Priesthood
Goodness of the Leaders of the Church
I have served from my youth up along with such men as Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Willard Richards, George A. Smith, Jedediah M. Grant, Daniel H. Wells, John Taylor, George Q. Cannon, and Wilford Woodruff and his associates, and Lorenzo Snow and his associates, the members of the twelve apostles, the seventies, and the high priests in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for more than sixty years; and, that my word may be heard by every stranger within the sound of my voice, I want to testify to you that better men than these have never lived within the range of my acquaintance. I can so testify because I was familiar with these men, grew up from babyhood with them, associated with them in council, in prayer and supplication, and in travel from settlement to settlement through our country here, and in crossing the plains. I have heard them in private and in public, and I bear my testimony to you that they were men of God, true men, pure men, God’s noblemen; virtuous men who never were either tempted to do evil or tempted others to do wrong, men whose examples and whose lives were above reproach, except in what corrupt, wicked or ignorant men supposed they saw and presumed to denounce as wrong in them. -April C. R., 1917, p. 6.
Divine Missions of Presidents of Church
I testify to you, as I know and feel that I live and move and have my being, that the Lord raised up the boy prophet, Joseph Smith, and endowed him with divine authority, and taught him those things which were necessary for him to know that he might have power to lay the foundation of God’s Church and kingdom in the earth. Joseph Smith was true to the covenants that he made with the Lord, true to his mission, and the Lord enabled him to accomplish his work, even to the sealing of his testimony with his shed blood. His testimony is now, and has been, in force among the children of men as verily as the blood of Jesus Christ is in force and a binding testimony upon all the world, and it has been from the day it was shed until now, and will continue until the winding up scene.
I bear my testimony to you my brethren and sisters, of the divinity of the mission and work that was accomplished by President Brigham Young and his associates in fleeing from the wrath that threatened in Illinois and Missouri and other places, into these peaceful vales, which was done by the will of heaven and by the guiding power of the Holy Spirit, President Young and the pioneers were enabled to lay the foundation of a commonwealth, the equal of which is scarcely to be found within the borders of our glorious land; and it was done, not by the wisdom of Brother Brigham, nor of Brother Heber C. Kimball, nor of any of their associates, grand men as they were, true servants of the living God as they were, faithful and true to their callings, grand as was their integrity to the cause of Zion-but back of them, behind them, above them and below, and all around them, was the power of God, leading and directing them, and thus consummating his purposes through their instrumentality. We give the honor to our Father in heaven and we also honor and bless the names of those great and good men whom the Lord chose to accomplish his purposes, and through whom he did accomplish his purpose without failure.
I bear my testimony to the integrity of John Taylor as one of the purest men I ever knew in my life, a man clean from head to foot, clean in body and clean in spirit, free from every vulgar thing, so common among the children of men. I know whereof I speak, for I was with him day and night, month after month, year after year, and I bear my testimony of his integrity. He was a martyr with the Prophet Joseph Smith. He suffered more than death with Joseph and Hyrum, and the Lord preserved him and honored him by calling him to take charge of his work for a season in the earth, thus exalting him to that most glorious and most responsible position that any man could be called to occupy in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
I bear my testimony to the faithfulness of Wilford Woodruff, a man in whom there was no guile, a man honest to the core, a man susceptible to the impressions of the Spirit of the Lord, a man guided by inspiration in the performance of his duty, far more than by any gift of wisdom or of judgment that he himself possessed.
I bear my testimony to the work that was accomplished by President Lorenzo Snow, although it was brief, yet some of the things which were left for him to do were absolutely necessary in order to relieve his successor and others that may arise in time to come, from mistakes and errors that had crept in before.
As to the present administration of the gospel and of the work of the Lord I have nothing to say. Let the work speak for itself, let the people and the voice of the people of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints say what is being done by the Lord, let it not be said by me nor by my counselors and my associates. The Lord forbid that I should ever imagine for one moment that we are of any great importance in this great work of the Lord. Others may be raised up, and the Lord can shape their minds. He can qualify them and can humble them, if need be, to fit them for the duties and responsibilities that may be required at their hands. I believe that Zion is prospering, and that as far as our spiritual life, our spiritual growth, and our faith are concerned, as well as our temporal condition, we are prosperous, and all is well in Zion today.-Oct. C. R., 1917.
