RSS
Home
The Priesthood of God
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Ordination by prophecy, by the laying on of hands
One of the defining characteristics of the Kingdom of God is authority. When Jesus walked the earth, he was not a product of the rabbinical schools. Yet when he spoke, his hearers were "astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes." (Matt 7:29, Mark 1:22)
In the beginning of time, God called men into a holy order of priesthood. These men, known as the patriarchs, held authority from God. They had God's sanction to preach to the people, call them to repentance, and preside over the faithful in their time.
Genesis tells us of Abraham's going to a priest named Melchizedek, to whom he paid tithes. Melchizedek blessed him and administered sacramental bread and wine to the father of the Israelites. Melchizedek's superior authority over Abraham, who had already seen God and communed with him, is honored elsewhere throughout the Bible as a type and shadow of Christ himself. Psalm 110:4 says "The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek."
Some sectarian Christians use this passage, which is later cited by Paul, to claim some sort of priesthood authority that they otherwise could not possess. They state that Christ is Melchizedek and that all believers in him have this authority. However, this is just another instance of their taking one scripture in isolation and molding it to fit their creeds.
Who was Melchizedek?
Paul wrote in the seventh chapter of Hebrews:
"For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace..." (Hebrews 7:1)
From this passage we learn that Melchizedek was a mortal man, a priest of God, who lived in the days of Abraham. Abraham met him in person and gave a tithe, "a tenth part" of the spoils of his conquests. It tells us also that Melchizedek's title was the "King of Salem," or "King of peace."
Sectarians tend to jump on this title because Jesus himself was known as the "Prince of Peace." This is true, but he was never a mortal king on the earth. He was born centuries after the time of Abraham. Abraham paid tithes to a mortal man named Melchizedek. This could not have been Jesus.
Paul continues the above passage with the following:
"Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually. Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils."
Despite the last sentence which says how "great this MAN was," sectarians seize upon this verse, claiming that Melchizedek was Christ, especially when they see the phrase "like unto the Son of God." However this is a simile. Jesus Christ IS the Son of God. He is not LIKE UNTO the son of God.
Paul goes on in Hebrews chapter 7 to show how, if Melchizedek had a superior authority to Abraham, the father of the Israelites, that this was a foreshadowing, a type and shadow that a greater priesthood existed than the one the Jews possessed. He then indicated that the type and shadow of the Melchizedek priesthood was fulfilled when Christ appeared among the Jews. A greater authority than Abraham and Moses had appeared among them. Paul wrote:
"And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest, Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life. For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec."
Thus Paul tells the Hebrews that another priest would arise after the SIMILITUDE of Melchizedek. This is fulfilled in Christ. If Jesus was Melchizedek, then we are still awaiting someone to arise in his similitude. That shows that the sectarian doctrine is in error.
The Melchizedek Priesthood and the Levitical Priesthood
In the Bible, there are two priesthoods mentioned, the Melchizedek Priesthood and the Levitical or Aaronic Priesthood. The Melchizedek Priesthood, we have learned from latter-day revelation is actually the "Holy Priesthood after the Order of the Son of God." In ancient times, as a symbol of reverence, it was called the Melchizedek Priesthood to prevent the casual use of the name of God. This is consistent with Melchizedek the man being a symbol of Jesus Christ.
All the prophets of the Bible held the Melchizedek Priesthood. It came down to them from the patriarchs of Genesis to Abraham and his sons, Isaac, and Jacob. The firstborn of Jacob, Joseph, had the birthright to the presidency of this priesthood. That's why he was given the coat of many colors. It is why his brothers were jealous of him and sought to take his life.
After 400 years in bondage in Egypt, the ancient Israelites had lost this priesthood. No prophets administered to them of which we have any record, until Moses.
When Moses fled from Egypt after killing an Egyptian, he lived with Jethro, who was known as the "priest of Midian." (Exodus 2:16) When Moses was called as a prophet by God, he was given authority from God to do signs and wonders in his name. The authority to act in God's name is the priesthood. When a man receives the priesthood and acts according to the will of God as given to him by revelation, it is as if God himself were performing that act personally.
