direction of Russell Nelson, the robe is only placed once on the right side and the string linking keys to the future crown-bearing mitre was eliminated—a sad commentary on the current situation.
Unfortunately, we cannot blame pure ignorance for these tragedies, for Richards was aware that placing robes on the shoulder correlated to priesthood. He proudly recorded that he was instrumental in
instituting a change in the procedure of placing the Endowment Robes on the individuals receiving the endowment, the present method being to first place the robe on the right shoulder, [and] subsequently change it to the left shoulder, and later again back to the right shoulder. The proposed change would be to place the robe first on the Left shoulder . . . then to change it to the Right shoulder . . . thus more effectively indicating transition from the lower to the higher orders of the Priesthood . . . After considering carefully the proposed change, the Presidency decided unanimously that from that time on the Robe should first be placed on the Left shoulder, and be changed to the Right shoulder at the time candidates are going to enter the Terrestrial World room. The necessary changes to the text, to confirm with this decision, are to be made.
Placing robes on a shoulder ties to priesthood, as keys were placed or held on the shoulder in ancient Israel. Not recognizing keys that attend each phase of the endowment can hinder us from realizing the absolute necessity to live the endowment, passing angels who stand as sentinels as we ascend through phases of our mortal journey.
Your endowment is to receive all those ordinances in the House of the Lord, which . . . enable you to walk to the presence of the Father, passing the angels who stand as sentinels, being enabled to give them the key words, the signs and tokens, pertaining to the Holy Priesthood, and gain your eternal exaltation in spite of earth and hell. Who has received and understands such an endowment in this assembly? You need not answer. Your voices would be few and far between.
We are proven true and faithful as we successfully pass angels or sentinels to receive increasing degrees of priesthood power bestowed by God, not men who confer priesthood potential.
Three phases of priesthood are required to receive a fulness, so removing any element hinders our understanding of the laws, signs, tokens, and priesthood power. Because loss of knowledge keeps us estranged from God, adding to or taking from His gospel is a deplorable offense, particularly when done for the sake of convenience or accomplishment. Attempting to modify the path to God or reduce time spent in higher learning is detrimental to our spiritual progression.
We overestimate our standing and gain a false sense of security by believing that the higher Melchizedek priesthood is obtained even before entering the terrestrial kingdom, implying that initiates have received all necessary priesthood. To become a king or queen of the Most High, living the laws of the highest celestial order, including the law of consecration, is required now. The highest priesthood is only accessible through the veil, but today’s leaders tragically do not believe piercing the veil is even necessary. Over time, leaders de-emphasized this crucial doctrine of three priesthood phases until it was lost mid-20th century.
Most today are not aware that patriarchal power and authority exist. Those who are cognizant of this middle order usually define patriarchal priesthood as a man’s right to preside over his own family and home, or they define it in terms that are exclusive to a specific position or office: “an order of the priesthood . . . preserved in the church today only where the office of Patriarch to the Church is concerned.” But this is not what the original endowment taught.
A true endowment points the way to receive Abrahamic promises and this priesthood authority. This authority comes as we successfully approach God at the veil. Rending that veil through faith bestows patriarchal authority, its power and blessings extending eternally by virtue of a divinely ratified covenant. But receiving the patriarchal order is not the end. We are offered further light and knowledge through the veil, where a fulness of Melchizedek priesthood is obtained if we honor even higher laws and ordinances.
In addition to losing understanding of the patriarchal order, the LDS came to reject the divinely decreed office of church Patriarch. The Lord decreed that Hyrum Smith’s office as the Patriarch “was appointed unto him by his father, by blessing and also by right, that from henceforth he shall hold the keys of the patriarchal blessings upon the heads of all my people . . . to hold the sealing blessings of my church, even the Holy Spirit of promise, whereby ye are sealed up unto the day of redemption, that ye may not fall notwithstanding the hour of temptation that may come upon you” (D&C 124:91–92, 124).
When Hyrum’s descendant Eldred G. Smith held the Patriarch position, it was moved to inactive emeritus status without notice on October 6, 1979. When Eldred died in 2013, over 30 years later, the LDS church quietly chose to permanently remove this patriarchal position, cutting off their organization’s last tie to the patriarchal order.
