Restoration of the Priesthood

Talk given in the Plano 7^th Ward on  May 21, 2016

I had an interesting day one time while hunting in the mountains of Utah when I was a teenager.  My father and I had elk tags.  We went up into the mountains with a bunch of Dad’s friends a couple of days before the hunt started so that we could set up camp and do a little scouting.  None of them were active in the church and my father never joined the church, but I was used to that kind of company.  The day before opening we got talking about pine hens and Dad’s buddies started goading me to hunt some pine hens.  I wasn’t enthusiastic, but they organized a drive through the woods.  You know, where you all get in a line and walk along so that if a bird tries to run or fly away the next one in line can get a shot.  I didn’t really want to shoot a pine hen, and they are hard to find that way.          BUT        They had it all set up and they put me at the left end of the line.   Since there were so many trees and heavy cover around we agreed we’d call to each other fairly often to help us stay in line.  I walked 50 yards or so and already I couldn’t see any of them, so I called out.  No answer.  I called again,  louder.  Nothing.  I had lost my companions.  I stood there for a while, looking around and it occurred to me that I was the victim of a snipe hunt.  They didn’t want any pine hens either.  The whole object was to get me out of camp so they could ditch me and get down to serious drinking.

I didn’t appreciate it much, but it wasn’t all that bad, really.  I love walking through the woods and forests.  So I took a nice hike and enjoyed a leisurely afternoon looking at flowers, butterflies, and various small animals.  The only thing that would have made it better was if I hadn’t had to lug that shotgun all over the mountainside.

When I got back to camp, there were all Dad’s buddies sitting around a nice fire.  They were all grinning, and one of them asked me if I’d got any birds.  I told him no with a deadpan face and settled onto a log near the fire.  Nothing more was said.  Nothing could be, really.  If I’d made a fuss I would have really become an odd man out.  By not saying anything about it, I let them know it was OK and it was a good joke.  I was restored to being a member of the group.  

Restoration can be tricky.

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My topic for today is the restoration of the priesthood.

You may wonder; “Why did the priesthood need to be Restored?”    The question implies that it was here before – If it hadn’t been here before, it wouldn’t need to be Restored.      That being so, what happened to it?  Jesus clearly gave the priesthood to his disciples.  Of the twelve apostles, Judas Iscariot turned to the dark side and lost his blessings and priesthood.  Just as we do today, the eleven chose a replacement for Judas, so there were twelve once again.  And again, after the stoning of Stephen, they chose a replacement to make the number twelve.   As Paul grew stronger in his testimony and dedication to the gospel, he too was chosen as a replacement to join the others in the quorum of twelve. But we don’t have any record that they ever did that again.

It is sad to think that those good men stopped doing what needed to be done, but they did.  As time went on, The apostles were pulled apart trying to keep distant congregations in order.  Eventually they each chose a city to live in and administer the church separate from the others, probably because they could see that without their constant presence, the Christians in those locations would slip back into old habits.  Thomas apparently ended up in India.  James in France.  One of them went south to Ethiopia.  The apostasy took place in the years after they separated.  They sent letters (epistles) back and forth, but it became harder and harder for them to act as a quorum.  I had a professor at BYU who asserted that the apostasy was complete within 30 years after Jesus’ ascension.  We know that it was complete in less than 300 years, because 300 years takes us to when the Romans took over the church for political reasons.  Most LDS scholars believe it took place gradually over more like 60-100 years after Jesus left.   So the priesthood was lost, and the gospel became mingled with philosophy.  Rome held civilization together in Europe for a few centuries, but when it fell Europe entered the Dark Ages.  During that time, the pure gospel became even more polluted and misunderstood.  Most people didn’t know how to read during that time, so books were not valued, and many writings were lost, including early writings about the gospel.

It was not until the 14^th century or so that European civilization began to recover, and along with that, people once again had a chance to learn more about the gospel.  The reformation began slowly, but steadily grew until a young man in the Eastern United States received a vision and was promised that the full gospel would be restored.

Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdry received the Aaronic Priesthood on May 15, 1829, while praying for an understanding of baptism on the banks of the Susquehanna River near Harmony, Pennsylvania.  They received it from an angel who identified himself as John the Baptist.         Section 13 of the doctrine and Covenants gives us his words, the date, location, and the circumstances of how this happened.  John also indicated that he was restoring the priesthood under the direction of Peter, James, and John, whom Jesus Christ had chosen to be the leaders of the early church.  Joseph Smith & Oliver Cowdry were told by John the Baptist that they would also receive the higher, or Melchizedek, Priesthood from Peter, James, and John at a later time.