In this encounter with Deity, God granted unto Moses a spokesman: his brother Aaron. Aaron would assist his brother in the mission that God had granted unto Moses and authorized him for the task.
The power to do miracles alone is not evidence of the priesthood, however. In Exodus 7:11, we find that the sorcerers and magicians of Pharaoh found a way to duplicate the turning of a rod into a serpent. However, the rod of Aaron devoured the serpents created by their false "miracle."
In Exodus 28, we learn that God commanded Moses to consecrate Aaron and his sons to the priesthood. This, Exodus 28:1 tells us, is to be a patriarchal priesthood to their posterity. This is another key to understanding the transmission of authority in the priesthood.
In Hebrews 5:4, Paul tells us that no man can take the honor of holding the priesthood upon himself. It has to come to him as it did with Aaron. Exodus chapters 7 and 28 tell us that Aaron was called by God, by prophecy, through a living prophet. The giving of "a charge" to someone was traditionally done by the laying on of hands. Thus Latter-day Saint believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands.
The Levitical priesthood was given authority to administer in the Tabernacle and later, the Temple. By authority of the priesthood, they performed offerings, accepted tithes, and performed ritual sacrifices commanded by revelation through Moses. The Levitical Priesthood was a limited, inferior (although significant) authority to the Melchizedek Priesthood held by Moses and the Israelite prophets.
At the end of Moses' ministry, before he was taken from the Israelites, God told him by revelation to pass his authority to a successor. This is a key, scriptural example that tells us how the Priesthood is passed on to another.
"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 set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and give him a charge in their sight. And thou shalt put some of thine honour upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient. And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the Lord: at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation. And Moses did as the Lord commanded him: and he took Joshua, and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation: And he laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge, as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses." (Numbers 27:18-23)
So here we see that the Melchizedek priesthood and the keys of authority and the rights of presidency over the priesthood were conferred by the laying on of hands after having been commanded by God through revelation to his prophet. This is how the priesthood has always been transmitted.
At times, God withdrew the keys of the priesthood and prophets from ancient Israel for disobedience, but the Aaronic Priesthood persisted. It was the means of administering what Paul calls a "law of carnal commandments" (see Hebrews 7:16) that were a "schoolmaster" to bring them to Christ. (Galatians 3:24)
Nevertheless, the Israelites were "stiffnecked" and they were prone to idolatry. God allowed them to be scattered and driven from Jerusalem and their temple was destroyed in 600 B.C. In the years that followed, some prophets ministered to them, but eventually there came a 400 year period wherein no new prophets were called.
That period ended with the angel Gabriel's announcement to the father of John the Baptist, who received a revelation while performing the offering of incense inside the temple. John the Baptist, being the son of a priest, possessed the Aaronic Priesthood. Thus he had authority to minister in the temple had be chosen to follow that path. However, his path was different: he went to preach and baptize for the remission of sins, which is an authority associated with the Aaronic Priesthood.
Ask yourself, "Why Jesus went to John the Baptist for baptism?" It was because John had the authority from God to baptize. Even Jesus subjected himself to the authority he had given to the Aaronic Priesthood centuries earlier. For this reason, when John protested that Jesus should baptize him, Jesus said, "Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness." (Matthew 3:15) Jesus was consistent in this so that we might not be deceived. He set the example for us.
Although John preached baptism by water, he promised that one would soon follow who would baptize by fire and the Holy Ghost. When Jesus began his ministry, following his baptism, he called apostles and gave them the Melchizedek Priesthood. They also baptized, but they had an additional authority that belongs to the Melchizedek Priesthood. They could heal the sick, cast out demons, and more importantly, they could lay on hands and give the gift of the Holy Ghost to those who were baptized by water.
The Melchizedek Priesthood, to which the apostles were ordained, gave them the "keys of the kingdom" which includes the authority to bind on earth and bind in heaven. (See Matthew 16:19, 18:18) The Melchizedek Priesthood, as Paul tells us is not like the Levitical Priesthood, but is instead "not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life."
