There are two great Orders of the Holy Priesthood
that give foundation to the Kingdom of God:
the Holy Order, and the Ecclesiastical Order;
and each has a Melchizedek and an Aaronic
Division of power, authority and functions.
The Prophet Joseph Smith made it clear that
Paul's statement in Hebrews 7 pertains to
the Holy Order of the Priesthood, with its
focus on that which was held anciently by
Melchizedek, Abraham, and the lesser Priests
and Levites of Israel.
"This Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of
the Most High God," said Paul of the first
great personage, "met Abraham ... and blessed
him; to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part
of all [his goods]; first being by interpretation
King of righteousness, and after that also
King of Salem, which is, King of peace."
(Hebrews 7:1-2.)
Here may be seen the meaning of the name,
"Melchizedek," within the context of the Holy
Order.
The Prophet Joseph Smith's Inspired Revision
of this chapter continues: "For this Melchizedek
was ordained a priest after the Order of the
Son of God, which Order was without father,
without mother, without descent, having neither
beginning of days, nor end of life.
And all those who are ordained unto this priesthood
are made like unto the Son of God, abiding
a priest continually."
(Hebrews 7:3.)
Having quoted this statement in a discourse
on the Holy Order, Joseph Smith explained:
"The Melchizedek Priesthood holds the right
from the eternal God, and not by descent from
father and mother; and that priesthood is
as eternal as God Himself, having neither
beginning of days nor end of life."
Again: "Those holding the fulness 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, and stands as God to give laws
to the people, administering endless lives
to the sons and daughters of Adam."
(TPJS, pp. 323, 322.)
While the Ecclesiastical Order of the Priesthood
is a system of Presidencies, Councils, Quorums,
Offices and Auxiliaries which God gives, Paul
wrote, "for the perfecting of the saints,
for the work of the
Lecture 15 The Holy Order 2
ministry, for the edifying of the body of
Christ, till we all come in the unity of the
faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of
God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure
of the stature of the fulness of Christ" (Ephesians
4:12-13), the Holy Order is a system of kings
and priests unto the Most High God, which
is built up through the sacred rites, ordinances,
covenants and conferrals that are given in
the Temple, the House of the Lord.
The Holy Order was the functioning system
of the Priesthood which operated among the
Nephites for much of their history, although
the Ecclesiastical Order was brought forth
and functioned at times.
After the death of Lehi, Nephi was the presiding
figure within the Holy Order.
By the authority of his office he appointed
his brother, Jacob, to be an official within
the Holy Order, who said: "I, Jacob, having
been called of God, and ordained after the
manner of his Holy Order, and having been
consecrated by my brother Nephi, unto whom
ye look as a king, or a protector."
(2 Ne. 6:2.)
The purpose of men like Alma was to bring
the people into he Holy Order.
In Alma 7:14, for example, he said: "Now I
say unto you that ye must repent, and be born
again; for the Spirit saith if ye are not
born again ye cannot inherit the kingdom of
heaven; therefore come and be baptized unto
repentance, that ye may be washed from your
sins, that ye may have faith on the Lamb of
God, who taketh away the sins of the world,
who is mighty to save and to cleanse from
all unrighteousness."
He then explains, in verse 22: "And now my
beloved brethren, I have said these things
unto you that I might awaken you to a sense
of your duty to God, that ye may walk blameless
before him, that ye may walk [and note this]
after the Holy Order of God, after which ye
have been received."
Now to illustrate what I mean 
by that, let me turn to 3 Nephi 5.
There Mormon, in his treatment of Nephite
history and doctrine, etc., makes a few explanations,
in verse 12, stating: "And behold, I am called
Mormon, being called after the land of Mormon,
the land in which Alma did establish the church
among the people, yea, the first church which
was established among them after their transgression."
Now, what does that mean?
Let's deal with the last term first--"after
their transgression."
When the Nephites came to the western hemisphere,
they settled initially in a land which they
called "the land of Nephi."
And they built up their culture and their
society in that land.
They were promised by inspired leaders that
if they departed
Lecture 15 The Holy Order 3
from the ways of the Lord that the righteous
would be gathered out from among them and
that the wicked elements who had turned from
the Lord would be destroyed.
Sadly, that happened.
So in the days of Mosiah, the First--the first
Mosiah--the righteous among the Nephites were
led out of the land of Nephi.
And they found a group of people which we
now call the Mulekites, who had left Jerusalem
in connection with the same historical situations
that Lehi left.
They left a little after Lehi, but very probably
arrived in America first, before Lehi, since
Lehi spent quite a lot of time on the Arabian
peninsula.
The people of Mosiah merged with this group,
and Mosiah was chosen their king, and a new
order of things began.
That new order continued from Mosiah 1 to
King Benjamin, that great and glorious king.
Would to God that all kings and political
leaders were like him.
And then to Mosiah, the Second.
In all that period of time, from Mosiah, the
First, that righteous group, down to the reign
of Mosiah, the Second, through and including
the reign of King Benjamin, the Nephites did
not have a church.
So Mormon says, as he talks about himself
and about the land of Mormon, and about Alma
gathering people there at the Waters of Mormon,
says: "It is the land in which Alma did establish
the church among the people; yea, the first
church which was established among them after
their transgression"--that is, after they
were led from the land of Nephi and became
identified with the Mulekites.
The question immediately arises, then, what
did they have?
During that whole period of King Benjamin
and when King Benjamin gave them that marvelous
discourse and they were literally renewed
to where they had no more disposition to sin,
what kind of program did they have?
They didn't go to Sacrament meeting.
They didn't go to Sunday School.
They didn't go to quorum meetings in the priesthood.
They didn't have a church.
What, then, did they have?
They had the Holy Order.
Under those circumstances, if you will turn
to Mosiah 6 and read here with me, verse 3.
Mosiah 6 tells us the arrangements that were
made in the transfer of authority from King
Benjamin to Mosiah 2.
Remember that when King Benjamin became aged,
etc., that he called his son, Mosiah in and
said he was going to transfer authority to
him, asked him to gather the people at the
Temple.
And that is significant--in the land of Bountiful,
at the temple, and proclaimed this great discourse
that the angel gave to him, which
Lecture 15 The Holy Order 4
is found in Mosiah 2, 3 and 4.
Then the transfer of authority took place.
Mosiah 2 is anointed king, and this was done
in the House of the Lord, in connection with
sacred ordinances there.
It wasn't a political potentate in the worldly
manner, it was done in the House of the Lord.
And then the other arrangements in relation
to that are mentioned here in chapter 6, verse
3: "And again, it came to pass that when king
Benjamin had made an end of all these things,
and had consecrated his son Mosiah to be a
ruler and a king over his people, and had
given him all the charges concerning the kingdom,
and also had appointed priests to teach the
people, that thereby they might hear and know
the commandments of God...."
The Holy Order isn't just that you've got
a king centered in the temple.
You don't build a temple just to anoint a
new king.
You build a temple to perform ordinances,
ordinances of the holy priesthood.
