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TRUTH NEVER CHANGES
Volume 11 May 2007 Edition Number 05
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YIn
The Spirit and Tradition of Truth
Magazine Y
QUOTES ON PRIESTHOOD
Let Lucifer
mix in truths with error, and work great signs and wonders to deceive the very
elect, but it is not possible. Why?
Because they have learned the Priesthood,
and they possess the power thereof that cannot be shaken. . . . For it is not
possible for them to deceive the elect of God.
(Jedediah M. Grant, JD 2:15)
It is strange,
brethren, that you have been in the Church so long, and not yet understand the
Melchizedek Priesthood. . . . Have we not learned the Priesthood after the
order of Melchizedek, which includes both Prophets, Priests and Kings: see
Rev. 1 Chap., 6th v., 'and I will advance your Prophet to be a Priest, and then
to a King - not to the Kingdoms of this earth [meaning in the governments of
man], but of the Most High God.' See
Rev. 5 Chap., 10th v. - 'Thou hast made us unto our God, Kings and Priests, and
we shall reign on the earth.' (Joseph
Smith, TPJS pp. 317-318)
I recollect
once when I was preaching a question was asked me, 'What is Priesthood?' The answer was ready, and perfectly simple in
its nature, plain to be understood, and couched in a short sentence (viz.)
Priesthood is a perfect system of Government that rules and reigns in
eternity.
A question at
once arises in the mind: 'Where is eternity?'
The answer is at hand: Eternity is here - we are in eternity just as
much so as any other beings in heaven or on earth. Heavenly beings are no more in eternity than
we are. We are in the midst of eternity; and when we become acquainted with the
system of Government and the laws that rule in eternity, we shall then know it
is calculated to endure; to govern and control all things which are in heaven,
and on the earth.
The eternal
priesthood of God - the government of God - the laws of eternity, is a pure and
perfect system of government. (Brigham
Young, Brigham Young Papers, 12 February 1854, Church Historians Office)
Those holding
the fullness of the Melchizedek Priesthood are kings and priests of the Most
High God, holding the keys of power and blessings. In fact, that Priesthood is a perfect law of
theocracy [a government under God's direction], and stands as God to give laws
to the people, administering endless lives [through the ordinances] to the sons
and daughters of Adam. (Joseph Smith, TPJS
p. 322)
May 4, 1842 -
Many of the Apostles and Elders having returned from England, Joseph washed and
anointed as Kings and Priests to God, and over the house of Israel, the
following named persons, as he said he was commanded of God, viz.: James Adams
(of Springfield), William Law, William Marks, Willard Richards, Brigham Young,
Heber C. Kimball, Newel K. Whitney, Hyrum Smith, and myself; and conferred on
us Patriarchal Priesthood. (George Miller, Journal of George Miller, p.
120-121)The conferral of the fullness of the Melchizedek Priesthood came not by
being "a Prophet nor apostle nor Patriarch only but of King and Priest to
God to [have power to] open the windows of Heaven and pour out the peace and
Law of endless Life to man and no man can attain to the joint heirship with
Jesus Christ without being administered to by one having the same power and
authority of Melchisedec." (Joseph
Smith, Words of Joseph p. 244)
Orson Pratt
explained in The Seer that a man must attain to the office of King and Priest
in this life - not merely be ordained to become such. (find reference)
Hoeooph ah
ohah eh: Patriarchal government or authority; a
land governed according to the pattern or order given to the patriarchs or
fathers, rules and laws of a government administered by the direction of heaven
or God. A people living under the laws
of the Gospel: or that law by which they may be sanctified and see the face of
God. A priestly government: a government
administered by the authority of the priesthood, less or under the patriarchal;
(Joseph Smith, Egyptian Alphabet and Grammar: p. 5,6)
Now the first
government of Egypt . . . was patriarchal.
Pharaoh being a righteous man, established his kingdom and judged his
people wisely and justly all his days, seeking earnestly to imitate that order
established by the fathers in the first generations, in the days of the first
patriarchal reign, even in the reign of Adam, and also of Noah, his father.