The Priesthood in the New Testament
Both the Aaronic and the Melchizedek Priesthoods were active in the primitive Church of Christ. After Jesus had ascended into heaven, Peter and the apostles called and ordained another apostle, Matthias, to replace Judas Iscariot. They could ordain an apostle because they held the keys of authority to ordain one.
There are two notable examples in the New Testament of the priesthoods at work. In Acts chapter 8, we learn that Phillip went to preach in Samaria and made converts among the Jews there. However, it is noted that Phillip did not lay on hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. He lacked the authority to do so, so the apostles came down to take care of this ordinance. When Peter and John prayed for them, they laid their hands on the newly baptized members and they recieved the Holy Ghost. (Acts 8:14-17) This demonstrates a difference in the authority they held and that which Phillip held.
A man named Simon, who had once been a sorcerer, marveled at the power that Peter and John had by virtue of the priesthood and he offered to buy it for himself. Peter chastized him severely, saying "Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money." (Acts 8:20)
Thus we see that authority cannot be purchased for money. It doesn't come from attending a theological seminary, paying tuition, taking classes, and getting ordained subsequent to graduation. It has to be received as Paul said--in the same manner that Aaron received it from God.
Then, as now, there have always been pretenders to this authority. In some cases, well meaning people who believe in Christ seek to do his will, having not been instructed in the order of God's house. God's house is a house of order and not a house of confusion. In Acts chapter 19, we read of Paul's finding a group of believers in Ephesus. Perhaps he discerned something amiss among this group of believers and he asked them "Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?" They were clueless, having no idea what he was even talking about. They said, "We have not so much heard whether there be any Holy Ghost." In the modern vernacular, they were saying, "We've never heard of such a thing before!"
Paul asked them "Unto what then were ye baptized?" Then the answer came, "Unto John's baptism." Someone without authority, without the proper priesthood had passed through preaching Jesus and these people believed. Then they were baptized by someone who did not have the authority to perform the ordinance. Despite their sincere belief in Christ, they had not been properly baptized and, as a result, had not received the gift of the Holy Ghost. They had not even heard of it before.
Paul's reply taught them that John the Baptist had baptized unto repentance, promising that Jesus would follow after him, baptizing with fire and the Holy Ghost. Whoever had taught these sincere people had not given them this part of the message. This is exactly what happens in sectarian Christian Churches today. They were imperfectly instructed and, though they had faith in Christ, they had not been baptized by the proper authority and had not received the Holy Ghost.
In Ephesus, Paul taught these people that they should be properly baptized in the name of Christ. He had authority to baptize and confer the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. We then read:
"When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied." (Acts 19:5-6)
For this reason, the necessity of authority, converts to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are baptized unto he remission of sins in the name of Jesus Christ, even if they have been previously baptized in some other Christian faith. The authority of the priesthood is not present in other denominations. If the person performing baptism doesn't possess the proper priesthood authority, there is no remission of sins. This is because the authority of the priesthood is linked to the power to remit sin. When Jesus appeared to his disciples after the resurrection, he told them, "Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained." This is the power to bind on earth and in heaven.
The Peril of Usurped Authority
Roman Catholicism claims to have received the authority of the true priesthood from the Apostle Peter. A simple study of history shows that this authority was lost with the last of the apostles. Peter and the apostles did ordain bishops, but the office of bishop is not equivalent to an apostle. It doesn't hold the keys of the kingdom. Neither do elders, deacons, or other ministerial positions mentioned in the scriptures.
The long history of schism, corruption, and atrocities committed by the "Bishops of Rome" from the fourth to the eleventh centuries clearly demonstrates that no part nor portion of God's authority or Christ's light remained in the priesthood of that organization. There were times when men murdered to become Popes or deposed sitting pontiffs after having put out their eyes, cut off their noses and tongues, and leaving them to expire in agony. At one time, there were three contending popes simultaneously. On one occasion, a corrupt pope, trying to avoid a violent end, auctioned the Papacy for money. These atrocities demonstrate that the Roman Church never, ever possessed the keys of the kingdom.