This was before Christ had come, and there
was no salvation for the dead until Christ
broke the bands of death.
So there was no work for the dead done in
their temples.
Their temples were only for living endowments
and living marriages.
In the Holy Order every righteous man who
had been born again to become a son of God
or of Christ, and his wife with him as a daughter
of Christ, having been married in the temple,
had the responsibility and the obligation
to be fathers and mothers spiritually to their
children.
That meant that they taught the Sunday Schools,
and they took care of their spiritual needs.
And, then, to help them out, there were priests
consecrated.
These priests were not Aaronic priesthood
priests.
These were priests as men holding the Melchizedek
priesthood.
They went out and held meetings in the homes,
neighborhood firesides.
They met with families, and this under the
direction of the king and priest.
Keep in mind that he is not just a political
figure.
The king and priest.
And they are subordinate to him.
One such individual as this was Jacob.
He was consecrated to be a priest and a teacher.
The messages we get in the Book of Mormon
from Jacob are messages coming from him in
the exercising of the mantle that he had,
and the spirit of revelation that was given
to him in relation to the people and the doctrine
they needed to hear.
So they had that kind of an order.
They had an order where there were righteous
parents married in the temple with the obligation
to take care of not only the temporal, but
the spiritual needs of their people.
Lecture 15 The Holy Order 5
When I got home from my mission years and
years ago, I got home in the spring and committed
matrimony right soon thereafter, and said
to my darling--she had a blind spot and I
took advantage of it.
But we got all married up, and that spring
was a very, very busy spring.
I got home the 1st of March and we were engaged
in the next week, and we were married at the
end of the month.
Right after that I got called to be Stake
Superintendent of the M.I.A.
So I had the job of organizing the Stake Board.
We had a wonderful time, we doubled the budget.
I had a battle on that one, but we doubled
the budget.
We had a great time during that year!
But during that tenure as Stake Superintendent
of the M.I.A., I was invited to a regional
meeting in St. Anthony.
Elder Spencer W. Kimball was there present.
That's the first time I had really met him.
Just before the meeting I was standing there,
and I think I mentioned this the other day,
and introduced.
He just came--that man was just so totally
open and so totally pure and carried such
a total endowment that he just about buckled
my knees when I shook hands with him.
I was sitting on the stand and, as a dutiful
Stake Superintendent of the M.I.A, I was wondering
where all my Stake Board members were, and
I was looking all around the congregation
as they were introducing Elder Kimball.
I wasn't watching what was taking place on
the Stand; I was trying to count numbers.
I never turned my attention back to the podium
until Elder Kimball arose and made his first
remark.
And this is what it was, which about knocked
me over.
"Brothers and sisters, I don't believe that
in the Lord's original plan he ever contemplated
such a thing as the M.I.A."
My first response, in my mind, was, "Hey,
you're supposed to help us!
You're supposed to be on our side.
What are you doing?"
He then explained: "In the original program
fathers and mothers had this responsibility,
to teach their children and provide adequate
recreational activities.
This was the original design of the Lord.
But because we have so many non-functioning
fathers in our midst, he found it necessary
to organize a church.
And he had to organize auxiliary organizations.
My responsibility tonight is to promote this
auxiliary."
What 
I want to say is that 
the 
original plan isn't necessarily the Church.
In no way do I intend to debunk the Church;
I want to come back and explain that a little
more, so don't run off and mis-quote me
Lecture 15 The Holy Order 6
on this one.
It's the program of the Holy Order that I
would like to discuss.
The main system of the Nephite system for
many years was the Holy Order.
Then, when Alma was converted to the gospel
by the teachings of Abinadi, among the people
of King Noah, and began to gather people together
there at the Waters of Mormon, he did such
a good job that he got many people converted
and committed to the gospel, and spiritually
renewed and alive in the gospel.
Then they were discovered and had to flee
and they went through some difficult times,
and they finally made it back to the main
body of the Saints under King Mosiah.
And they reported in.
Mosiah looked at it and said, "You know, Alma,
you've gotten something started here that
we shouldn't let go of.
I am going to make you President of the Church
and give you the responsibility to actually
build up a Church among our people.
You've done such a great job that I think
you can do this."
So Alma became President of the Church.
But who held the full keys of the kingdom?
Mosiah did.
Mosiah still held the keys--because he is
a political potentate?
No, because he was a priest and a king in
the Holy Order.
And in that relationship, that's a different
arrangement than what we have now, and I want
to talk about that in relation to our dispensation.
That's a different arrangement than what we
have in the kingdom today.
But let's read the Book of Mormon--this is
a tailor-made book.
It has nothing to do with the neighboring
stake, but it is a tailor-made book.
No offense.
And in that sense, then, it has insights in
it which we need to understand, which are
doctrinal and which pertain to the order of
the kingdom.
By the way, there are many things there on
how to handle ourselves in a military posture,
too.
I used to wonder why Mormon put all that stuff
on the battles in there.
I wasn't that much on the battles, I didn't
care too much about that part of the record.
But I was later asked to write an article
called "Saints and War," published in a compilation
called The Challenge and the Choice, by Dr.
Vetterli.
So I plowed into the Book of Mormon.
You know, it's a marvelous record.
It gives us the philosophy of confrontation
and a philosophy of military action which,
at some time, we might have to have understand.
Let me suggest to you that when you read it,
read it looking for things like that.
It is a tailor-made book!
We need to study it in depth, just like the
Prophet is counseling us.
Lecture 15 The Holy Order 7
In Alma 13, we have one of these great chapters
dealing with the Holy Order.
Let me just begin with verse 1 and read through
a little on it with you to get the main idea.
The first 9 verses are heavily oriented toward
pre-earth life with an application to us here;
that's why they are there.
And that simply says they were the Holy Order
in pre-earth life, and you might as well know
that to start with and we'll come back to
it a little later.
Then from verse 10 on is the application of
the Holy Order in past ages as examples which
Alma wanted his people to know.
He starts out, verse 1: "And again, my brethren,
I would cite your minds forward to the time
when the Lord God gave these commandments
unto his children; and I would that ye should
remember that the Lord God ordained priests,
after his holy order."
This is not priests in the church.
These priests are men who have been through
the temple and who hold keys in relation to
the sacred ordinances of the temple and have
a responsibility in the Holy Order to administer
spiritual truths and guidance within that
framework.
Have you got that picture?
The Lord ordained priests, "after his holy
order, which was after the order of his Son."
The Order which was developed on earth was
not original.
It went back into pre-earth life in the First
Estate.
As Christ had organized the spirit children
which the Father gave to him--"Thine they
were, but thou gavest them to me" (John 17:6),
and that giving didn't wait until we get baptized
here.
That giving took place back there.
Paul writes: "I bow my knees unto the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole
family in heaven and earth is named."
(Ephesians 3:14-15.)
And Christ apparently organized those spirit
children according to an order of things which
is called, the Holy Order.
There were no doubt some limitations to that
early system.
It may be like going to BYU campus; they have
Home Evening Families, which are not the full
program, but where they gather and teach each
other and socialize.