The Presidents of the Church Have Been Inspired
I knew President Brigham Young, and I bear my testimony to the world that not only was Joseph Smith inspired of God and raised up to lay the foundations of this great latter-day work, but Brigham Young was raised up and sustained by the power of Almighty God to continue the mission of Joseph and to accomplish the work that he laid out during his lifetime. I have been connected with President John Taylor, and I testify that he also was a man of God. He was indeed God’s mouthpiece. He was a martyr with the Prophet Joseph, for his blood was shed with Joseph’s and Hyrum’s, but the Lord preserved his life that he might fulfill the mission unto which he was called to preside over the Church for a season. I was intimately acquainted with President Wilford Woodruff, and I bear testimony to the mission of that gracious, good man. I have also been more or less intimate with President Snow, and I bear testimony that his work was of God.-Oct. C. R., (Special), 1901, p. 96.
When to Organize the First Presidency
After the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Twelve Apostles continued as the presiding quorum of the Church for a number of years; but finally they were moved upon by the Holy Spirit to reorganize the First Presidency of the Church, with Brigham Young as president, and Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards as his counselors. In reality this organization might have been effected within twenty-four hours after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith, but their action was delayed, until they found by experience that the exercise of the functions of presidency and the government of the Church by twelve men at the head, was not only cumbersome but was not fully perfect in the order of the Holy Priesthood as established by the Lord. On the death of President Brigham Young, President John Taylor followed in some measure the example of his predecessor and it was some time before the Presidency of the Church was organized. The Presidency was finally organized, however, with John Taylor as president, and George Q. Cannon and myself as counselors.
At the death of President Taylor, President Woodruff hesitated and he allowed a little time to pass before the Presidency was again organized. When at last he became convinced that it was his duty, and necessary in order to carry out the purposes of the Lord, he organized the Presidency of the Church. At that time he gave a solemn injunction to his fellow servants in relation to this. He desired it understood that in all future times, when the President of the Church should die, and thereby the First Presidency become disorganized it would be the duty of the proper authorities of the Church to proceed at once, without any unnecessary delay, to reorganize the First Presidency.
As soon as the news reached us of the death of President Woodruff, who was in California at the time, President Lorenzo Snow said to me, “it will be our duty to proceed as soon as possible to reorganize the Presidency of the Church.” As you are aware, after the burial of the remains of President Woodruff, he proceeded at once to do this. In this connection I may tell you another thing. President Snow said to me, “you will live to be the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and when that time comes you should proceed at once and reorganize the Presidency of the Church.” This was his counsel to me, and the same was given to the Twelve Apostles. In accordance with the principle and with the injunction of President Snow, within one week after his death the apostles proceeded to designate the new Presidency of the Church and we did this strictly in accordance with the pattern that the Lord has established in his Church, unanimously.
I desire to read a little from the revelation in relation to the order of the Holy Priesthood, that you may understand our views concerning adhering as nearly as we can to the holy order of government that has been established by revelation through the Prophet Joseph Smith in the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times. We cannot deny the fact that the Lord has effected one of the most perfect organizations, in this Church, that ever existed upon the earth. I do not know of any more perfect organization than exists in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today. We have not always carried out strictly the order of the Priesthood; we have varied from it to some extent; but we hope in due time that, by the promptings of the Holy Spirit, we will be led into the exact channel and course that the Lord has marked out for us to pursue and adhere strictly to the order that he has established. I will read from a revelation that was given to the Prophet Joseph Smith, at Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois, January 19, 1841, which stands as the law of the Church in relation to the presentations of the authorities of the Holy Priesthood as they were established in the Church, and from which I feel that we have no right to depart.-Oct. C. R., (Special), 1901, pp. 70, 71. Doctrine and Covenants 124:123-145.
First Presidency Not Necessarily Apostles
We have the council of the first presidency consisting of three presiding high priests who are called of God and appointed to preside over the Church and over the Priesthood of God, and I want to say here that it does not follow and never has followed that the members of the First Presidency of the Church are necessarily to be ordained apostles. They hold by virtue of their rights as Presidents of the Church all the keys and all the authority that pertains to the Melchizedek Priesthood, which comprehends and comprises all of the appendages to that Priesthood, the lesser Priesthood, and all the offices in the Priesthood from first to last and from the least to the greatest. -April C. R., 1912.