(Abraham 1:25-26)
Now this same
Priesthood, which was in the beginning, shall be in the end of the world
also. (Moses 6:7)
We have,
during the last six thousand, or nearly so, had a very great variety of human
governments established on the earth. Governments began to be established in
the days of our first parents . . . they saw their children multiplying around
them in vast numbers, and governments began to be established. Among those governments, however, was
maintained also the government of God - a patriarchal government, that continued
with the righteous from the days of Adam down 'till the days of Enoch, and for
a short period after his days. This
government was patriarchal in its nature, or in other words directed and
dictated by the creator of man - the great lawgiver. He directed and counseled
his servants, and they obeyed his counsels.
In other words, a divine government existed on the earth in those
ancient times; but at length, about the period of the death of Adam, or a
little after, human governments rooted out of the earth the government of God,
mankind apostatized . . . the just anger
of their creator was kindled against them, and he decreed that they should be
swept off from the face of the earth by a flood of waters. Again, after this great destruction, a divine
government was organized on the earth, Noah being the great patriarch,
revelator, and prophet, to whom was given laws and institutions for the government
of his posterity. This order, however,
continued only for a short period of time, and human governments again
prevailed. (Orson Pratt, JD 15:67-68)
We find that
after the days of Noah an order was introduced called the patriarchal order in
which every man managed his own family affairs, . Man began again to multiply
on the face of the earth, and the heads of families became their kings and priests,
that is the fathers of their own people, and they were more or less under the
influence and guidance of the almighty.
(John Taylor, J.D. 17:207)
That
patriarchal order which was established by heaven in the early periods of this
earth's existence . . . is the pattern of family relationship in the heavens.
(John Taylor, Deseret Weekly News, 29 December 1888)
The order of
God's government, both in time and in eternity, is patriarchal; that is it is a
fatherly government. Each father who is
raised from the dead and made a partaker of the Celestial glory in its
fullness, will hold lawful jurisdiction over his own children and over all the
families which spring of them to all generations, forever and ever. (Parley P.
Pratt, Millennial Star 5:189)
Who will be
the subjects in the kingdom [over] which they will rule who are exalted in the
Celestial Kingdom of our God? Will they
reign over their neighbor's children?
Oh, no. Over whom, then, will
they reign? Their own children, their
own posterity will be the citizens of their kingdoms; in other words, the
patriarchal order will prevail there to the endless ages of eternity, and the
children of each patriarch will be his while eternal ages roll on. This is not
according to present customs, for now when a young man reaches the age of
twenty-one years he is free from his parents, and considers that he is no
longer under the necessity of being controlled by his father. That is according to our customs, and the
laws of our country. It is a very good
law and adapted to the imperfections that now exist; but it will not be so in
the eternal worlds. There will never be
any such thing there as being from under their father's rule, no matter whether
twenty-one or twenty-one thousand years of age, it will make no difference,
they will still be subjects to the laws of their Patriarch or Father, and they
must observe and obey them throughout all eternity. There is only one way by which children can
be freed from that celestial law and order of things, and that is by revelation.
(Orson Pratt, JD 15:319-320)
There are two
grand principles, by virtue of which all intelligent beings have a legitimate
right to govern and hold dominion; these are [1] by begetting children from
their own loins, and [2] by winning the hearts of others to voluntarily desire
their righteous exercise of power extended over them [by adoption]. These constitute a sure foundation for an
eternal throne - a kingdom as perpetual as God's. . In the Patriarchal order of
government, each and every ruler is independent in his sphere, his rule
extending to those below, and not to those above him, in the same order. . . .
We can conceive of no higher, or more perfect order of government than that
which is embraced in Patriarchal both subjects and rulers, each possessing
almighty rights and powers - almighty rulers over those who have descended from
them, at the same time rendering all honor and power to those from whom they
have descended. What a glorious system
of order is here portrayed - one in which an innumerable succession of Gods,
Patriarchs, and rulers can reign forever in the greatest possible harmony that
can be comprehended by intelligences, while each is independent in his
position, as is all intelligence. (Brigham Young, Millennial Star 15:801-804)
There is no
higher authority in matters relative to the family organization, and especially
when that organization is presided over by one holding the higher priesthood,
than that of the father [or Patriarch which means 'chief father']. The authority is time honored, and among the
people of God in all dispensations it has been highly respected and often
emphasized by the teachings of the prophets who were inspired of God. The patriarchal order is of divine origin and
will continue throughout time and eternity.
