Book Review
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Now this Enoch God reserved unto himself that he shoud not die at that time and appointed unto him a ministry unto terrestiral bodies of whom there has been but little revealed, He is reserved also unto the presidency of a dispensation, and more shall be said of him and terrestrial bodies in another treaties13
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for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a revealer14 to those who diligently seek him. Now the doctrine of translation is a power which belongs to this priesthood, there are many things which belong to the powers of the priesthood and the keys thereof that have been kept hid from before the foundation of the world.15
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There place of habitation is that of the terrestrial16 order and a place prepared for such characters, he had in he held in reserve to be ministring angels unto many planets, and who as yet have not entered into so great a fulness as those who are resurrected from the dead.
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thus we behold the Keys of this priesthood consisted in obtaining the voice of Jehovah19 that he talked with him in a familiar and friendly manner,
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God the father took life unto himself precisely as Jesus did.9
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The devil has no power over us only as we permit him; the moment we revolt at anything which comes from God the Devil takes power.
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he quoted a passage from the testament where Jesus said all things that he had saw the father Do he had done & that he done Nothing But what he saw the father do John the 5th [verse 19]20
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Joseph said that before foundation of the Earth in the Grand Counsel that the Spirits of all Men ware subject to opression & the express purpose of God in Giveing it a tabernacle was to arm it against the power of Darkness
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God saw that those intelegences had Not power to Defend themselves against those that had a tabernicle therefore the Lord Calls them togather in Counsel & agrees to form them tabernicles so that he might Gender the Spirit & the tabernicle togather so as to create sympathy for their fellowman
Page 72
Those who resist the spirit of God, are liable to be led into temptation, and then the association of heaven is withdrawn from those who refuse to be made partakers of such great glory—God would not exert any ccompulsory means and the Devil could not; and such ideas as were entertained by many were absurd.2
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The only way to obtain truth and wisdom, is not to ask it from books, but to go to God in prayer and obtain divine teaching.15
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This doctrine was the burden of the scriptures. Those saints who neglect it, in behalf of their deceased relatives, do it at the peril of their own salvation.23
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he also said if we did not accuse one another God would not accuse us & if we had no accuser we should enter heaven he would take us there as his backload if we would not accuse him he would not accuse us & if we would throw a cloak of charity over his sins he would over ours for Charity coverd a multitude of sins & what many people called sin was not sin & he did many things to break down superstition3
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The reason we do not have the secrets of the Lord revealed unto us is because we do not keep them but reveal them,6
Pages 82-83
Mormonism has no Summa Theologica. Notwithstanding this, the following example of independent yet consistent doctrinal affinity can be multiplied. In a meeting of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles held in Salt Lake City 22 April 1849, John Taylor asked President Brigham Young, "If Elijah, David, Solomon and the Prophets had the High Priesthood, how it was, [because] the Lord took it away with Moses." The question was discussed at length and finally "Pres_t Young said he did not know, but wished he did." John Taylor then offered his feelings on the question. The minutes record, "Brother Taylor thought perhaps the Lord conferred it himself upon some at times whom he had considered worthy, but not with permission for them to continue it down upon others" ("Record of the Acts of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles," 1849 Record Book, p. 39, Church Archives).
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"President [Brigham Young] gave it as his opinion that the Earth did not dwell in the sphere in which it did when it was created, but that it was banished from its more glorious state or orbit of revolution for man's sake" ("Record of Acts of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles," 1849 Record Book, p. 41, Church Archives).
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Alexander Neibaur, born in Ehrenbriesten, France (now Germany), was baptized by Isaac Russell in Preston, England, in April 1838. In 1841 he came to Nauvoo, where he practiced dentistry. The Neibaur Journal is located in the Church Archives. [Alexander recorded his hearing of Joseph Smith's telling of the first vision, wherein he recounted Joseph saying the Savior has blue eyes. See https://youtu.be/YG4O4Y-xpSo ]
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the Lord takes many away even in infancy that they may escape the envy of man. The sorrows & evils of this present world & they were two pure & to lovly to live on Earth, Therefore if rightly considered wo have, instead of morning we have reason to rejoice, as they are deliverd from evil & we shall soon have them again,''
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Man, or Jesus. No one can truly say he knows God7 until he has handled something, and this can only be in the Holiest of Holies. 137 Joseph Smith intended that women would receive ordinances promising them that they would be queens and priestesses in eternity. Moreover, Joseph Smith conveyed the impression that husbands and wives would receive the fulness of the priesthood blessings, through which they would be promised life as long as it would be desirable to them (see 5 October 1840, note 13).
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discussed his understanding of these matters fully even with his closest associates. See Andrew F. Ehat, " 'It Seems Like Heaven Began on Earth': Joseph Smith and the Constitution of the Kingdom of God." Brigham Young University Studies 20 (Spring 1980):254-57.
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I answer No! I ask no Jurisdiction in [local] religious matters I merely give my opinion when asked.
Pages 180-81
James Burgess Notebook32 Remarks on the comeing of the Son of Man by Joseph Smith the Prophet. Made in Nauvoo Christ says no man knoweth the day or the hour when the Son of Man cometh.33 This is a sweeping argument for sectarianism against Latter day ism. Did Christ speak this as a general principle throughout all generations Oh no he spoke in the present tense no man that was then liveing upon the footstool of God knew the day or the hour But he did not say that there was no man throughout all generations that should not know the day or the hour. No for this would be in flat contradiction with other scripture for the prophet says that God will do nothing but what he will reveal unto his Servants the prophets34
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President Joseph stated that the business of the conference had closed. & the remainder of the conference would be devoted to instruction—it is an insult to the meeting to have people run out of meeting Just before we close, if they must go let them go 1/2 an hour before. No Gentleman will go out of meeting Just at close.