It's not the full thing; it's an approximation.
So the Savior may have done something like
that, and there was a Holy Order in the First
Estate before there was one here on this earth.
And the one that Alma is talking about is
patterned after the order of the Son of God,
and it is designed "to teach these things
unto the people.
And those priests were ordained"--this is
a cover-up statement; write the word "Temple"
across verse 2 and you'll begin to
Lecture 15 The Holy Order 8
get the idea--"after the order of his Son,
in a manner that thereby the people might
know in what manner to look forward to his
Son for redemption."
Unless you, in your mind, go to the sacred
endowment ceremony and read this statement
in that context, and know that that endowment
ceremony is a witness of Christ, all aspects
of it, you will not understand this statement.
These are the covenants of Christ.
The symbols which are there are symbolic not
only what they say they are symbolic of, but
they are symbolic of Christ.
He is the Way, and the Standard, like a Compass
and a Square.
Christ is embodied in the symbols of the temple.
And when men were ordained in the Holy Order
"they were ordained in a manner that thereby
the people might know in what manner to look
forward to the Son for redemption."
The disclosure of Christ in the temple was
the basis of their ordination--not to a priesthood
office in the Church, but to ordination within
the Holy Order.
Alma says, "And this is the manner after which
they were ordained-- being called and prepared
from the foundation of the world."
That term "foundation of the world" we kind
of read over, but it means something.
To be a little more specific, the foundation
of my physical body is my spirit body.
The physical elements conform somewhat to
the stature of the organized spirit.
Yet it is also governed by the laws of heredity
and all of that.
I was once preaching away, hot and heavy,
up in southeast Idaho, and there was a person
in the group who knew my parents.
This good sister later came up to me and said,
"Brother Andrus, I'm happy to meet you.
You look like your Mother and you act like
your Dad."
And that's about it.
Well, if I've got physical features, it isn't
just because the spirit is as it is.
If you have green eyes, or one green and the
other blue, it's probably because one of your
ancestors had the same kind of situation.
It has little to do with your spirit.
The physical body is an "adding upon," as
is said in the third chapter of the Book of
Abraham.
As I've said, the physical body is based on
the spirit, and the spirit is the foundation.
This world also has a spirit world.
There is a spirit counterpart, and the foundation
of the world is the spirit world.
And when the scriptures talk about something
that was before the foundation of the world,
they are talking about way back there before
the Lord ever organized even the spirit world.
So he's talking in that sense, and he says:
"And this is the manner after which they were
ordained--being called
Lecture 15 The Holy Order 9
and prepared from the foundation of the world,"
there is a pre-earth preparation.
As I've said, these verses lean heavily toward
and center largely in the pre-earth experience.
He goes on to say, "on account of their exceeding
faith and good works."
Then he backs up and tells us a little about
that call.
He says, "In the first place being left to
choose good or evil."
Now, that's true of us here as we come into
this earth--we come in a state of forgetfulness,
and we're kind of left.
It's not until we begin to move in the right
direction that the Spirit of the Lord guides
and directs us, and we receive the door opened
and callings are made and opportunities are
opened, and the Lord guides and works with
us.
The same kind of thing took place in pre-
earth life.
They were left to themselves, and that's primarily
what it's talking about.
They were left to themselves, "and therefore
they having chosen good, and exercising exceeding
great faith, are called with a holy calling,
yea, with that holy calling which was prepared
with, and according to, a preparatory redemption
for such."
The calling went back before the calling to
the preparatory thing, that's what he is saying.
"And thus they have been called to this holy
calling on account of their faith, while others
would reject the Spirit of God on account
of the hardness of their hearts and blindness
of their minds, while, if it had not been
for this they might have had as great privilege
as their brethren.
"Or in fine, in the first place they were
on the same standing with their brethren;
thus this holy calling being prepared from
the foundation of the world for such as would
not harden their hearts, being in and through
the atonement of the Only Begotten Son, who
was prepared- -And thus being called by this
holy calling, and ordained unto the high priesthood
of the holy order of God, to teach his commandments
unto the children of men, that they also might
enter into his rest--"
Then he explains, "This high priesthood being
after the order of his Son," it's patterned
after this pre-earth program, "which order
was from the foundation of the world."
This Holy Order didn't begin here on earth,
it's from the foundation of the world.
"or in other words, being without beginning
of days or end of years."
This is an eternal thing.
He says, "Being prepared from eternity to
all eternity."
The term "from eternity to all eternity,"
according to the Prophet Joseph Smith, kind
of puts us here at a focal point.
Then from eternity is everything from way
back there without a beginning, on through
to
Lecture 15 The Holy Order 10
here.
From eternity to eternity takes it from here
and pushes it right on through.
So he uses that term.
"...Prepared from eternity to all eternity,
according to his foreknowledge of all things--Now
they were ordained after this manner--being
called with a holy calling, and ordained with
a holy ordinance, and taking upon them the
high priesthood of the holy order," and just
note that and we'll come back to it in a few
minutes.
"Which calling, and ordinance, and high priesthood,
is without beginning or end--Thus they become
high priests forever, after the order of the
Son, the Only Begotten of the Father, who
is without beginning of days or end of years,
who is full of grace, equity, and truth.
And thus it is.
Amen."
(Alma 13:9)
He's talking largely about pre-earth life
and explaining the Holy Order from that vantage
point.
Let me give you an illustration on this.
Let's turn, for instance, to Abraham 1.
Here Abraham tells us of some of the things
in his life that were sacred to him, introductory
to his ministry and mission.
Actually this explanation provides the foundation
for understanding Abraham's ministry and mission.
He begins, verse 1:
"In the land of the Chaldeans, at the residence
of my father, I, Abraham, saw that it was
needful for me to obtain another place of
residence."
In other words, the religious animosity was
such that he had to leave home.
That was about the situation.
In fact, they tried to put him on an iron
bedstead and sacrifice him.
He had legitimate reason to leave.
Now, he tells us about his life.
He says, "And, finding there was greater happiness
and peace and rest for me, I sought for the
blessings of the fathers."
The blessings of the fathers are the antediluvian
patriarchs--Adam and his sons, Seth and Enos
and Canaan and Mahalaleel and on down through,
those patriarchs down through to Noah.
Abraham is aware of them, and they are in
the Holy Order.
The Holy Order was the dominant system among
the righteous in that 1630-plus years from
the fall of Adam to the flood.
It was the dominant order.
So he says, then, "I sought for the blessings
of the fathers, and the right whereunto I
should be ordained to administer the same."
He's not saying that he just sought for the
blessings, he wanted to hold the keys, too.
He wanted to have the full blessings, and
he also wanted
Lecture 15 The Holy Order 11
to have the keys of priesthood that would
enable him to administer these righteous things
to others.
Then he explains:
"Having been myself a follower of righteousness,
desiring also to be one who possessed great
knowledge, and to be a greater follower of
righteousness, and to possess a greater knowledge,
and to be a father of many nations," and that's
not just a father physically.