There is, then, a particular reason why men, women and children should
understand this order and this authority in the households of the people of
God, and seek to make it what God intended it to be, a qualification and
preparation for the highest exaltation of his children. In the home the presiding authority is
always vested in the father, and in all home affairs and family matters there
is no other authority paramount. (Joseph
F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine pp. 286-88)
We talk in
this ignorant age, of children becoming of age, as it is called; and we
consider when they are of age they are free from the authority of their
father. But no such rule is known in the
celestial law and organization, either here or hereafter. By that law a son is subject to his father
forever and ever, worlds without end.
Again, we have a rule now established in the earth by which a woman
becomes the wife of a man, and is bound by law to him 'till death shall
separate. But in the celestial order it
is not so, for the plainest of all reasons, viz., the celestial order, is an
order of eternal life; it knows no death and consequently makes no provision
for any. Therefore all its covenants and
contracts are eternal in their duration, and calculated to bind the several
members of a family in one eternal union.
In order to illustrate this subject and make it perfectly plain to the
most simple capacity we must leave death entirely out of the consideration, and
look at men and families just as we would look at them if there was no
death. This we can do with the greatest
propriety because the time was when there was no death, and time will be again
in which there will be no death. . . .
Having now
established the fact that the celestial order is designed not only to give
eternal life, but also to establish an eternal order of family government,
founded upon the most pure and holy principles of union and affection, we will
take a review of the celestial family of man as it will exist in the restoration
of all things spoken of by the Holy Prophets.
First: His most gracious and venerable majesty, King
Adam, with his royal consort, Queen eve, will appear at the head of the whole
great family of the redeemed, and will be crowned in their midst as a King and
Priest forever after the [Order of] Son of God. They will then be arrayed in
garments white as snow and will take their seats on the throne, in the midst of
the paradise of God on the earth, to reign forever and ever. While thousands of thousands stand before
him, and ten thousand times ten thousand minister unto him. And if you will receive it, this is the order
of the Ancient of days -- the kingdom prepared and organized to meet Jesus when
he comes.
This venerable
patriarch and sovereign [Adam] will hold lawful jurisdiction over Abel, Enoch,
Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, the prophets, apostles, Saints of
all ages and dispensations, who will all reverence and obey him as their
venerable father and lawful sovereign. They
will then be organized, each over his own department of the government,
according to their birthright and office, in their families, generations and
nations. Each one will obey and be
obeyed according to the connection which he sustains as a member of the great
celestial family. Thus the graduation
will descend in regular degrees from the throne of the Ancient of days with his
innumerable subjects, down to the least and last Saint of the last days who may
be counted worthy of a throne and scepter, although his kingdom may, perhaps,
only consist of a wife and single child.
Such the order and organization of the celestial family, and such the
natures of the thrones, principalities and powers, which are the rewards of
diligence. (Parley P. Pratt, Millennial
Star 5:189)
If we are
crowned to become lords of lords, and kings of kings, it will be to rule and
reign over our own posterity pertaining to this flesh -- these tabernacles --
this commencement in our finite state of being.
When I reign King of Kings, and lord of lords, over my children, it will
be when my first, second, third, fourth, and so on, son rises up and counts
thousands and millions of his posterity, and is king over them; then I am a
king of these kings. Our Father, who is Lord of all, will reign a King of kings
and Lord of lords over all his children.