There is a curious thing about this.  We know the date, location, and the very words that were spoken to restore the Aaronic, or lesser priesthood.  We know none of those things about the restoration of the higher, or Melchizidek priesthood.  We do know that it was done a few weeks later, and that it was restored by the angelic Peter, James, and John, as promised.  Section 128 says in an aside that the location was between Harmony, PA and Colesville, PA. on the banks of the Susquehanna River.  Harmony and Colesville are more than 30 miles apart, so that doesn’t narrow it down much!

So we know more about the details of the restoration of the lesser priesthood than we do about the restoration of the higher priesthood.   My son-in-law, Dr. Mark Ashurst-McGee, is a church historian.  He spends his working days in an office in church headquarters in Salt Lake City where he can order up any of the artifacts, books, or documents in the church’s collections.  For example, there was an article in the October 2015 Ensign, including a photo of a Seer Stone.   Like many people, it wasn’t what I had pictured in my mind as a seer stone.   Well, my son-in-law is the one who wrote up the request to have that artifact’s photo published.  He had to write a justification and the case to proceed, because it had never been pubicly displayed  before.        He is currently working full-time on the Joseph Smith Papers project.   I was recently talking to him about Joseph Smith’s diaries and he shared an interesting tidbit with me.  Joseph Smith loved the idea of keeping journals, and wanted badly to have all his actions recorded, however, he wasn’t very good at doing it himself.   So he tried to have someone assigned to do it for him at all times.  That wasn’t always possible, and some of his recorders were not as good as he had hoped.   So working with Joseph Smith’s documents is tough.  It is not unusual to have one event very well documented and another, important, event not recorded at all.   And that is what happened with the restoration of the higher priesthood.  It was unquestionably important, but it just wasn’t well documented.

So here is the question:  “Is that a problem?”  It kind of IS for historians.  But not so much for the rest of us.  We know the most important things about it, that it WAS restored and by whom.

Like all priesthood holders in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I can tell you exactly how my priesthood came to me. 

Jesus Christ conferred the Melchizedek Priesthood upon his apostles and gave the keys of the priesthood to Peter, James and John.

Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdry received it from Peter, James and John

Brigham Young received it from Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdry.

James E. Talmage received it from Brigham Young.

My grandfather, Hazen F. Stevens, received it from James E. Talmage.

I received it from my grandfather.

Like Joseph Smith, I can’t remember the exact date, or the exact place where it was done.  But the fact of my grandfather laying his rough farmer’s hands on my head and conferring the melchizedek priesthood on me is irrefutable and is a very special memory.

That chain of authority is an incredibly powerful thing to be able to share with you!  Each of the men I’ve listed were acting under the direction of Priesthood authority to pass the power and authority of the priesthood to other worthy men, until it came to me.  We are all mortal, with shortcomings and trials, but all the men on my list were living worthily and doing their best to become Men of God,    acting in accordance with divine instruction as they passed the priesthood along. 

So, now I have the Melchizedek priesthood.   What does that mean?  I have the authority to act in God’s name, subject to my worthiness and priesthood direction, and along with that I have responsibilities.  Here are a few of the responsibilities of the Melchisedek Priesthood, generally:

• Bestowing the gift of the Holy Ghost.
• Ordaining worthy men to the Melchizedek Priesthood.
• Performing temple work for the living and the dead.
• Administering to the sick.
• Attending to the spiritual and temporal welfare of all people.

Notice that many of things can also be done by those who don’t hold the priesthood.  For example, women do almost everything in the temple that men do, anybody can help the sick, and we all do service for others’ welfare.  But priesthood holders have a duty to do so.

The Melchizedek Priesthood has several offices.    These offices have specific responsibilities associated with them, but they are all functioning with the exact same priesthood authority.  Personally, I have held the office of elder, of high priest, and of seventy.                                                     I have never held the office of patriarch or apostle, and probably won’t, but if I were called to one of those offices I would not need any more priesthood than I have now.

Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdry had the Melchizedek Priesthood conferred on them in the 2 or 3 weeks after they received the Aaronic Priesthood, plus they received the keys of the priesthood, but they did not have an office in the priesthood at that time.

HERE’S ANOTHER INTERESTING HISTORICAL TIDBIT:  It wasn’t until the church was formally organized on April 6, 1830, almost a year later, that Joseph ordained Oliver to the office of Elder, and then Oliver ordained Joseph.  Once the church was organized, they began to confer the priesthood on others, and ordain them to offices in the church..

There are some callings that require the Melchizedek priesthood and a specific office.  For example, I am here today in my capacity as a member of the high council, and I have several responsibilities in the stake associated with that calling.  It is required that all those who sit on the high council hold the Melchizedek priesthood, and the office of High priest   I also serve as a temple worker, and while the women in the temple do most of the same things as the men, the men have a few responsibilities that require the Melchizedek Priesthood, such as doing confirmations and acting as temple sealers.

I am very blessed to have had the great opportunity to hold and exercise priesthood power.  I thank the Lord that I can serve in the temple, at home, in my ward and in the stake.

And I say this . . .