The Holy Order is a system of fathers spiritually,
and he wanted this position of the father
of the faithful, where everyone who would
receive the gospel from his day on, which
became the fact, would become his sons and
daughters.
And he sought for that, because that's the
role of fatherhood that extends beyond the
physical.
It incorporates the physical, every man who
has this is a father both physically and spiritually
to his children, but he can become a father
to others in teaching the processes and the
program and disseminating and diffusing the
spiritual powers of spiritual renewal and
rebirth.
He can become a father to them.
The Prophet Joseph Smith used to continually
say, "Am I your father?"
The brethren would say, "Yea, you are our
father!"
He's the father or the Abraham of this dispensation.
Abraham sought for that kind of thing.
He wanted to be a father of many nations,
a prince of peace, "and desiring to receive
instructions, and to keep the commandments
of God, I became a rightful heir, a High Priest,
holding the right belonging to the fathers."
There are different kinds of High Priests.
In the Aaronic order of the Mosaic system,
there was a High Priest of the Aaronic priesthood.
In the Church today, in the ecclesiastical
order, there's the office of High Priest.
It has the right to preside and the obligation
and duty to preside.
That's a High Priest in the ecclesiastical
order of the Melchizedek priesthood.
This is not the kind of High Priest that Abraham
wanted to become.
This was a High Priest "holding the right
belonging to the fathers."
This was one who not only received the blessings
of the temple, the covenants of the house
of the Lord and all that relates to it, but
who had a right to preside over the administration
of those sacred rites and covenants.
Then when the Holy Order was actually built
up and operated and they didn't have a church,
he then presided in the operations in which
parents were fathers and mothers spiritually
to their children as well as physically to
them.
That's the role of High Priest.
Now he talks about that office.
He says (in verse 3), "It was
Lecture 15 The Holy Order 12
conferred upon me from the fathers; it came
down from the fathers," and note this, "from
the beginning of time, yea, even from the
beginning, or before the foundation of the
earth."
Now, that's before the spirit world.
That order of things had its source, ordination
by ordination or whatever it was, and I'm
not trying to spell it out in any way, but
it had its origin before the foundation of
the world.
And in that it's centered in the Man of Holiness,
our Father in Heaven.
That's essentially what it means, as I understand
it.
"...or before the foundation of the earth
to the present time, even the right of the
firstborn, or the first man, who is Adam,
our first father, through the fathers unto
me.
I sought for mine appointment unto the Priesthood
according to the appointment of God unto the
fathers concerning the seed."
Now, can you see that picture?
Go to the Book of Mormon, they didn't have
a church for that length of time.
They had the Holy Order.
In that Holy Order, men and women were married
in the temple, had the blessings of the holy
endowment and the blessings of the house of
the Lord, and then they were expected to go
out and do it with their kids, not turn it
over to the Bishop.
There was no Bishop to turn the job over to.
But they did have some help.
They had special priests and teachers in the
Melchizedek priesthood who were ordained and
set apart to mingle among the families of
the saints and to build faith in them, hold
family home evenings with them, get together
in firesides and cottage meetings and special
Book of Mormon seminars--you can write that
one off--but at any rate to teach the gospel
to them.
They did that.
In that program this is the way things operated.
This order of things existed in pre-earth
life, and then it extends to the earth.
Then the design is for us through the ministry
of the church that holds the keys to be born
again, to build temples, to get ourselves
into the temples for our endowments and also
for our dead, because that's where perfection
is centered; that's where exaltation is centered.
And to build the Holy Order among ourselves
and for our kindred dead.
And not only do the ordinances there and hold
up your hand and say you'll do this and this,
but finally to go out and do what you hold
up your hand to do and establish a society
that is centered in and founded upon the covenants
of the holy house of the Lord.
When you do that, then you get to the Zion
society.
That order of things began in eternity, in
the spirit world.
And it descends and is
Lecture 15 The Holy Order 13
planted among the righteous here, and it's
designed to be perfected among the righteous,
and that's what the preparation for the second
coming of Christ is all about.
When he comes, he's going to reign as King
of Kings and Lord of Lords.
You ask yourself, who are the Kings over whom
and through whom and by whom he is going to
reign on earth in the Millennial period?
These are they who have not only received
the sacred initiatory ordinances to become,
but they are going to have to get there and
be.
And then be cooperative agents with Christ
in the government of the earth during the
Millennium.
And that's what it takes to prepare a people
for the Second Coming.
That's why we need to get off our duffs and
get to the house of the Lord, and not just
consider that the house of the Lord is some
kind of secondary thing--like going to the
circus.
Here's the big tent and that's the Church
and all its activities.
And over here is the sideshow!
We call that the Temple.
You ought to go visit it once in awhile because
some curious things go on there.
That's an over-negative statement, and I apologize
for it.
But we get the idea, that the temple isn't
very central.
That's not quite the fact, and we'll get to
that a little more.
You won't really have the Spirit of the Lord
in your life to the extent that you ought
to have it until you attend the temple as
much as you ought to attend it--I promise
you that.
When we lived in Provo we were right close
off campus, I could walk to the Temple, and
we had an enjoyable time there.
We could go up to the Temple for a session
at least every week and sometimes more than
that, and I could drive up and be up there
and back in two hours.
So I went to the Temple rather frequently.
That was a wonderful privilege, to be there
in the Provo Temple.
Then when we moved to Alpine,--our home was
a little large and we just wanted to cut down
and get us a little cottage.
I have too much to do, and I just don't want
to take care of a yard and home, and my wife
has a lot she wants to do in getting some
things done that are more important than others--so
we got ourselves a little house in Alpine
in that beautiful area, and we're 20 to 25
miles away from the temples.
So we finally decided, well we'll just go
to the temple maybe once a month.
So we started going once a month.
I felt the Spirit of the Lord drain off.
So we got together and talked about it.
We said, Hey, we're just not there!
I just don't feel the flow.
I'm not alive spiritually like I ought to
be.
So we decided then that
Lecture 15 The Holy Order 14
we'd go to the temple once a week right on
through, regardless.
I mean if we were too busy, I don't care what
it was, we just dropped it- -I'm headed to
the temple.
So we've been going to the temple for about
the last 3 years of our 5 years' stay there
in Alpine, every week.
And I can feel the flow, I can feel the power,
I can feel a closeness with the Lord.
And I can feel a blessing that you just don't
get any other place.
The gospel isn't just theology and the Spirit
of the Lord you feel when you are studying
theology.
The keys of the gospel ministratively center
in your Bishop, your Stake President.
There is a mantle there, and that same mantle
you feel in the house of the Lord, and you
partake of it.
And you are in that flow, you are in that
power situation, the flow of the Spirit, the
warmth, the strength, because you are doing
it.
You are working, you are building, you are
the construction crew.
You're walking step by step with the prophet,
and you are building this thing that we call
Zion.
This order of things, as I've said, I want
to read you this scripture in Section 76;
it has its basis in pre-earth life.
Note how the Lord describes the celestial
kingdom.
He's not talking about the lower rung of the
celestial kingdom, he's talking about way
up there at the top.
