Therefore it was by right of divine appointment that the Apostles' quorum became the presiding quorum of the Church at the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.
LINEAGE.
We will now consider this "law of lineage." From section 86, they quote to us as follows:
"Therefore, thus saith the Lord unto you with whom the Priesthood hath continued through the lineage of your fathers, for ye are lawful heirs, according to the flesh, and have been hid from the world with Christ in God; therefore your life and the Priesthood hath remained and must needs remain through you and your lineage, until the restoration of all things spoken by the mouths of all the holy prophets since the world began."
But they fail to quote the eleventh and succeeding verse:
"Therefore, blessed are ye if ye continue in my goodness, a light unto the gentiles, and through the Priesthood, a savior unto my people Israel. The Lord hath said it, Amen."
But to whom was this revelation given? Was it to the Prophet Joseph Smith alone? Is this a promise that his seed shall inherit the Priesthood? Certainly not. This revelation was given December 6, 1832, to the Elders of the Church. Therefore, when members of the "Reorganization" declare that Joseph Smith was one of these Elders and must be included with his posterity in the promise, we meet their argument with the counter statement, that the promise was also to Hyrum Smith, to Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, George A. Smith, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, and a large number of other Elders who never have been identified with the "Reorganization," nor have their children, and to them this promise is as sure as to the seed of any others. We must not lose sight of the fact that no man can lay claim to salvation, nor to the Priesthood of God, simply because he had a faithful father. The inference in this eleventh verse is, that if they are not faithful, then they will not receive the fulfilment of the promise. The posterity of Joseph Smith, like the posterity of any other Elder of Israel, will stand or fall on their own foundation which they have builded. And if the sons of Joseph Smith refuse to keep the commandments, the blessings will pass them by; but God's work will continue until the consummation of all things.
Again they quote from section 112 as follows:
"For verily I say unto you, the keys of the dispensation which ye have received, have come down from the fathers; and last of all being sent down from heaven unto you."
This revelation was given to Thomas B. Marsh and the Apostles in July, 1837; and while it is true that the Priesthood which these men held did come down from the fathers, it was not from father to son, from generation to generation, in the flesh. For the Priesthood, as we know, was conferred on the heads of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery by Peter, James and John. Joseph Smith's grandfather did not hold the Priesthood nor his fathers before him for generations upon generations. So we must look at this in a broader sense than our friends are willing that we should do. What is meant by the Priesthood coming down from the fathers, and that it must needs remain through the lineage of the Elders of the Church? It means simply this, that the Priesthood has come down from those who held it in ancient days and has been conferred upon men in this day according to promise, because they are of the seed of Joseph of the tribe of Ephraim. For the Lord promised to bless the children of Ephraim in the latter days with His power. And when the Church was established it was with the promise that it was never again to be destroyed; therefore, it must needs be that the Priesthood remain through the lineage of the Elders of the Church. But it will be through those who are faithful, and not the unfaithful sons, and there is not one word in these passages that declares that the Presidency of the High Priesthood descends from father to son, and that it is the right of the son of Joseph Smith to succeed his father. Not one word!