The patriarchal order holds “keys whereby [we] may ask and receive and be crowned with the same blessing, and glory, and honor, and priesthood, and gifts of the priesthood” (D&C 124:95). By misunderstanding the patriarchal order’s purpose and rejecting the office with its keys that are given to bless “all my people” and “my church” through its sealing power, they willingly cut themselves off from the second priesthood’s powers and promises. Without it, they could never obtain the fulness.
Brigham Young knew the endowment should be administered by degrees, separating the Aaronic from higher priesthood orders.
The Lord revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith in a meeting held in the Prophet’s brick store, the present endowment as subsequently administered in the Nauvoo Temple and other places where endowments were given . . . At that time it was thought that the endowment was to be administered in two degrees, the first degree to include the Aaronic Priesthood only and that . . . the robe would be on the right shoulder and that when the applicant had received the higher or Melchizedek Priesthood the robe would be on the left shoulder.
Apostle Erastus Snow asked the question how it was that the endowment was not administered by degrees as contemplated, and Pres. Young answered that it might be at some time in the future.
Separating them as originally suggested would be beneficial to gaining a more accurate understanding of one’s standing and the roadmap to exaltation. The endowment not being administered separately in two phases—an Aaronic and patriarchal portion—further contributes to misunderstanding priesthood power. It leads us to believe that the rite itself is the fulness and encourages us to see the endowment as a singular ritual event instead of a series of lifetime events and experiences—like Adam and Eve—that culminate in parting the veil to receive this authority and its glorious blessings. It is what Abraham sought, and found.
Priesthood blessings are bestowed commensurate with our obedience to corresponding laws, so removing any milestone or marker along the unchangeable path to God is a serious abomination. Modifications leave us with a chasm in the path to God that hinders our spiritual progress and leads us “carefully down to hell” (2 Nephi 28:21).
No wonder Joseph repeatedly warned that changing ordinances affects priesthood and brings curses. Removing any degree of truth or power from ordinances renders a fulness of priesthood extremely difficult to attain. Altered ordinances are “a form of godliness but deny the power thereof” (2 Timothy 3:5), unbeknownst to us. We think we have the power when we only have a form.
This is why inquiring of the Lord is so important. Many assume participation alone bestows the endowment of power but it is not so. We receive blessings commensurate with whatever degree of priesthood we obtain. If more light and knowledge are available, then we cannot claim to have the highest priesthood. We cannot obtain terrestrial or celestial blessings and glory if we do not live their respective laws.
Richards’ numerous suggested changes were adopted by unanimous vote of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve in the 1920s. Modifications continued after, as Richards specifically attended the temple to find changes. “I went to the temple . . . and considered the temple ordinances with a view to recommending to the Presidency a number of changes,” he wrote in 1923. Shortly after, Richards recorded in his diary that “some suggestions I have to offer of changes in the ordinances includes a rewriting of them.” Richards mistakenly hailed this tragedy as
a splendid accomplishment. All the temple ordinances have been considered and many changes have been made. More than 100 rules and decisions have been correlated and decided upon. All have been approved of the Council of the First Presidency, the Twelve, and the Presiding Patriarch.
While many leaders “considered the changes made in the ordinances an improvement” and said, “we are going to conform to them,” not everyone believed deviance was tolerable. A decade before, in 1911, St. George temple president David Cannon, knowing that “innovations must not creep in, in any manner,” strongly opposed Richards’ changes and overreach since Richards was only assigned to oversee a uniformity of system. Richards in return reprimanded Cannon “very severely for not adhering to the unwritten part of the ceremonies.” The battle over authority to change ordinances was fierce. Cannon said, “We are not controlled by the Salt Lake Temple . . . This temple has the original of these endowments which was given by Pres. Brigham Young and we have not, nor will we, change anything thereof unless dictated by the President of the Church.”
[Cannon] told Pres. Richards that Pres. Young had 20 men revise the ceremonies of the ordinances. “Pres. Young said, ‘We are going to give endowments for the dead for the first time and we want to give you the ceremonies as they were given by the Prophet Joseph Smith in the Nauvoo Temple’.” These endowments were received from the Lord by the Prophet Joseph Smith in the Nauvoo Temple and the key word of the endowment was revealed to him (here he gave the key word).
Pres. Cannon referred to the President’s book which contained all the ceremonies of the Temple ordinances, except the unwritten part, which we have been using since this Temple opened 47 years ago, and when we came to talk to President Richards, he said that was wrong.