He gives us meaning and is always encouraging.
And when he tells us about blessings, he doesn't
just tell us how to get in the door and sit
at the side.
The description of the celestial kingdom in
Section 76 is not the description of the lower
kingdom or the middle, it's the description
of the highest and maybe even more than that,
if you would receive it.
It's even more than that--it's way up there.
It's the top pinnacle of things.
He says of them, verse 54: "They are they
who are the church of the Firstborn."
That's the church that really gets to Christ
and partakes of his inheritance, becomes joint-heirs
with him, are sanctified.
He says, "They are they into whose hands the
Father has given all things."
This is joint-heirship, inheritance, dominion
in and through and with Jesus Christ.
"They are they who are priests and kings,
who have received of his fulness, and of his
glory; And are priests of the Most High, after
the order of Melchizedek," and note this as
he traces it, runs it back, "which was after
the order of Enoch," talking about the Holy
Order, "which was after the order of the Only
Begotten Son."
So where did Enoch get his ideas that he passed
on to Melchizedek?
He got them
Lecture 15 The Holy Order 15
patterned after the Order of the Only Begotten
Son in pre-earth life, or before Enoch's day.
He says, "Wherefore, as it is written, they
are gods, even the sons of God--Wherefore,
all things are theirs, whether life or death,
or things present, or things to come, all
are theirs and they are Christ's, and Christ
is God's."
That's the order of things.
The Father gives us to Christ, and it isn't
just a matter of giving away your kids to
your firstborn.
The Father, through divine indwelling, is
in Christ.
You don't separate the two.
The Father and the Son are absolutely one,
not only in purpose, but in indwelling glory
and power.
The only way the Father could reach down here
into mortality and actually be here in some
measure of personal presence is to have a
Son conceived with his divine glory and life
in him and set this thing up so that the living
revelations of the Father dwelt in Christ.
And Christ is one with the Father and the
Father one with him, and then Christ takes
of the Father's glory and power.
and it's on that basis that he is our God.
It's not on his own independent basis.
He takes of the glory and the power of the
Father and he transmits it to us.
And because he is the transmitting center
and agent, the Father honors him and names
that plan after him, the gospel of Jesus Christ--but
it's the plan of the Father.
He extends it.
Jesus then becomes the perfect expression
and revelation and manifestation of the Father,
the living manifestation here in this mortal
state.
And in eternity, that order of things is perfected.
We are still given to Christ.
So it says, "And they are Christ's, and Christ
is God's."
That's the order of the gospel.
It hasn't been fully perfected yet, but that's
the order of things.
Let's talk about the background of the Holy
Order.
Let me call your attention to one of the finest
documents that's come out in this century.
There are two of them, and this is one of
them.
This is an article by President Ezra Taft
Benson of the Quorum of Twelve, May 1984.
He went up to the Logan Temple and there spoke
at their centennial program.
Then in the August (1985 p. 8) issue of the
Ensign, they published his talk.
And it is entitled, "What I Hope You Will
Teach Your Children About The Temple."
He doesn't say anything, really, about the
Endowment ceremony.
He says hardly anything about eternal marriage.
He doesn't say anything about baptism for
the dead.
Do you know what he talks about?
He talks about the Holy Order.
��
Lecture 15 The Holy Order 16
He talks about it in ancient times, and he
talks about its restoration through the Prophet
Joseph in our time, and he tells us we need
to get on the stick and learn about it and
get ourselves founded more fully and completely
on it.
Let me just read an excerpt or two from what
he says.
"The temple is an ever-present reminder that
God intends the family to be eternal."
Now, we've all heard that.
Broaden out the concept as he is trying to
give it to us.
He says, I would like to direct my remarks
to you parents and grandparents.
I would like to share with you what I would
hope you would teach your children about the
temple."
Then he goes on, "I believe a proper understanding
or background will immeasurably help prepare
our youth for the temple This understanding,
I believe, will foster within them a desire
to seek their priesthood blessings just as
Abraham sought his."
All right, did Abraham seek for something?
What did he seek for?
The blessings of the fathers, the blessings
of the house of the Lord, the right to be
a father not just physically but of many nations,
spiritually.
He sought for that order that centered in
the Father, that had its origin clear back
to the Man of Holiness, and descends by right
of firstborn.
It comes down through from Adam on the basis
of firstborn, that's how it came down.
And then from Adam it comes right on down
through.
So it's a lineal thing.
And President Benson wants us to seek for
it just as much as Abraham did.
He goes on and says, "When our Heavenly Father
placed Adam and Eve on this earth, he did
so with the purpose in mind of teaching them
how to regain his presence.
Our Father promised a Savior to redeem them
from their fallen condition.
He gave to them the plan of salvation and
told them to teach their children faith in
Jesus Christ and repentance.
Further, Adam and his posterity were commanded
by God to be baptized, to receive the Holy
Ghost, and to enter into the order of the
Son of God."
Now, what is he saying?
Here is the President of the Twelve who later
became the Prophet.
He says, "To enter into the order of the Son
of God is the equivalent today of entering
into the fulness of the Melchizedek Priesthood,
which is only received in the house of the
Lord."
He goes on and explains that, and this is
one of the great discourses of our time!
I just marvel at what that man has given to
us.
Lecture 15 The Holy Order 17
I commend you to the article in the November
1985 Ensign, "Born of God."
Digest it; read it, thoroughly understand
it.
Get this one.
This is a tremendous one.
Now, there's another one, and this is the
first general conference priesthood address
by president Joseph Fielding Smith.
He was sustained as our prophet in the spring
of 1970.
That first general priesthood meeting--do
you know what he talked on?
It's called, "Magnifying Our Calling In The
Priesthood."
I remember at that time, that was before the
Marriott Center was built, and, as you know,
they bring the priesthood together in various
groups throughout the Church.
That's where it was transmitted there in the
Provo area.
So I went to the George Albert Smith Fieldhouse
on campus, and I was a minute or two late
and the building was just chuck full so that
I had to sit way up high, in the back, and
it was about as hot as it could be.
President Joseph Fielding Smith got up and
started to speak.
Boy!
You could have knocked me over.
I mean, I had one of those "Wow!" sessions.
"Wow!
Oh boy, that's good!
Hit 'em, there!
Wow!"
Well, this is what he said in part, and it's
one of the great discourses on Priesthood
in this dispensation, and particularly in
our time.
He said: "To prepare the way for the coming
of Elijah and the restoration of the sealing
power, because by which men may receive a
fulness of the Priesthood, John the Baptist
came in May 1829 and conferred upon Joseph
and Oliver the Aaronic Priesthood.
A short time later, Peter, James and John
came and gave them the Melchizedek Priesthood.
Then, on April 3, 1836, in the Kirtland Temple,
Elijah the Prophet returned and bestowed upon
them the sealing power, the power to use the
Priesthood to bind on earth and to seal in
heaven.
"Then, in 1841, the Lord revealed to the Prophet
that 'the fulness of the priesthood' was available
to man only in the Temple, 'a house' built
unto his name.(D&C 124:28.)