(Brigham Young, Deseret News 27 June 1860)
"For your
satisfaction, I will show you a rule by which you may comprehend the exaltation
of the faithful. I will use myself as a
figure and say that I am ruler over ten sons or subjects and soon each one of
them will have 10 men sealed to them and then they would be rulers over them
and that would make me ruler over ten presidents, or rather kings [making
Brigham a king of kings], whereas before I was ruler over 10 subjects only. Or in other words I ruled over one kingdom
whereas now I rule over 10. Then let
each one of those ten get ten more and then I would be ruler of 100 kingdoms
and so on, continuing through all eternity and the more honor and glory that I
could bestow upon my sons the more it would add to my exaltation; but to clip
the thread of your exaltation [by severing the adoptive bond], then where would
be your glory?" (M.S.B.Y. 1:143-144)
The time is
near at hand when the fathers who hold the Priesthood in Heaven [the only
priesthood organization in heaven is Patriarchal], will be united with the
children who hold the [Patriarchal] Priesthood upon the earth; but there are
many generations intervening, who held not the Priesthood, but died in their
ignorance; the grand chain of patriarchal government, according to the order of
generations, will be broken, and the union will not be complete, unless the
hearts of the fathers are turned to seek after the redemption of the
generations of their children who have laid down in their graves in the days of
darkness; and also unless the hearts of the children are turned towards their
fathers. Thus through the united
exertions of the Priesthood in Heaven, with the Priesthood upon the earth, the
intermediate links of the great chain of generation will be restored, and the
union of the fathers with the children will be made perfect, and each
successive generation will stand in their own order, exercising their
patriarchal authority and swaying the scepter of righteousness, according to
the holy order of the Priesthood forever and ever. (Orson Pratt, The Seer p. 142)
As all the
ordinances of the gospel administered by the world since the apostasy of the
Church [in Christ's' time] was illegal, in like manner was the marriage ceremony
illegal and all the world who had been begotten through the illegal marriages
were bastards and not sons; and hence they had to enter into the law of
adoption and be adopted into the [Patriarchal] Priesthood in order to become
sons and legal heirs of salvation. (Orson Pratt, Journal of Wilford
Woodruff 15 August 1847)
The ordinance
of ordination to the Holy Melchisedec priesthood administered to any man makes
him eligible to sacred ordination in God's Holy Temple as well as
elsewhere. And thus the ordinances are
continued until the cap stone is reached by the ordinance of sealing [into the
family or Patriarchal Order, see TPJS 340] under the everlasting covenant which
reaches into the future existence, securing eternal life [or sealed up to
eternal life] to all those who prove their faithfulness while in mortality, but
not otherwise [no other way but the ordinances of the Holy Order]. (Joseph Taylor, Liahona 10:405)
Those who are
adopted into my family and take me for their counsel, or, if I continue
faithfully I will preside over them throughout all eternity. I will stand at their head . . ."
(Manuscript Sermons of Brigham Young 1:141)
"Before I
close I will answer a question that has been repeatedly asked me: that is,
should I have a father dead that has never heard this gospel, would it be
required of me to redeem him and then have him adopted into some man's family
and I be adopted to my father? I answer
no. If we have to attend to the
ordinances of redemption for our dead relatives we then become their Saviors
and were we to wait to redeem our dead relatives before we could link [into]
the Chain of the Priesthood we would never accomplish it." (Manuscript
Sermons of Brigham Young, 1:140)
To
"redeem" someone is to provide the link whereby they may be connected
into the Priesthood Chain. By adopting
their ancestors as their posterity, a means was provided for the salvation of
the dead. Brigham pointed out:
" . . .
we never read of women being Saviors of men or having a dispensation of the Gospel
committed to them. According to the
order established, all Saviors shall stand at the head of all those whom they
redeemed and bring them into their own kingdom and reign over them. Consequently all men must be redeemed by men
that are found worthy . . . " (M.S.B.Y. 1:76)
CHURCH AND PRIESTHOOD
[If Priesthood
is a government as Joseph Smith and Brigham state, then the government, or
priesthood, of the Church can only function within that organization.]
He [Sidney
Rigdon] has no authority, only what he receives from the Church. . . . There
are more than thirty men who have got higher authority than he has. (Heber C. Kimball, Times & Seasons p.
664)
[If Sidney
Rigdon (who was a member of the First Presidency and had all the Priesthood
that they had) had the Priesthood that comes from the Church - and yet there
were men who had higher authority than he did, then there must be (higher)
Priesthood outside the Church, since the authority of those thirty-plus men did
not come from the Church.]
The Lord spake
unto Joseph Smith saying Hearken unto me, saith the Lord your God, who are
ordained unto the high priesthood of my church.
(D&C 78:1)
[The High
Priesthood of the Church is nothing more than the collection of all the High
Priests, or men holding the office of High Priest in the Church.]
Then comes the
High Priesthood, which is the greatest of all. Wherefore, it must needs be that
one be appointed of the High Priesthood to preside over the priesthood, and he
shall be called President of the High Priesthood of the Church, or in other
words, the Presiding High Priest over the High Priesthood of the Church. (D&C 107:64-66)
Brigham Young
said no one could "act on the sealing principle only as he was dictated by
Joseph in every case. This was proven, for
Hyrum did in one case undertake to seal without counsel." (Brigham Young
to William Smith, 9 August 1845, Brigham Young Collection, Church Archives)
[I] learned
from Hyrum that Emma had power to prevent my being admitted to Joseph's Lodge
[his Patriarchal family] for the present for which I feel somewhat sorry. . . .
but yet [I] believe that innocence will prevail. . . . I now realize my situation
more sensibly than I ever did in my life.
