A very remarkable feature in the religious sentiment of modern
"Christianity" is the indifference which prevails as to the question of
legitimate authority to speak and officiate in the name of the Lord.
Should an unauthorized man operate in matters of human government, or
an impostor pretend to be the agent of a mercantile institution and
deceive the people by taking their orders for goods and receiving their
money, no one with sound reason would expect the government or firm
to make good the unauthorized contracts of such an impostor; but the
deceiver would be arrested and thrust into prison for his fraudulent
acts. Why should the consideration of sacred ordinances involving the
salvation of mankind be treated with less concern?
There seems to have grown up in the hearts of the people a feeling that
mere belief and intellectual assent to the theories of the Gospel is
all-sufficient to secure salvation in the presence of the Lord. But
this is an unscriptural delusion. "Even so faith, if it hath not works,
is dead, being alone." "Thou believest that there is one God; thou
doest well: the devils also believe and tremble." "But wilt thou know,
O vain man, that faith without works is dead? . . . For as the body
without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." (St
James ii:17, 19, 20 and 26.)
We have shown from the Scriptures that baptism and confirmation are
essential ordinances to salvation; and to these might be added other
sacred rites, instituted by the Savior of the world for the redemption
of man. He has said that "not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord,
shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of
my Father which is in heaven." (Matt. vii:21.)
Can anyone reasonably suppose that baptism, confirmation, the
sacrament, or any other sacred ceremony administered by one not sent
of God will be followed by the blessings which attended the primitive
saints? Will unauthorized acts secure the remission of sins, or the
gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are manifest in visions, dreams,
healings, prophecies, tongues, etc.? Not by any means; and the reason
the signs do not follow professed believers of the present day is
because their ministers are not called of God according to the pattern
instituted by Him. The condemnation of the Lord will rest upon all who
speak presumptuously and who willfully usurp authority to officiate in
sacred things.
The Lord said in the days of Jeremiah, concerning certain men who spoke
without authority: "I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran; I
have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied." (Jer. xxiii:21.) The
whole history of the dealings of God with His people as it is recorded
in the Bible, proves the constant necessity of living, divine authority.
Upon this branch of the subject we cite the reader to the Scriptures.
When Moses was about to depart from Israel he sought the Lord to
designate his successor, knowing full well that without succession of
authority the work of God could not continue. He said, "Let the Lord,
the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation,
which may go out before them, and which may go in before them, and
which may lead them out, and which may bring them in; that the
congregation of the Lord be not as sheep which have no shepherd." (Num.
xxvii:16-17.) In Romans x., 14 to 17, we have the following: "How then
shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall
they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they
hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be
sent?"
The Savior, who called Twelve apostles and other seventy to continue
the work which He, by the direction of His Father, had inaugurated, was
so particular that they should not "run before they were sent" that
He said to them, "And that repentance and remission of sins should be
preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And
behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the
city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high." (Luke
xxiv:47, 49.)
This emphatic injunction was given, notwithstanding that these apostles
had been already called and ordained as recorded in Mark iii:14, and
notwithstanding their great experience by personal association with
the Savior of mankind, who was pure, without guile, and perfect in all
things, "who spake as never man spake." The apostles had witnessed the
sick healed, the blind see, the deaf hear, the dumb speak, the dead
raised. Three of them, Peter, James and John, had been with Christ when
He was transfigured on the holy mount. Moses and Elias had ministered
unto them. These Twelve were the living oracles of Almighty God, but
for all that, they must not "run before they were sent, nor speak
before they were spoken to." They must enjoy especial power. Are men in
modern times as particular to avoid speaking in the name of the Lord
before they are truly called?
Let us ascertain how men are called of God and His authority
perpetuated in the earth. In speaking of the honor and authority of
the Holy Priesthood, Paul says, "And no man taketh this honor unto
himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron." By reading the
fourth and twenty-eighth chapters of Exodus, the information as to how
Aaron was called can be obtained. He was called by a revelation through
a prophet of God. That prophet was called by revelation and ordained
by one having authority to ordain him. This method of calling men to
the ministry was ever adhered to by true Saints, and when departed
from, the departure has been of men and not of God. Aaron received the
anointing literally at the hands of the prophet Moses, as recorded
in Exodus xl:15, 16, and thus conferred the Levitical priesthood
upon Aaron, which was to be transmitted by the holy anointing from
generation to generation, as long as they should observe the statutes
of the Holy One of Israel.
When Joshua was called to succeed Moses in leading Israel into the
promised land, it was done by revelation from God and the laying on of
hands by one having authority. "And the Lord said unto Moses, Take thee
Joshua, the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand
upon him. * * * And he laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge,
as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses." (Num. xxvii:18 23.) "And
Joshua, the son of Nun, was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had
laid his hands upon him." (Deut. xxxiv:9.) During the entire history
of ancient Israel, men were called by revelation, and when any person
presumed to officiate without such a call, their acts were invalid and
were rejected of the Almighty.
The New Testament furnishes direct evidence of the plan of calling men
to the ministry and perpetuating the authority of God among men. Jesus
said to His apostles, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you,
and ordained you." (St. John xv:16.) "Now there were in the church that
was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon
that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been
brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the
Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul
for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted
and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away." (Acts xiii:
1, 2, 3.) "And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and
had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they
believed." (Acts xiv: 23.) Men thus called have authority to speak in
the name of the Lord, to officiate in His name; and their acts are
valid, binding in time and eternity.
When Paul found a number of disciples at Ephesus who had received
baptism, but in answer to his question, said that they had not "so much
as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost," he promptly baptized them;
yet they had received this ordinance after the form of John's baptism,
that is, by immersion, which was correct. It was evident, however, that
their first baptizing was done without authority, otherwise the person
officiating would have told them of the baptism of the Holy Ghost, as
did John the Baptist. Under these circumstances Paul had to rebaptize
them, or rather administer the true baptism, he having authority from
God to administer it, and then he conferred the Holy Ghost upon them
by the laying on of hands. This example is a lesson as applicable
to similar conditions of today as it was in the New Testament
dispensation. All ceremonies, ordinances, rites, etc., administered
without the administrator being "called of God as was Aaron," are null
and void.
The dispensation of the fullness of times has been ushered in. The
Father and the Son and other heavenly messengers have visited the earth
and restored authority to act in the name of Jesus as in days of old.
This authority has been transmitted from the Prophet Joseph Smith to
others, as designated by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost and by the
laying on of hands. In this manner the authority of the Holy Priesthood
will be perpetuated without interruption until the "kingdoms of this
world shall have become the kingdom of our God and His Christ."