And in 1843 the Prophet said: 'If a man gets
a fulness of the Priesthood of God, he has
to get it the same way that Jesus Christ obtained
it, and that was by keeping all the commandments
and obeying all the ordinances of the House
of the Lord.'"
(TPJS, p. 308.)
One cannot receive the fulness of Priesthood
by being ordained to any office in the Church,
even the office of the holy Apostleship.
We can receive it only in the House of the
Lord.
Now, this is the crux of the whole issue,
the essence of the whole
Lecture 15 The Holy Order 18
issue.
President Smith continued: "Let me put this
in a little different way.
I do not care what office you hold in the
Church.
You may be an apostle, you may be a patriarch,
a high priest or anything else.
But you cannot receive the fulness of the
priesthood and the fulness of eternal reward
unless you receive the ordinances of the house
of the Lord.
And when you receive these ordinances, the
door is then opened so you can obtain all
the blessings which any man can gain.
Do not think because someone has a higher
office in the Church than you have that you
are barred from receiving the fulness of the
Lord's blessings.
You can have them sealed upon you as an elder,
if you are faithful.
And when you receive them, and live faithfully
and keep these covenants, you then have all
that any man can get."
To illustrate this point let me go back and
give you a little lesson in Church history.
The Church was organized on Tuesday, April
6, 1830.
On that day, the Prophet Joseph was sustained
as the First Elder and Oliver Cowdery as the
Second Elder.
They had, prior to that, been given the Melchizedek
Priesthood by Peter, James and John.
But conferral of priesthood from the divine
to the mortal requires a dual transfer, in
a manner of speaking.
For example, when the Prophet and Oliver Cowdery
received the Aaronic Priesthood from John
the Baptist, they then ordained each other.
They re- ordained each other, so that they
conferred the Priesthood on each other in
the flesh, having received it by divine means.
The same kind of thing apparently took place
with the Melchizedek Priesthood.
Unfortunately, we do not have a formal account.
We know enough of the details of how it happened
and where it happened to get the general picture.
They had received the Melchizedek Priesthood
under the hands of Peter, James and John,
but they hadn't re-conferred it, so they got
together in the chamber of old father Whitmer,
and they asked the Lord what they should do?
He instructed them to organize the Church,
to gather people together and then to present
themselves, like we present officers, to be
the First and the Second Elders in this new
organization.
When they had done this, then they ordained
each other as officers within the Church,
so that they made the mortal transfer there
within the Church.
This seems to be the picture, as historical
evidence indicates it.
So they started to build up the Church.
Later, the office of high priest was brought
forth.
They had the office of elder, and Alva Beaman,
for
Lecture 15 The Holy Order 19
example, who had the Gold Plates under his
hearthstone for a long time--he lived in the
little town of Lavonia in New York State,
and when the mob got so insistent and persistent
with the Prophet-- remember he hid the plates
out in the barn over across the road, and
then he was inspired to take them out from
under the floor where he had them and put
them up in the loft.
That night they came in and ripped up the
floor of the barn.
As Mother Smith says, "They shivered the box
to pieces," where he had left the box.
But he hid them up there.
With that incident the Prophet took the plates
over to his friend, Alva Beaman, who lived
in Lavonia.
They took up Alva's hearthstone, they dug
it up and put the plates under there in an
old Ontario glass box, and hid them.
Alva Beaman later said, "He wouldn't let me
see them, he couldn't.
But he did let me heft them, and I shook it,
and I could tell there were metallic plates
in there."
It's kind of like the episode-- maybe I can
depart here for a minute with Martin Harris.
Martin was invited to help the Prophet, and
again the Prophet couldn't let him see the
things, but he had the plates there.
So Martin hefted it and shook it, etc., and
got that much of an insight and understanding
of what the thing was all about.
Then he went walking on home, thinking about
this.
Here's how he reasoned: "I could tell from
the weight of the contents in that box that
it had to be either lead or gold.
And I knew that the Smith family didn't have
enough money to buy that much lead!
So I had to conclude that maybe there was
something to the Prophet's testimony."
He then went and prayed about it, and the
Lord gave him a testimony.
So they hid the Plates over there in Alva
Beaman's hearthstone.
He later 
became the first Elders' Quorum President,
in the Kirtland area.
Getting back to our main story, in the spring
of 1831 they called out the office of high
priest.
Later the Prophet was sustained in the First
Presidency, and they called out and organized
a Patriarch to the Church, not over, but to
the Church.
Then in 1834, they organized the High Council
in Zion, which is not just a regular high
council.
Zion has a Center Place, as an administrative
hub over the whole Zion system with the Stakes
of the Church round about.
The High Council in Zion is a General Authority
body, designed to be, with power to administer
the ecclesiastical affairs not only of that
central hub, but of the stakes that are a
support to it.
By revelation the Prophet Joseph wrote: "The
High Council in Zion form a quorum equal in
authority in
Lecture 15 The Holy Order 20
the affairs of the Church, in all their decisions,
to the councils of the Twelve at the Stakes
of Zion."
(D&C 107:37.)
When the Saints got driven out of Missouri
they had to disorganize this body, and it
has not existed since that time.
Most of us have forgotten that it's even there,
but I expect it will be organized again.
So they organized the High Council, and also
the High Council in Kirtland.
Then out of the body of men who were in Zion's
Camp they selected the first Quorum of Twelve,
whom they ordained in February of 1835.
And also the first Quorum of the Seventy,
another General Authority body, in February
of 1835.
They finally came to a point where they had
the Church pretty well organized in its ecclesiastical
offices.
In the meantime they were very busy building
the Temple in Kirtland.
The Temple was finished, and the dedicatory
services were held on March 27, 1836.
Three days later, on the 30th, they held the
first Solemn Assembly in the Kirtland Temple.
Note that at this point in history they had
received the Melchizedek Priesthood, they
had organized the officers of the Church,
the First Presidency, Quorum of Twelve, the
High Council, Patriarch, Seventies, Elders,
Priests, Teachers and Deacons.
During the Solemn Assembly the Prophet stated:
"I then observed to the quorums, that I had
now completed the organization of the Church,
and we had passed through all the necessary
ceremonies."
(TPJS, p. 110.)
Now, note the last phrase, "...we had passed
through all the necessary ceremonies."
How many Saints at this point had been married
for time and eternity?
The answer is, none.
How many had received the sacred ordinances
of the holy Endowment?
The answer is, none.
The Prophet said, though, that he completed
the organization of the Church and had passed
through all the necessary ceremonies; that
was March 30, 1836.
Now what happened a few days after, on April
3rd?
On April 3, 1836, they met again in the Temple,
and the Savior made his appearance, as recorded
in Section 110, and accepted the Temple.
Then Moses appear and committed the keys to
do two things: The gathering of Israel and
the leading of the ten tribes from the land
of the north.
Elias came and committed the keys of the dispensation
of the gospel of Abraham.
And what's that?
We think we have an answer when we say "the
dispensation of the gospel of Abraham."