I might have the privilege of being received into the quorum of
anointing [the Holy Order for which initiation is the endowment] but [Reynolds]
Cahoon has got there and through private pique he is resolved to deprive me of
that privilege. That added to Emma's
determination to be revenged sinks my mind & fills me with agony, but I
believe that innocence will finally triumph & I shall be prospered. . . . I
wrote a long letter to Joseph on the subject. . . . He returned my letter &
said I had no need to be troubled, the only reason why I was not admitted into
the quorum was because there is no convenience, and none were admitted only for
a particular purpose by Revelation.
(William Clayton, Diary 5 December 1843)
ELDERS ARE ONLY APPENDAGES
TO THE HIGH (MELCHIZEDEK)
PRIESTHOOD
And again, the
offices of elder and bishop are necessary appendages belonging unto the high
priesthood. And again, the offices of
teacher and deacon are necessary appendages belonging to the lesser priesthood,
which priesthood was confirmed upon Aaron and his sons. (D&C 84:29,30)
Wherefore,
from deacon to teacher, and from teacher to priest, and from priest to elder, .
. . Then comes the High Priesthood, which is greatest of all. (D&C 107:63,64)
Brethren, when
you ordain a man to the office of Elder, be sure to confer upon him the Melchizedek
Priesthood. (Joseph F. Smith)
—COMMENTARY—
ON
LEGAL MURDER
(TNC, Vol. 4:82-84)
Abortion is murder. Period.
Murder in the first degree—premeditated and
well planned and thought out—to snuff a human life out of mortal
existence. Whether it takes place in the
24th week or in the 24th hour—life is life and abortion
is murder.
Today, we have state and federal facilities
that house sex-offenders exclusively.
Strange how we don’t have similar facilities to house
abortionists—Special Management Units for the killers of the unborn, and sadly
ironic, we have “women’s care” facilities that have become “death-row” for
babes yet unborn.
Abortion in its many ways has fast become the
“remedy” to the consequences of “recreational sex”. America’s favorite past time, so it seems.
Immorality is the worm, which has always
gnawed at the roots of a civilization, from time immemorial, and the cause of
an empire’s decay.
“Nothing new under the sun,” said King
Solomon. In early Biblical times, a
draught would be consumed by women, which would render them incapable of
bearing children—barren—the price to pay for retaining their slim figures.
In our day, dark forces have inspired men to
invent a “new and improved” arsenal to combat and conquer an “enemy” that
cannot defend its self—from a “morning after” pill designed in French
laboratories, to a grisly death machine that looks like a vacuum cleaner on
steroids. The process is too gory to
reiterate, but you can get the picture.
This process occurs every day—worldwide!
Feminists often cry out, “It’s my body and I
can do what I want with it!” However,
the infant is certainly not theirs; who appointed that individual spokes-person
for the infant. If the babes could
express themselves, I really don’t think they would verbalize favor of their
mortal death so soon, without having experienced living, let alone, not
receiving a tabernacle for the blessings of the resurrection.
These same people also have a way in placing
lesser forms of life in higher estimation than human life. These people will be the first to defend the
Mexican Gray Wolf (nearly extinct), yet also be the last in defense of an pure
child unborn! These people will try to
convince legislators to abandon capital punishment, and yet will do nothing to
stop the “capital punishment” of the God-sent children!
What happened to the rights of the
unborn? Doctors and lawyers say they
have none until they breathe the air you and I do, and not vicariously through
its mother.
Life is life; abortion is murder.
When God said to the world, “Thou shalt not
kill,” I am certain He also meant innocent infants yet within the womb. Motherhood is one of the greatest gifts ever
bestowed upon mankind! It is next to
Godhood; procreation is an act of Godhood.
Kudos to the Catholics for their staunch
belief in large families, no birth-control, and no abortion! Their position on these issues are more
commendable than the LDS Church, whose President recently announced to the
nation that abortion is acceptable to the LDS Church, if “competent medical” authorities insist it is
necessary. What rubbish! I know two darling children, whom a
“competent medical” authority suggested to their mother they be aborted, because
of possible birth defects. I know of
people who have had abortions because a doctor told them that their child was
“not viable.” I wonder what would have
become of those infants, had they been given the chance.
Who knows?