President Cannon stated that President Richards confronted him at Hurricane when they were at the St. George June quarterly conference. Richards confronted him again, and said, “You must either conform to our method or we to yours.” Said Pres. Richards told him that the Presidency of the Church and the twelve Apostles were the presiding authorities of the Church at present, and they must stand at the head and be responsible for the direction of the affairs of the Church, and the parts in the ordinances of the Temples must be rendered as they have directed. Said Pres. Richards instructed him to gather up all the old rulings and instructions and burn them up.
Once modifications to elements of the Restoration began (and were celebrated), further innovations came at a rapid pace. By 1946, Joseph Fielding Smith issued a sobering warning about the tremendous risk of changing ordinances, especially for the sake of convenience or progress. Greatly concerned about the path the church was heading, he boldly said,
The first changes [to priesthood ordinances in the primitive church] that came, evidently came innocently because some enterprising bishop or other officer endeavored to introduce into his meetings, or among his congregation something new—just a little different, in advancement of that which was practiced elsewhere.
This tendency is very apparent in the wards and stakes of the Church today. These changes and innovations are innocently adopted, but in course of time there is the danger that they will become fixed customs and considered as necessary to the welfare of the Church . . . So we see that we, if we are not careful, will find ourselves traveling the road that brought the Church of Jesus Christ in the first centuries into disrepute and paved the way for the apostasy.
Have we been careful? True prophets and scripture alike warn us against this unfortunate but all-too-common fate. Believers must be “careful to maintain good works . . . [that are] good and profitable” (Titus 3:8). God wants us to “be watchful and careful” (D&C 42:76) and to “arise up and be more careful henceforth in observing your vows, which you have made and do make, and you shall be blessed with exceeding great blessings” (D&C 108:3).
To not be careful is to be careless, a condition that Isaiah relates to being ‘at ease’ with its loss of blessings. Being ‘at ease’ assumes a restful state without entering into God’s rest. The effects on priesthood are just as alarming. Churches who claim priesthood do not necessarily have its power. Those ‘holding’ priesthood must understand the serious nature of their responsibilities and fulfill them well to obtain its powers.
By neglecting the required duties, what level of priesthood, if any, really exists among us today? Are we experiencing the miracles, healings, and spiritual outpourings that regularly accompany priesthood power? If so, where is Zion? If we are not experiencing these things, we cannot truthfully claim to possess higher priesthood. Are we even operating at an Aaronic level, with its ministering angels, baptism by fire, and pentecostal outpourings of the Spirit and gifts? In 1873 Brigham Young said,
The Priesthood has left the people but, in the first place, the people left the Priesthood.
If we are not receiving what is promised in the lesser priesthood, can we legitimately claim higher priesthood? If no evidence of patriarchal authority exists, can we legitimately claim the highest Melchizedek priesthood? If not, the Spirit has withdrawn, putting covenant makers in a tragic and “exceedingly precarious and dangerous” predicament, like Nephites of old (Alma 46:7). Compromise and carelessness come at a devastating price. Once believers are
in full fellowship with the world and receive no more persecution from them because they are one with them, in such an event we might bid farewell to the Holy Priesthood with all its blessings, privileges, and aids to exaltations.
Nephi warns us that after the gospel is given, leaders would encourage us to trust in their authority, saying that “the Lord and the Redeemer hath done his work and he hath given his power unto men. Behold, hearken unto us, and hear ye our precept . . . [God] hath done his work” (2 Nephi 28:5–6). Believing such error keeps us complacent but condemned. In 2010, Boyd Packer expressed his concern about a loss of priesthood power in the church also.
Distributing the authority of the priesthood has raced, I think, ahead of distributing the power of the priesthood. The priesthood does not have the strength that it should have and will not have until the power of the priesthood is firmly fixed in the families as it should be . . .
Too many of our priesthood brethren are living below their privileges and the Lord’s expectations . . . It is now our responsibility to activate the power of the priesthood in the Church.
Authority in the priesthood comes by way of ordination; power in the priesthood comes through faithful and obedient living in honoring covenants. It is increased by exercising and using the priesthood in righteousness.
Many who believe they hold priesthood power and authority do not. “Many there be who are under this condemnation, who use the name of the Lord, and use it in vain, having not authority” (D&C 63:62). They assume ritual ordination or conferral must bestow priesthood, but only God can bestow His power. Priesthood power is not obtained simply by turning a certain age or getting a new assignment in the church—it comes from actively living the endowment.
