NECESSITY OF FAITH IN THE HOLY PRIESTHOOD.
In every dispensation in which God has made known his will to man, it has been done through a living, inspired Priesthood. Passages from the sacred writings might be multiplied, indefinitely, on this subject. But this is not necessary, inasmuch as all the sacred records attest the necessity of an inspired Priesthood, and obedience to it on the part of the people, if they would understand the will of the Lord concerning them.
Fifteen centuries of the history of Israel, from the Exodus to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, is a record of adversity through disobedience to seers and prophets, and of prosperity, the result of listening to their teachings.
Mankind, with a wide range of religious tenets, are instinctively imbued with a sentiment of reverence and obedience to those who minister in the ordinances of religion. After the apostacy of the early apostolic church, it had a strong hold on the minds of the people during the supremacy of the Romish church.
We may consider that this doctrine began to lose its hold on the masses of the people, professing Christianity, after the Reformation and the splitting up of the Christian world into a great multiplicity of sects.
With the introduction of the Gospel and the Holy Priesthood, through Joseph Smith, Jun., the necessity of faith in a living Priesthood is daily being made more apparent to the Latter-day Saints.
Bible.
Exod. 4. 1 Moses answered, they will not believe. 8, 9, 30, 31.
14. 31 Israel believed the Lord and his servant Moses.
19. 9 that the people hear when I speak to thee, and believe thee for ever.