Perhaps the child who would have grown to invent the cure for AIDS
became ashes in an incinerator…now he’s abandoned by its mother and the
world. Perhaps a competent medical
authority told his mother that he would have Down Syndrome. Who are we to order the death of an innocent
child? Those doctors are the “hit-men”
and their “marks” are babies.
Recently, a girl from Kansas came to Phoenix,
Arizona in a controversial court case to have an abortion in her third
trimester. Well, you heard the news—she
won the court case, but the baby lost.
That court pronounced its death before it could be born—straight to the
executioner, who wore a sterilized white smock, blue rubber gloves and a
scalpel.
There is a court on high that will address
these guilty souls on earth, who made these choices, and they will stand and
face the spirits of their accusers, who will point their finger and say, “You
did not want me. You killed me before I
could be born and receive my body.” Oh,
the pain these abortionists will feel; the sorrow will be great. Their actions and choices will haunt them and
they’ll be haunted by those down-cast, innocent eyes, “you killed me…” as those
abortionists raise their heads from hell and look to the distant heavens.
I am sure that if there is a spirit prison,
there’ll surely be a Special Detention Unit reserved just for those who
slaughter the innocent.
Life is life; abortion is murder, and sadly, this
wholesale murder is legal.
Wives to Be One With Husbands
Heber C. Kimball
How long is it going to take you to become men and women
of God, and to honor your calling? When
you fight against your leaders, or against the head of a branch, do you not see
that you are fighting against your head?
It is the same as a child’s fight against its mother, for when it does
so, it is fighting against its own existence…
Now, if I have a woman who says that she has no love
for plurality, I do not think that there could be much affections towards
her. And when there is affection, such a
woman would soon banish it all. Suppose
she has no love, no attachment, can she expect the affection of her
husband? Can a graft grow to a tree
unless its nature is congenial to that of the tree in which it is grafted? Say
that one man gives me a graft from his tree, and that I get hundreds of grafts
from other trees, and that they are all grafted into my tree, then if they
partake of the nourishment and fatness that are in the tree, they will
certainly grow, but if they alienate themselves, they will wither and drop off…
And if my wife wants to be one with me, she must let
her will and affections center in me, just as if I were a vine and my wife a
branch; then where is there room or occasion for confusion? Were such universally the case do you not
think that we could raise up a still better posterity?
When wives become one with their husbands, then
there is no evil interruption, children will be begotten, born and reared under
greatly improved influences. The Holy Ghost will rest upon and dwell with the
parents, and their offspring will be mighty and godlike. I would not give much for a man nor a woman
that does not enjoy the fellowship of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost. If I do not have the Holy Ghost,
I shall not produce the fruit that is designed by the holy order of matrimony. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a pure woman, and
was ordained and designed to bear the Son of God, because no woman in her sins
was worthy of performing that work. How
long will it be before we will have children filled with the Holy Ghost from
their birth, who will grow up steadfast in the truth, even sons and daughters
of God? No woman entering into this holy
order should do so without she has the Holy Ghost, and she should ever after
keep it, that her nourishment, example, and teachings may always partake of the
life-giving principles of that Spirit.
Stop all wickedness, all your quarreling, and all
unholy divorces. Some women will marry a
man one day, and call for a divorce the next.
They are playing with the things of God, and are sealing their own
damnation. Some women get married and
then run after other men; and some men get married and run after other
women. What are such persons doing? They are sealing their own damnation. On the other hand, every man and woman that
will not yield to passion, nor to any evil practice or principle, will become
filled with the Spirit of God, and it will pass from one to another. This is why, as I have often said, I love
Brother Brigham better than I do any woman upon this earth, because my will has
run into his, and his into mine, and there is a free interchange of
feelings. There are but few men that
will do that, for they generally want their own way and their own will,
therefore their wills do not run into ours and the Father’s. This free interchange of pure feelings should
run through all the organizations in this Church, and through every member in
every family throughout all our borders.
I have been trying to tell you how you may raise
children to hold the Priesthood and be holy unto the Lord; and if all would
take a right and proper course in regard to rearing children, from the
commencement until they are grown up, and not take a course to weary the tree
while it is maturing fruit, many would do far better than they now do. Many who have but one wife, and several of
those who have more than one, take a course to excite adultery, and what is
much worse, they often take that course at the most improper and unwise times,
and thereby seriously injure their offspring.