In the Protestant Reformation, the reformers sought to bring the Church back to its "Biblical" foundations. The problem here is that the Bible was never the foundation of the Christian Church. Paul tells us that the church was "built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone." (Ephesians 2:20) You can't get authority from a book, not even the Bible. There is no precedent for it. On the other hand, the Bible is clear that authority comes from God in a clear, specific manner.
In the Old Testament, there were some men who were Levites, but aspired to the honor of the priestly duties in the Tabernacle. They confronted Moses and challenged him. In Numbers chapter 16, Dathan, Kohor, and Abiram demanded the right to do what only the priests had authority to do. They were not called by God, but they sought to take it upon themselves in defiance of God and his prophet. Moses told them:
"Seemeth it but a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself to do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them? And he hath brought thee near to him, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee: and seek ye the priesthood also?" (Numbers 16:9-10)
They refused to reconsider their position, so Moses challenged them. Moses told them to get their censers to make an offering of incense--a priestly duty--and they'd see what the Lord would do about it. He said:
"Hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind. If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited aafter the visitation of all men; then the Lord hath not sent me. But if the Lord make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the Lord. And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them: And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation. And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also. And there came out a fire from the Lord, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense." (Numbers 16:27-35)
The Lord takes his authority seriously and so should you.
Of course, many Christians are largely unfamiliar with the Old Testament and they dismiss any teaching that comes from it if it doesn't fit their denomination's creed. Yet in addition to the examples of priesthood authority given in Acts chapters 8 and 19 and Paul's discourse of it in Hebrews chapters 7 and 11, there is a documented situation where someone not possessing proper authority pretended to have it and even tried to cast out a demon.
"Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded." (Acts 19:13-16)
The sons of Sceva were sons of a Jewish priest, but they didn't hold the Melchizedek Priesthood. They didn't have authority to act in the name of Jesus Christ. The demon's answer? "Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are ye?" They had no authority from God and the demon gave them a good thrashing.
The Restoration of the Priesthood
I have already described how the priesthood keys held by the apostles was taken from mankind during a period of apostasy that began in the the first century. There were still men who held the Melchizedek priesthood during the next generation: bishops and elders, but the keys to the kingdom of God were gone. It would take a new dispensation of the gospel to restore that authority. Without those keys present, the kingdom of God does not exist.
Because that authority was taken from the earth, no Protestant reformer could restore it. They had not the power to do so. Knowing this, Roger Williams, pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence, Rhode Island, refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that, "There is no regularly- constituted church on earth, nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance: nor can there be, until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church, for whose coming I am seeking." (Picturesque America, or the Land We Live In, ed. William Cullen Bryant, New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1872, vol. 1, p. 502.)
Williams also said, "The apostasy... hath so far corrupted all, that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anew." (Underhill, Edward, "Struggles and Triumphs of Religious Liberty", cited in William F. Anderson, "Apostasy or Succession, Which?", pp. 238-39)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints possesses the keys of the kingdom that were held by Peter, James, John, and the other apostles anciently. Joseph Smith, the Prophet of the Restoration and Oliver Cowdery, received the Aaronic Priesthood in 1829 from John the Baptist. In that same year, the ancient apostles Peter, James, and John appeared to Joseph and Oliver and ordained them to the Melchizedek Priesthood, conferring the office of apostle in that priesthood, and gave them the keys of the kingdom.
Since that time, the Church was organized with 12 living apostles as it was anciently. Prophets, seers, and revelators having God's authority exercise the keys of the kingdom once again. We have received specific and detailed revelations about priesthood authority, governance, and how it is administered. The restoration promised in the scriptures has transpired. The blessings of old have returned. The ancient Church of Jesus Christ has been restored in our time. We perform baptisms by this authority. We confer the gift of the Holy Ghost like the ancients, by the laying on of hands. The visions, blessings, miracles, and spiritual gifts are poured out upon us. Men are once again called by God as was Aaron (Hebrews 5:4) and act in God's name. That authority is given unto worthy Latter-day Saint men to serve the Lord, build up the kingdom, and to bless our families.
For more info:
A Mormon Answers the Hard Questions Posed by Anti-Mormon
Related Articles:
Comments
.jpg)