First of all, this person, Elias, according
to President Joseph Fielding Smith, was Noah.
You read about him in Section 27;
Lecture 15 The Holy Order 21
he holds the keys of the restoration of all
things.
He is Gabriel.
He is the one who could look over the whole
human family, the one single person in whom
keys of priesthood centered after the flood,
and who held the keys of the Holy Order and
fulness of Priesthood, and could look over
the total human family and could say, "I will
center these keys in this lineage."
These keys pertain to the promises of Abraham,
what the Lord dispensed to Abraham, the covenants
that God gave to Abraham, the promises that
God gave to Abraham, which pertain not only
to physical posterity but to becoming a father
spiritually under Christ within the Holy Order.
So Noah, or Elias, came and committed those
keys to Joseph and Oliver.
Then Elijah came and committed the keys of
turning, or sealing, the hearts of the fathers
to the children, etc., and the fulness of
priesthood.
Here in the Teachings, the Prophet talks about
Elijah, and he says this in relation to what
he gave, page 337.
"Now for Elijah.
The spirit, power, and calling of Elijah is
that ye have power to hold the key of the
revelations, ordinances, oracles, powers and
endowments of the fulness of the Melchizedek
Priesthood and of the kingdom of God on the
earth; and to receive, obtain, and perform
all the ordinances belonging to the kingdom
of God, even unto the turning of the hearts
of the fathers unto the children, and the
hearts of the children unto the fathers, even
those who are in heaven."
So fulness of priesthood is given by whom?
It is given by Elijah.
A year earlier than that, in fact more than
a year earlier than that, they had called
out the quorum of the Twelve.
Did the quorum of Twelve have the fulness
of the priesthood?
The answer is, no.
They had the right in the Ecclesiastical Order
to preside over the Church, under the direction
of the First Presidency, and to hold the keys
under the first presidency.
They had the right to be special witnesses,
by divine appointment and by spiritual mantle,
of Jesus Christ.
They had the right to open the gospel to the
various nations of the world and to dedicate
lands for the missionary work.
But they did not have the fulness of priesthood.
In May of 1842--you read about this, in 
the Teachings, page 237.
This Order of Priesthood centers on the house
of the Lord, and it has to be conferred in
the sacred rights and ordinances of the holy
Endowment, eternal marriage, etc.
Joseph could not do this in the Kirtland Temple,
because it wasn't prepared for that purpose.
It didn't have the physical arrangements,
internally, to perform those ordinances.
And
����
Lecture 15 The Holy Order 22
besides that, the mob came upon them and ran
them out of town.
Then they went to Missouri, and they didn't
have a temple there.
Finally they got to Nauvoo, and they received
that great revelation in Section 124, one
verse of which President Joseph Fielding Smith
quoted, in which the Lord says, "There is
not a place found on earth that he [God] may
come to and restore again that which was lost
unto you, or which he hath taken away, even
the fulness of the Priesthood."
(D&C 124:28.)
So they built the Nauvoo Temple.
Then the Prophet became very much aware that
his life was in jeopardy.
The position of Nauvoo was deteriorating under
the mobocracy of the time, and he was very,
very much concerned about that.
So he, by the promptings of the Spirit of
the Lord, made his office into a miniature
Temple.
Across the street from the Mansion House he
had a store, a two-story structure.
On the lower floor there was a mercantile
establishment, and the upper floor was "the
47 East South Temple" of the Church in that
day.
He made the upper floor into his office, and
that was the headquarters of the Church in
that day.
The Prophet cleared out that upper room, and
he hung up a system of curtains so as to divide
it into compartments.
Then he decorated each of these compartments.
He had a Creation Room, decorated as such.
He had a Garden Room, decorated as such.
He had a World Room, and a Terrestrial Room.
Then he hung up a vail.
There was also a little cubby-hole which he
used that to give the sacred initiatory ordinances.
Then he took the brethren through that program.
Note what he says in his report, in the Teachings,
page 237: "I spent the day in the upper part
of the store, that is in my private office...in
council with," and he names the men who were
there, "instructing them in the principles
and order of the Priesthood, attending to
washings, anointings, endowments and the communication
of keys pertaining to the Aaronic Priesthood,
and so on to the highest order of the Melchizedek
Priesthood."
Now, where is the "highest order" conferred?
In the house of the Lord, or in these ordinances.
He says, "...setting forth the order," and
the word "order" means system, "setting forth
the order pertaining to the Ancient of Days."
Who is the "Ancient of Days"?
It's Adam.
And the temple is the order.
So as we go through, Adam plays a prominent
role, our Father Adam.
And we are given to understand that it is
our purpose to go
Lecture 15 The Holy Order 23
symbolically through the same thing and to
come up to the same stature as Adam, in the
sense that we become patriarchs, or fathers,
not just physically but in the gospel and
the Holy Order, over our posterity.
That's basically what the idea of the temple
is all about.
Joseph says, "And all those plans and principles
by which any one," not just the brethren,
"any one is enabled to secure the fulness
of those blessings which have been prepared
for the Church of the Firstborn, and come
up and abide in the presence of the Eloheim."
The word "Eloheim" means Gods.
We use it as a name-title and apply it to
a person, The Man of Holiness, our Father
in Heaven.
But when the Prophet says, "come up and abide
in the presence of the Eloheim," he means,
"the Gods," in the eternal worlds.
The Prophet explained that "in this council
was instituted the ancient order of things
for the first time in these last days."
Then he makes this very beautiful statement
which is so indicative of the gospel and which
we all ought to let sink deeply into our hearts.
He says, "The communications I made to this
council were of things spiritual, and to be
received only by the spiritual minded," and
that's a caution.
"And there was nothing made known to these
men but what will be made known to all the
Saints of the last days, so soon as they are
prepared to receive."
The thing about this gospel is that there
are no great big personalities.
You can get everything in the House of the
Lord, in the sense of priesthood, that an
apostle can get.
And you can come up and be exalted and become
a God on that basis.
Now, the structure of the Church is designed,
as I like to look at it, as a great construction
crew.
The Apostle Paul said God had given the church
apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors,
and teachers, for the perfection of the Saints--it's
a work crew for the work of the ministry and
for the edifying--and what does it mean to
edify?
It means to build and infuse the Spirit, for
the edifying of the body of Christ.
And how long is this to stay?
Until we come to a fulness of the measure
of the stature of Christ.
What is that fulness?
Where is that fulness given?
That fulness is given in the temple.
Till we all come up to the fulness.
And we've all been brought up to the fulness
and the Church is perfected and you look at
the celestial kingdom and you look at it in
the sense of the ecclesiastical structure
here, and you go there and you look around
and you say, "Where's the Bishop?"
There are no Bishops there.
You say, "Where is the Stake President?"
And there are no Stake
Lecture 15 The Holy Order 24
Presidents there.
"Where are the Apostles?"
There are no Apostles there.
There are, instead, Has-beens and Husbands!
That's what's there.
Individuals who have been through and gotten
fulness.
There will be reward given in this work crew,
this construction crew.