If righteous husbands and wives will pursue a righteous course in this
matter, their children will be much less subject to lustful desires, and will
enter into the holy bonds of matrimony with a view to keep the commandment and
raise up a pure posterity. For this
purpose, God instituted the plurality of wives.
(J. of D. 4:276-277)
MARRIAGE & MORALS IN UTAH
Parley P. Pratt
Read in the Fillmore, Utah House of Representatives,
31 December 1855
(Millennial
Star, 18:337-338)
Mr. President and Gentlemen:
At the opening of the present session of our annual
Legislature I had the honor of being unanimously chosen Chaplain of the
Council.
I was then and there laid under a solemn oath to
faithfully perform the duties of this high and holy calling tot he best of my
abilities, and was also solemnly charged by the honorable President, Mr. Kimball,
not merely to be fervent in prayer during the session, but also to contribute
my mite in molding the moral and social institutions of our common country.
In accordance with these sacred responsibilities
placed upon me, I have, with some pains, prepared this address, which I am
extremely happy in having the privilege of laying before you; not merely, or
principally for your sakes; but for the sake of the people of our Territory—our
nation, and the world.
As our young and rising territory is about preparing
to enter upon her sovereignty as a free and independent republic, and assume
her place amid the family of American States, it becomes her citizens, and
especially those engaged in founding her institutions to purify themselves and
to come together with pure hearts and clean hands; and clothed with light as a
garment, lay a constitutional foundation, and make or adopt such laws as will
tend to purify and exalt the people,--establish righteousness and peace and
multiply and perpetuate a nation of freemen in the highest degree of moral,
intellectual and physical development.
No time-saving, or mere temporary policy should
enter into our composition, or influence us for one moment. We act, not merely or principally for
ourselves or the living age; but for untold millions of posterity, and for ages
yet unborn; who doubtless will be influenced by our institutions, and mold
their morals, manners, precepts and even their consciences more or less after
the pattern we set them.
A wholesome and moral atmosphere, and a conscience
purified and enlightened by the Spirit of truth are indispensably necessary to
a permanent nation growth and to the strength and perpetuity of institutions.
The All-Wise Creator, the God of Nature, has
implanted in the human heart certain affections, which, under proper culture
and direction, give rise to family ties, hence the necessity and importance of
the moral and social relations and the institutions for their proper direction
and government.
‘Tis nature’s universal law, and the first and great
commandment with blessing, that each and every species should multiply and fill
the measure of its creation. Hence the
growth of families—the germs of nations—and hence, as we before observed, the necessity
of laws founded in wisdom, to guard as it were, the fountain and issues of
life.
In short—moral and social affections and
institutions are the very foundation of all government, whether of family,
church or state. If these are perverted,
or founded in error, the whole superstructure is radically wrong, and will
contain within itself the seeds of its own decay and dissolution. These facts are not only self-evident, but
are according to all experience being exemplified in the decadence and dissolution
of nations and empires of old, as well as in the general weakness and
corruption so characteristic of men and things in more modern times.
The prophet Isaiah, in looking through the vista of
long distant years, at length beholds the vision of modern “Christendom”, or of
the corruption growing out of Roman sway.
He exclaims (ISA 24:5): “The earth also is defiled under her inhabitants
thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken
the everlasting covenant.”
We here inquire: What laws were transgressed? What ordinance was changed? And what everlasting covenant was broken—the
effect of which would defiled the very earth under its inhabitants? This leads us back, in our researches, to the
earliest institutions, laws, ordinances, covenants, and precedents on record
touching marriage and the moral and social relations.
If we find laws, statutes, covenants, and precedents
emanating from God; sworn to by Himself to be everlasting; as a blessing to all
nations; if we find these have to do with exceeding multiplicity of the race,
and with family and national organization and increase; is such institutions
are older than Moses, and are found perpetuated and unimpaired by Moses, and
the Prophets—Jesus and the Apostles, then it will appear evident, that they
were intended to be perpetual; and that no merely human legislation or
authority, whether proceeding from emperor, king, or people has a right to
change, alter, or pervert them.
It will then remain to be shown by whom these
institutions were changed or perverted; the direful effect of such change upon
the nations; and the only course left for those who would survive the crash of
nations and the wreck of worlds.
