Restoration of the Priesthood: Its Powers, Functions, and Duties

If President Lorenzo Snow had lived until April 3rd, he would have been 88 years of age. He was a very active, energetic and progressive man. He died "in the harness," and passed into the spirit world; and the great work of the Lord moves on without let or hindrance. I am sure that he would have been very happy to be present with us upon this occasion, to have listened to the testimonies of the brethren, and gazed into the faces of this vast congregation. ¶

Brethren and sisters, notwithstanding the servants of the Lord fall from time to time battling for the truth, Zion must be redeemed. While sitting on the stand listening to the discourses of my brethren, I have greatly marvelled at the wonderful providences of the Lord unto us; for when He uttered forth His voice and said that His Church must be established in the earth and His work must be accomplished, He furnished to the children of men the means to accomplish it. As early as the year 1823, the Lord made use of this language. ¶

"Behold I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord." ¶

A dreadful day; A day of pestilence, of famine, of earthquake, of tempests, and a day of burning, designated here in very impressive language as "the great and dreadful day of the Lord!" When that days comes, the power of the Priesthood must be upon the earth to protect and deliver the people of God from destruction; for the righteous and those who keep the commandments of God, including those who are tithed, shall not be burned. ¶

The priesthood has been restored to the earth, and is composed of two grand divisions — the Melchisedek and the Aaronic. The Aaronic Priesthood was restored to the earth and bestowed upon Joseph Smith by the hand of John the Baptist, in May, 1829. The Melchisedek Priesthood was restored and conferred upon the Prophet Joseph in June, 1829, by Peter, James and John. The authority and power of the Melchisedek Priesthood is to hold the keys of all the spiritual blessings of the Church, to have the privilege of receiving the mysteries of the kingdom, to have the heavens opened unto us, to have communion with the general assembly and church of the firstborn, and to enjoy the communion of God the Father and Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant. The power and authority of the Aaronic Priesthood is to hold the keys of the ministering of angels, and to administer in outward ordinances the letter of the gospel — the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, agreeable to the covenants and commandments. Thus we see, brethren and sisters, that the Priesthood connects this Church with the heavens, and the channel of communication is open. Oh! how weak indeed would we be without this authority; and oh! how weak indeed are we except we honor it, for if we do not we come under condemnation. The president of the Melchisedek Priesthood is a High Priest, and is designated in the revelations of God as a presiding High Priest over the High Priesthood of the Church, and is also President of the Church. His Counselors are High Priests; and these three constitute the Presidency of the Church, and have authority over all its affairs, to regulate them throughout the world. The president of the Aaronic Priesthood is a Bishop, who is called to preside over the quorums of the Lesser Priesthood. ¶

Let me say to you, brethren and sisters, (I say it to the sisters as well as the brethren, for I feel that it is a good thing for the sisters to hear something regarding the Priesthood) there is not a living soul connected with the Church that is exempt from the authority and influence of the Priesthood; for the reason that the Priesthood holds the keys to all the spiritual blessings of the Church. It is true that the sisters do not receive the Priesthood, but they receive its blessings in connection with their husbands and fathers. The Priesthood continues in the Church of God throughout all generations, and is without beginning of days or end of years. We are told— and oh. how impressive is the thought!— that without the Priesthood the power of godliness cannot be made manifest to men, and without it no man can see the face of God and live. What a sorry plight the world is in, if that statement be true, that no man can gaze upon the face of God and live, without the Priesthood! We must needs take it to them; we must needs preach the Gospel to them. ¶