The Priesthood and Its Offices
In the Era for February, it was stated that several persons who had acted as counselors in the First Presidency had never been ordained apostles. Several correspondents have objected to the statement that Sidney Rigdon, Jedediah M. Grant, Daniel H. Wells, John R. Winder, and others were not ordained apostles. We still maintain, upon lack of convincing evidence to the contrary, that none of these brethren was ever ordained an apostle. We do know positively that John R. Winder, Sidney Rigdon, William Law and Hyrum Smith, all of whom were members in the First Presidency of the Church, were never ordained apostles. But, be that as it may, however, the main point we wish to make is this, that it was not necessary that they should be so ordained apostles in order to bold the position of counselor in the First Presidency. The leading fact to be remembered is that the Priesthood is greater than any of its offices; and that any man holding the Melchizedek Priesthood may, by virtue of its possession, perform any ordinance pertaining thereto, or connected therewith, when called upon to do so by one holding the proper authority, which proper authority is vested in the President of the Church, or in any whom he may designate. Every officer in the Church is under his direction, and he is directed of God. He is also selected of the Lord to be the head of the Church, and so becomes, when the Priesthood of the Church (which includes its officers and its members), shall have so accepted and upheld him. (Doctrine and Covenants, section 107:22.) No man can justly presume to have authority to preside, merely by virtue of his Priesthood as is the case with Joseph Smith of the reorganized church, for in addition, he must be chosen and accepted by the Church. The reverse was the case with him. Such action was repudiated by the Twelve, the quorum in authority after the martyrdom, and by the whole Church. An office in the Priesthood is a calling, like apostles, high priest, seventy, elder, and derives all its authority from the Priesthood; these officers hold different callings, but the same Priesthood.
The apostolic office in its very nature, is a proselyting office. When an apostle presides, he, like the high priest, the seventy, the elder, or the bishop, presides because of the High Priesthood which has been conferred upon him; and furthermore because he has been called upon so to do by the acknowledged head of the Church. (Doctrine and Covenants, section 107:23-33.) And so with the high priest who has been called to officiate in the First Presidency, in which case he is “accounted equal” with the President of the Church in holding the keys of the Presidency (section 90:6) as long as the President remains. When he dies, the calling of his counselors ends, and the responsibility of Presidency falls upon the quorum of Twelve Apostles, because they hold the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood and are the next quorum in authority. (Doctrine and Covenants, section 107:24.) It is not the apostleship (Doctrine and Covenants section 107), but the Priesthood and the calling by proper authority which enables any person to preside. Every man holding the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood may act in any capacity and do all things that such Priesthood holds, provided he is called upon by proper authority to so officiate; but he would have no right to depart from the limitations of his office, unless he is specially called upon by one whose calling, from those over him up to the head, would clearly authorize him to give such instructions. It is always to be presumed, also, that order will be observed, and that the servants of the Lord will not depart from that order, and call upon men to do things which the law of the Priesthood and the nature of their office do not authorize, unless there is special occasion for it. The Lord says that all things are governed by law. (See Doctrine and Covenants, section 88:42.) It is not consistent, for instance, to imagine that the Lord would call upon a deacon to baptize.
Witness the calling, on February 14, 1835, of David Whitmer and Martin Harris, both high priests, by the Prophet Joseph, in conformity with prior revelation from God (See Doctrine and Covenants, section 18) to “search out the Twelve.” They chose the Twelve, ordained and set them apart for their exalted callings, because they were called upon by the prophet of God who had been instructed of the Lord, and also because these men held the necessary authority of the Priesthood, which authority was exercised, in this case as it should be in all cases, upon proper calling. The Doctrine and Covenants makes it very clear that while each officer in the Church has a right to officiate in his own standing, “the Melchizedek Priesthood holds the right of presidency, and has power and authority over all the offices in the Church in all ages of the world, to administer in spiritual things.” (Doctrine and Covenants, section 107:8.)
Further, in the same revelation verses 65 and 66, we are told:
“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.”
It is well to remember that the term “High Priesthood,” as frequently used, has reference to the Melchizedek Priesthood, in contradistinction to the “lesser,” or Aaronic Priesthood.-Improvement Era, Vol. 5, p. 549, May, 1902.