Our object, gentlemen, is to urge upon the statesmen
and the people of, at least one state or government of our earth to avoid the
rock and quicksand on which so many have made shipwreck—to restore the laws,
the ordinance, and the everlasting covenant of our God that her citizens may be
purified and preserved by the same; and her institutions, being founded in
truth, may be perpetuated forever…
(Contributed)
Imagine if WE said something like this to today’s
apostate Priesthood leaders, those seeking for power and status in their
“Priesthood, offices and callings”(Luke 11:39-54)
39 Now do
you Priesthood Leaders make clean the outside of the cup and the platter, by
living the Word of Wisdom; but your inward part is full of ravening and
wickedness, by the way you take advantage of each other, striving to lift
yourselves above one another.
40 You
fools, did not He that made your bodies which is without also make your souls
which is within also?
41 But
rather give freely of such things as you have been given; and, behold, all
things are clean to you.
42 But woe
unto you, Priesthood Leaders! for you tithe your income and your time and make
all manner of sacrifices, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these
ought you to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
43 Woe
unto you, Priesthood Leaders! for you love the uppermost callings in the
Priesthood, and greetings of “President” or “Elder” or “One who has the
Fullness of Priesthood Keys” at Sunday Meeting and in other places.
44 Woe
unto you, Priesthood Leaders, hypocrites! for you are as graves which are not
seen, death not seen by others, and the men that walk over those graves and
follow your principles of death are not aware of them.
45 ¶ Then
answered one of the Priesthood Leaders, and said unto him, Master, what you are
saying offends us. You are hurting our
feelings. Maybe you should tone down your statements about us and tell us your
opinion and not be so forceful and emphatic in what you say. For you only
express your opinion. Choose your words more carefully, so we will be apt to
listen to you and not close our ears because we are offended.
46 And he
said, Woe unto you also, you Priesthood Leaders and those who enforce the laws
of the Priesthood, seeking authority over the people! for you lay on men heavy
burdens grievous to be borne, with your demand for allegiance to your office
and calling, your requirements and to your personal commands and with your
adjudication of Priesthood law that leave the wicked without warning and drive
out the righteous from among you and you yourselves won’t get involved nor lift
these burdens with even one of your fingers.
47 Woe
unto you! for you honor the names of the Prophets, and yet your fathers, those
who believed as you do now, killed them.
48 Truly
you bear witness of yourselves that you allow and applaud the deeds of your
fathers, persecuting those who do the deeds of the Prophets: for they indeed
killed the Prophets, and you build their sepulchres, in the form of parks,
buildings, and other sites in honor of their names.
49
Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles,
and some of them they shall ignore and persecute, labeling them as “lunatics”
or as “men who force upon us, their ‘opinions of religion’” and others will
they put in jail, accusing them of breaking the law of the land, such laws
authored by such Priesthood Leaders.
50 That
the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world,
and from the foundation of this Dispensation, may be required of this
generation;
51 From
the blood of Abel unto the blood of Joseph Smith, which perished with his
brother in the Carthage Jail; verily I say unto you, It shall be required of
this generation.
52 Woe
unto you, Priesthood leaders! for you have taken away the key of knowledge, by
rejecting the Fullness of the Gospel and leading others to do the same, if not
by what you say, then by what you do: you entered not into Zion yourselves, and
them that were entering in you hindered and even blocked.
53 And as
he said these things unto them, the accountants and the lawyers, businessmen
and doctors, Priesthood Leaders one and all, began to hammer on Him vehemently,
and to provoke Him to speak of many things, for what He said made them angry as
they would not consider His words as an invitation to repent of their sins.
54 Laying wait
for Him, and seeking to catch something out of His mouth, that they might
accuse Him in court of breaking the law, or just pass around false rumors of
what He said to them, that they might shut him up or even kill him, if
possible.
(Contributed)
I wonder what would happen if we treated our Book of
Mormon like we treat our cell phones?
What if we carried it around in our purses or
pockets?
What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?
What if we flipped through it several times a day?
What if we spent an hour or more using it every day?
What if we used it to receive messages?
What if we treated it like we couldn't live without
it?
What if we gave it to kids as gifts?
What if we used it as we traveled?
What if we used it in case of an emergency?
This is something to make you
go..."Hmm....Where is my Book of Mormon? "
Unlike our cell phones:
One plan fits all.
Unlimited usage.
No roaming charges.
You always have reception.
No weak signals AND
We don't ever have to worry about our Book of Mormon
being disconnected because our Savior already paid the bill!
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