In these two great Priesthoods that I have mentioned are various orders or grades. In the Melchisedek Priesthood we have Apostles, High Priests, Seventies and Elders. In the Aaronic Priesthood we have Bishops, Priests, Teachers and Deacons. So that every age and condition in the Church is provided for; and no man, be he young or old, is authorized to exercise authority in the Church of God, except he bears some portion of the Priesthood. Wonderful thing! A church of Priesthood! The duties of these several orders of Priesthood are well and clearly defined in the revelations. There need be no confusion, or misunderstanding. The. High Priest is under no necessity to run to the Seventy and ask what his duty is; the Seventy need not go to the High Priest to learn what he should do; and the members of the lesser Priesthood need not be uninformed as to what their duties are. God has laid down the rules and defined the duties pertaining to these two Priesthoods so clearly and so strongly that they cannot be misunderstood. The Apostles are to officiate under the direction of the First Presidency, and build up the Church and regulate its affairs in all the world, agreeable to the covenants and commandments. The High Priests are standing ministers in Zion, to administer in spiritual things, and to be taught, instructed, and qualified, that they may hold the office of President of Stakes, High Councilors, and other important appointments in the Church. The duty of the Seventy is to act under the direction of the Twelve Apostles, to build up the Church, to regulate its affairs in all the world, first to the Gentiles, and then to the Jews. The duty of the Elder is to be a standing minister in Zion, to administer in spiritual things, to administer the sacrament, to baptize, to lay on hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost, to take the lead of all meetings when no higher authority is present, and to conduct them under the influence and power of the Holy Ghost. No Elder or High Priest is to conduct meetings in this Church by any other spirit than the spirit of God. Heaven delegated authority to man! The duty of the Bishop is to preside over the Lesser Priesthood and the quorums thereof. The duty of the Priest is to preach, teach and expound the scriptures, to baptize, to administer the sacrament, to visit the homes of the people, to pray with them vocally, and to teach them all family duties. The duty of the Teacher is to watch over the Church, to be with the Church constantly, and strengthen it, to see that iniquity doth not abound, to see that there is no evil-speaking, or backbiting, and to preach, teach, exhort, and expound; and he is to be assisted in his duties by the Deacon; but the Teacher and the Deacon have no authority to baptize, or administer the sacrament. They do have the authority, however, to preach the Gospel, to show forth a good example, to warn the people and invite all to come unto Christ. There is no confusion in all this that I have told you. Every duty is well expressed and clearly defined in the revelations. ¶

I have had some thoughts relative to the great responsibility resting upon Presidents of Stakes, who are High Priests in the Church, called to preside over the Stakes of Zion. O how great— almost unlimited authority, you might say, is exercised by the Presidents of Stakes, presiding as they do over all the affairs of the Stake! Then, how great the authority and responsibility resting upon the Bishops of wards, who are called to preside over all the organizations and Priesthood of the ward! We are sometimes told that the High Priests over there are not magnifying their Priesthood; the Seventies over here are not doing their duty; the Elders are slack, and do not attend their quorum meetings; the Priests in that ward over there are not being used; the Teachers fail to visit the families of the Saints, and the Deacons are careless and Indifferent. The question arises, where is the fault? Where shall the responsibility be placed? Upon the High Priests? Yes. Upon the Elders? Yes. Upon the Seventies? Yes. A great responsibility rests upon these men who have received the Priesthood. But let me say to you, there is a further responsibility, a responsibility resting upon the presiding authorities in the stakes and wards. I do not believe that it is the duty of the president of a stake to spend his whole time in preaching the Gospel. I look upon the presidency of a stake as executive officers. You will find in every stake of Zion scores of preachers, eloquent men, who can edify and strengthen the people, and it is not needful for the presidency of the stake to spend very much time in preaching the gospel. But it is their duty to see that others magnify their calling; to see that the presidency of the High Priests' quorum honor the Priesthood; to see that the presidency of the Elders' quorum are active, diligent and faithful men, and to watch over these quorums of the Priesthood and see that every man does his duty. Then I conceive it to be the duty of a Bishop, not so much to preach the gospel at length, or to occupy much time in the pulpit, but to be the executive officer of the ward, to deal in temporal affairs, to be a common judge in Israel, and to sit in the Bishop's court and adjudicate and regulate the affairs of his ward, with his counselors. It is the duty of the Bishop particularly to see that the presidencies of the quorums of the Lesser Priesthood are active and faithful. Let him see also that the presidencies of the auxiliary organizations are faithful in the performance of their duty. The great responsibility resting upon him is to see that others do their duty, and let the preaching of the gospel be done by the brethren and sisters of his ward. Our Church is full of good preachers. Every man that bears the Priesthood is called to be a preacher of righteousness, to be a minute man, and to be on hand when called out of the congregation. I venture to say, that Prest. Smith, who presides here, could find hundreds of men in this congregation who are eloquent preachers of the gospel, well informed men, who have preached the word in foreign lands with great power, and they could come to this stand and edify and strengthen the people. Time would not permit of this, and it might not be appropriate at a general conference, when we come together to hear from the Presidency of the Church and some of the leading authorities upon matters of moment; but the spirit of the conference can be taken by the presidents of stakes and Bishops of wards into all Zion. ¶

I rejoice in this work. I rejoice in the Priesthood, and marvel greatly at the wisdom, power and greatness of the Almighty, and I must needs ascribe to Him the honor and the glory for the wonderful things that are being accomplished in His Church. It is the Spirit of God, even the Holy Ghost working in the hearts of the people that brings to pass the purposes of Jehovah. God bless you. Amen. ¶