Even Cain was “authorized” to sacrifice, but he could not offer in righteousness since his worship was modified and he did not seek to know God. Riddled with unbelief, Cain could not secure the promises. God will ordain us with His name and power only after we are obedient with exactness and offer acceptable sacrifice. All holy “prophets [who] had the Melchizedek Priesthood were ordained by God Himself.” Being called, ordained, and chosen requires knowing the Lord. “God will not acknowledge that which He has not called, ordained, and chosen.”
While Joseph acknowledged that rights of priesthood can be conferred, he also noted that any degree of variance, unrighteousness, or coercion voids the priesthood and its authority.
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.
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 121:36–37, 39–40)
The second order of patriarchal priesthood authority is the reward of exercising faith sufficient to rend the veil to access further light and knowledge and “the power of godliness” (D&C 84:20–22). “Knowledge through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is the grand key that unlocks the glories and mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.” Without it, we cannot claim to hold all priesthood keys.
Authority is received as we gain endowments of light and knowledge from on high. Endowment is from enduo, which means ‘to be clothed’ or ‘to put on.’ “Those whom God should call in the last days,” who truly “hold the power of priesthood to bring again Zion and the redemption of Israel,” are they who have “put on the authority of the priesthood” and “return to that power which she [Zion] had lost” (D&C 113:8).
“Zion must increase in beauty, and in holiness; her borders must be enlarged; her stakes must be strengthened; yea, verily I say unto you, Zion must arise and put on her beautiful garments” (D&C 82:14). The Aaronic priesthood and the doctrine of Christ prepare us for it.
Joseph received keys of the Aaronic priesthood in 1829 before the church was formally organized. Joseph Fielding Smith said Aaronic priesthood would never be removed, but scripture clarifies that at a future time the Aaronic priesthood will be “taken” only after certain conditions are met:
The Priesthood of Aaron . . . holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; 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)
The Aaronic priesthood’s function is fulfilled when sons of Levi make an offering in righteousness. Ministering angels, transforming repentance, baptism for remission of sin, and constant companionship of the Holy Ghost are rewards of living the doctrine of Christ. These ordinances prepare us to make an offering in righteousness.
The children of Israel rejected the opportunity receive the higher law to see God face to face (D&C 84:18–26). “That portion which brought Moses to speak with God face to face was taken away, but that which brought the ministry of angels remained.” These are the same conditions today as God’s strange act has played out, allowing those offered the covenant to choose for themselves what degree of glory they desire and are willing to live.
To those fortunate enough to have access to Christ’s gospel, King Benjamin warns that refusing or diverging from His path causes the Spirit to withdraw, tragically making us “an enemy to all righteousness.”
After ye have known and have been taught all these things, if ye should transgress and go contrary to that which has been spoken, that ye do withdraw yourselves from the Spirit of the Lord, that it may have no place in you to guide you in wisdom’s paths that ye may be blessed, prospered, and preserved—
I say unto you, that the man that doeth this, the same cometh out in open rebellion against God; therefore he listeth to obey the evil spirit and becometh an enemy to all righteousness; therefore, the Lord has no place in him, for he dwelleth not in unholy temples. (Mosiah 2:36–37_
Differentiating a lesser priesthood will no longer be necessary once higher laws rule. This occurs only after the faithful have been transformed through the first ordinances of His gospel and truly live His laws. The Aaronic order exists until we master its laws, preparing us to live higher laws. When these important, preparatory laws and ordinances are honored to such a degree that the Spirit, power, and higher laws of God rule, Zion comes.
The higher priesthood was willfully refused but the preparatory portion remains, in the hopes that people will be spiritually transformed by living its laws and honoring its responsibilities. The highest Melchizedek priesthood is only obtained through the veil that they deny has importance. The highest kingdom requires the highest efforts and the highest priesthood, so churches that function with lesser, or even without, the highest priesthood cannot claim the fulness.
For whoso is faithful unto the obtaining these two priesthoods of which I have spoken, and the magnifying their calling, are sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies.
They become (1) the sons of Moses and of Aaron and (2) the seed of Abraham, and (3) the church and (4) kingdom, and (5) the elect of God.
And also all they who receive this priesthood receive me, saith the Lord. (D&C 84:33–35, numerals added)
God’s strange act provides the faithful with all necessary opportunities to give them the discernment to receive all things that the Lord desires to bestow through His great and marvelous work.
Footnotes and sources can be found HERE.