"But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
"For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
"To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
"To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues.
"But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
"For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ."
The fact of these miracles not existing in the so-called Christian churches of the present day, is no reason that we should deny the necessity of their existence. If they were enjoyed by the early Saints, why should not the Saints of God possess them now? If God promised these gifts to all those who kept his commandments in former times, and to their children, and to all that were afar off, even unto as many as the Lord our God should call (Acts 2-39), why should not the Church enjoy them now? If they were necessary for the comfort, encouragement, or edifying of the ancient Church (1 Cor. 14-12), why should not the followers of Christ be benefitted by them now? To these questions we can only answer, there is no reason. The word of God directs us to seek for and cultivate them (1 Cor. 14-1 & 39). We should therefore be prepared to reject every statement to the effect that our heavenly Father did not intend that they should continue on the earth, as the promises of God are true, and not one jot or tittle of them will fall to the ground unfulfilled.
The next question of importance connected with this subject is that of authority; the authority which man must hold from God to make his administrations valid. We should not be prepared to acknowledge the action of any man who might take upon himself the direction of our affairs, but we ought to be prepared to sustain those whom we send or have commissioned to represent us. We understand this well enough to know that we should not expect a firm or company to be responsible to us for what a pretended agent might promise. It would simply be absurd on our part to do so. How much less then could we look for our heavenly Father to sustain those who administer in holy things without authority from Him? How foolish for us to expect that the special blessings of the Almighty would follow the pretensions of a fraud!
We are instructed by the words of Jesus, when He said, "As my Father sent me, so send I you" (John 20-21). And we are warned by Paul in the following words: "And no man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God as was Aaron" (Heb. 5-4.) The honor here referred to is the "Priesthood," or the authority to administer in the things of God, as will be seen by reference to the preceding verses. How was Aaron called? We answer by direct revelation from God (Ex. 4, 14 to 16). Modern ministers are now set apart by men who deny the necessity of revelation altogether, or take unto themselves the authority they seem to have, because they feel they are called to preach and administer in the ordinances of the House of God. There is in this no higher calling than may be found among the Hindoos, and the anger of the Lord is kindled against all those who solemnly attempt to usurp the powers and privileges of the holy "Priesthood," and he will destroy their influence among the people.
Beloved friends, be not deceived by those who take unto themselves the "honor" of the Priesthood, and who preach for hire and divine for money, for they are not sent, and they preach not according to the law and the testimony, and Paul says that if "we or an angel from heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you let him be accursed" (Gal. 1-8).