But in building the House of the Lord, in
building this eternal house, this Holy Order,
this holy kingdom, then there is a mantle
of authority given to the Prophet.
And anything that is outside of what the prophet
teaches is contrary to the will of God.
And a person who teaches it cannot have the
Spirit of the Lord in his life.
He might have the letter of the word he might
justify his life by the letter, but the essence
of the Spirit, the power of the Spirit will
not accompany that word, and he is subject
to being deceived regardless of how bright
and knowledgeable he may be.
You must learn to work under the mantle of
the Prophet, and you must learn to work in
this construction crew under the mantle of
your Bishop and your Stake President.
You may know, spend a little time studying,
you may know more about the roof and about
the capstone- -you say, "Bishop, why don't
we get at that roof and capstone--I'm that
interested!"
You'll find out that when they start putting
the roof and capstone on, you won't be around.
When the Bishop is pouring footings and building
a foundation, regardless of what you know
about the roof and the capstone, you report
to him for orders, not on your terms--on his.
"Bishop, what can I do?"
He has a stewardship, he may err a little
bit, and that's possible.
But he also has the mantle, and we also have
the responsibility of obedience.
Sometimes that responsibility requires us
to sacrifice.
If we genuinely are misunderstood by higher
priesthood authority, you don't just get the
chip on your shoulder and knock it off and
get frustrated and go out and vent yourself.
You don't do that.
You say, "O.K., the Lord has put me under
a burden, and he's used the weakness of brethren
to do it.
So what?
I'll just go pray about that and ask him for
his Spirit, tell him I love him, tell him
I love the brethren, tell him I love the prophet,
tell him I love my Bishop.
I'll just go pray and tell him that, and I'll
just live this thing through, and he'll give
me his Spirit so that when I teach or when
I do something, people can feel the power
of the holy Spirit and what I'm doing in my
life, and they will know, then, that this
stuff that may be circulating around is not
true.
They will know that, because my heart is right."
That is the course the Lord expects us to
follow.
Lecture 15 The Holy Order 25
When the Holy Order is established, it can
either stand alone, by itself, or it can be
there with the Church by its side, as the
Nephites had it.
Or it can be as it is in our day.
The Prophet Joseph began to give the basic
sealing blessings to some of the brethren
in the Kirtland Temple.
Later, beginning on May 4, 1842 he started
to administer the Endowment Ceremony as we
now have it.
Finally, on September 28, 1843, he began to
confer on certain early brethren the fulness
of the Priesthood.
And as we read through the journals of men
like Wilford Woodruff, Willard Richards and
John Taylor we learn that in the fall of 1843,
and on through into 1844, mention is made
that so and so received the fulness of the
Priesthood.
Then, in the spring of 1844, the Prophet called
the Twelve together, with others who had received
these sacred conferrals, and he rolled the
keys of the kingdom off onto the Twelve.
He conferred the keys of the sealing power
on Brigham Young, and in this action he brought
to a fulness the Holy Apostleship, as a witness
of Jesus Christ, not merely in the sense of
the Ecclesiastical Order, but in the sense
of the fulness of the kingdom of God and the
Holy Order on earth.
And Brigham Young then held the keys of the
Holy Priesthood, both in respect to the Twelve
and in respect to the sacred Temple Order.
And when the Prophet Joseph was martyred,
the issue was, "Well, here's Sidney Rigdon
and he was a Counselor to Joseph Smith, can
he be a guardian over the Church."
But Heber C. Kimball had the picture straight
when he commented, "There are 30 men who have
more priesthood [authority] than Sidney."
When the Prophet Joseph was performing this
work in the upper story of his store, Sidney
Rigdon was involved in politics; he wanted
to hold the choice office of Postmaster of
Nauvoo.
So during this period he was sitting in the
Post Office, while Joseph Smith was meeting
with the Twelve and others in the upper room
of his store, conferring the sacred rites
and ordinances that lead to a fulness of Priesthood.
Sidney never did receive these blessings;
he was a Counselor in the First Presidency,
but he never did receive the fulness of the
Priesthood.
Hence, Heber C. Kimball later said, when Sidney
wanted to lead the Church: "There are several
men who have more priesthood than Sidney Rigdon."
The Prophet Joseph had centered keys of the
priesthood in the Twelve, and these were not
merely the keys over the Church, but those,
in addition, of the Holy Order.
The day may yet come when the
Lecture 15 The Holy Order 26
Lord will do like Mosiah did and establish
the Holy Order more fully as the center of
his Kingdom; this is the full Order of the
Patriarch Enoch, of Melchizedek, or of Mount
Zion.
And my personal belief is that when Zion is
redeemed and established this will be the
foundation on which she will then rest.
Joseph tried to establish such an order in
Nauvoo.
If I had time I would like to relate this
story, but we are out of time.
Let me merely say that Joseph Smith tried
to do this in Nauvoo; he wanted to resign
from being President of the Church, and turn
this office over to his brother Hyrum, stating:
"I'm going to be Priest and King."
But the people did not understand what he
was talking about, and when a committee visited
him with their objections, the Prophet mused:
"Have we not learned the Priesthood after
the order of Melchizedek, which includes both
Prophets, Priests and Kings.
I will advance your Prophet to a Priest, and
then to a King- -not to the Kingdoms of this
earth, but of the Most High God."
(TPJS, p. 318.)
The Nephites began by first building the Holy
Order; then they organized the Church as a
subordinate system, to help strengthen and
extend the Holy Order.
In our dispensation the Prophet Joseph Smith
began by first building the Ecclesiastical
Order.
And while he then hoped to establish the Holy
Order in its full power and program, he was
unable to do this.
Instead, he conferred the full keys and powers
of the Holy Order and of the Ecclesiastical
Order on the Twelve, and these keys and powers
have descended to our day, with the living
Prophet holding the keys over both Orders.
Finally, I would like us to see and understand
that there is a glorious vision of Zion which
has its center in the Lord's House and which
I believe the Latter-day Saints must come
to understand in order to move on in the work
of building up the Kingdom of God.
Only then can we see what the Lord truly expects
of us.
Let me bear you my testimony that if you will
stay close to the living Prophet and build
your lives on the Temple you will receive
the blessings of the Holy Spirit to a degree
that you cannot enjoy in any other way.
The spirit of revelation will be with you,
with other gifts of the Holy Ghost.
And if you keep close to your Bishop,--if
you have something against him, get it cleared
away--an additional flow of the Spirit will
come to you through his mantle.
Please do this; in this way we can build a
system of unity and of strength far beyond
that which many of us have achieved thus far.
And hold dear this great ideal of a
Lecture 15 The Holy Order 27
temple-centered, temple-based society, with
your family founded upon its sacred rites
and covenants--with each mother being truly
adored as a potential Queen and Priestess,
not merely someone to do the cooking, etc.
This is the way to move forward toward the
true image of Mount Zion, which must be built
among the faithful before the Second Coming
of Christ.
May the Lord bless us all to do so, I pray
in Jesus' name, Amen.
