CHAPTER IX
PRIESTHOOD
GOD IS AT THE HELM. We are living in a momentous age. The Lord is hastening his work. He is at the helm; there is no mortal man at the helm of this work. It is true, the Lord uses such instruments as will be obedient to his commandments and laws to assist in accomplishing his purposes in the earth. He has chosen those who, at least, have shown a willingness and a disposition to obey him and keep his laws, and who seek to work righteousness and carry out the purposes of the Lord.—Oct. C. R., 1906, pp. 3, 4.
DISTINCTION BETWEEN KEYS OF THE PRIESTHOOD AND PRIESTHOOD. The priesthood in general is the authority given to man to act for God. Every man ordained to any degree of the priesthood, has this authority delegated to him.
But it is necessary that every act performed under this authority shall be done at the proper time and place, in the proper way, and after the proper order. The power of directing these labors constitutes the keys of the priesthood. In their fulness, the keys are held by only one person at a time, the prophet and president of the Church. He may delegate any portion of this power to another, in which case that person holds the keys of that particular labor. Thus, the president of a temple, the president of a stake, the bishop of a ward, the president of a mission, the president of a quorum, each holds the keys of the labors performed in that particular body or locality. His priesthood is not increased by this special appointment, for a seventy who presides over a mission has no more priesthood than a seventy who labors under his direction; and the president of an elders' quorum, for example, has no more priesthood than any member of that quorum. But he holds the power of directing the official labors performed in the mission or the quorum, or in other words, the keys of that division of that work. So it is throughout all the ramifications of the priesthood—a distinction must be carefully made between the general authority, and the directing of the labors performed by that authority.—Improvement Era, Vol. 4, p. 230, January, 1901.
CONFERRING THE PRIESTHOOD. The revelation in section 107, Doctrine and Covenants, verses 1, 5, 6, 7, 21 clearly points out that the Priesthood is a general authority or qualification, with certain offices or authorities appended thereto. Consequently the conferring of the priesthood should precede and accompany ordination to office, unless it be possessed by previous bestowal and ordination. Surely a man cannot possess an appendage to the Priesthood without possessing the priesthood itself, which he cannot obtain unless it be authoritatively conferred upon him.
Take, for instance, the office of a deacon: the person ordained should have the Aaronic Priesthood conferred upon him in connection with his ordination. He cannot receive a portion or fragment of the Aaronic priesthood, because that would be acting on the idea that either or both of the (Melchizedek and Aaronic) Priesthoods were subject to subdivision, which is contrary to the revelation.
In ordaining those who have not yet received the Aaronic Priesthood, to any office therein, the words of John the Baptist to Joseph Smith, Jr., and Oliver Cowdery, would be appropriate to immediately precede the act of ordination. They are:
"Upon you my fellow servants [servant], in the name of Messiah, I confer the Priesthood of Aaron."
Of course, it would not necessarily follow that these exact words should be used, but the language should be consistent with the act of conferring the Aaronic Priesthood.—Improvement Era, Vol. 4, p. 394, March, 1901.