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The beasts which John saw and speaks of as being in heaven were actually living in heaven, and were actually to have power given to them over the inhabitants of the earth precisely according to the plain reading of the revelations. I give this as a key to the Elders of Israel.
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It is my meditation all the day & more than my meat & drink to know how I shall make the saints of God to comprehend the visions that roll like an overflowing surge, before my mind.
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14 May 1843 (Sunday). Yelrome, Hancock County, Illinois.1 Wilford Woodruff Journal Sunday The meeting was opened by Singing, & Prayer By W Woodruff Then Joseph the Seer arose & said It is not wisdom that we should have all knowledge at once presented before us but that we should have a little then we can comprehend it.
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God judgeth men according to the light he gives them.3
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These are but hints of those things that were revealed to Peter, and verily brethren there are things in the bosom of the Father, that have been hid from the foundation of the world,19 that are not Known neither can be except by direct Revelation
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Last Monday morning certain men came to me.—Bro Joseph Hyrum is no prophet he cant lead the church, you must lead the Church—if you resign I felt curious—& said—here we learn in a priesthood after the order of Melchisedeck—Prophet priest & king. & I will advance from prophet to priest & then to King8 not to the kingdoms of this earth but of the most high god.
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To all those who are disposed to say to set up stakes for the almighty—will come short of the glory of god. To becom a joint heir of the heirship of the son he must put away all his traditions.5
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The sectarian world are going to hell—by 100s 1000s 1000 000! 3 grand orders of priesthood referred to here.6 1st. King of Shiloam—power & authority over that of Abraham holding the key & the power of endless life.—angels desire to look into it, but they have set up to many stakes, god cursed the children of Israel because they would not receive the last law from Moses.7— by the offering of Isaac.8—if a man would attain—he must sacrifice all to attain to the keys of the kingdom of an endless life What was the power of Melchisedick twas not P. of Aaron &c. a king & a priest to the most high God. a perfect law of Theocracy holding keys of power & blessings, stood as God to give laws to the people, administering endless lives to the sons and daughters of Adam9 kingly powers, of anointing.10—Abram says Melchisedek.— away I have a priesthood.—
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Joseph also said that the Holy Ghost26 is now in a state of Probation which if he should perform in righteousness he may pass through the same or a similar course of things that the Son has.
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What was the design of the Almighty in making man, it was to exalt him to be as God,43
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ignorance of the world in reference to their true condition, and relation. Reading the experience of others, or the revelations given to them, can never give us a comprehensive view of our condition and true relation to God. Knowledge of these things, can only be obtained by experience in these things, through the ordinance of God set forth for that purpose.3 He remarked that the disappointment of hopes and expectations at the resurrection, would be indescribably dreadful.
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He assured the saints that truth in reference to these matters, can, and may be known, through the revelations of God in the way of his ordinances, and in answer to prayer. The Hebrew church "came unto the spirits of just men made perfect, and unto an innumerable company of angels, unto God the Father of all, and to Jesus Christ the Mediator of the New Covenant;" but what they learned, has not been, and could not have been written.4
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But so it was, wherever light shone, it stirred up darkness. Truth and error, good and evil, cannot be reconciled.
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The spirits of just men are made ministering servants to those who are sealed unto life eternal.
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Let the elders & saints do away light mindedness and be sober.—
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The full keys for inquiring of the Lord by the sealing power of Elijah (Helaman 10:5-7 [4-10]), which the Prophet received in the Kirtland Temple (D&C 110:13-16), had not as yet been conferred on anyone else (see 27 August 1843 discourse); however, here he is teaching that revelation is the rock of the Church (see D&C 128:10-11), that he saw the conferral of these keys as essential to the completion of his mission (see 5 October 1840, note 19).
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9. The Prophet would not explain to the congregation at large the meaning of the passages of scripture he quoted, but they did have particular meaning to one listener, Benjamin F. Johnson.On the 1st day of April A.D. 1843, [Benjamin testified,] President Joseph Smith, Orson Hyde, and William Clayton and others came from Nauvoo to my residence in Macedonia or Ramus in Hancock Co. Illinois, and we[re] joyfully welcomed by myself and family as our guests. On the following morning, Sunday April, 2nd, President Smith took me by the arm for a walk, leading the way to a secluded spot within the adjacent grove, where to my great surprise, he commenced to offer to me the principle of plural or celestial marriage, but I was more astonished by his asking me for my sister Almera to be his wife. I sincerely believed him to be a prophet of God, and I loved him as such, and also for the many evidences of his kindness to me, yet such was the force of my education, and the scorn that I felt unvirtuous that under the first impulse of my feelings I looked him calmly, but firmly in the face and told him that, "I had always believed (you) to be a good man, and wished to believe it still, and would try to;" and that, "I would take for him a message to my sister, and if the doctrine was true, all would be well, but if I should afterwards learn that it was offered to insult or prostitute my sister I would take his life." With a smile he replied "Benjamin, you will never see that day, but you shall live to know that it is true, and rejoice in it.. . . He also told me that he would preach a sermon that day for me, which I would understand, while the rest of the congregation would not comprehend his meaning. His subject was the ten talents spoken of by the Savior, "unto him that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundantly, but from that hath not (or will not receive) shall be taken away that which he hath, (or might have had.)" Plainly giving me to understand that the talents represented wives and children as the principle of enlargement throughout the great future, to those who were heirs of Salvation (Joseph F. Smith, "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," book 2, pp. 3-5, Church Archives).
The first two passages of scripture quoted by the Prophet fit into the background Benjamin Johnson gives, but the last does not so readily. Later, in a discourse given 16 July 1843, the Prophet made plainer his reason for quoting John 3:6. Joseph Smith said, "[That] the earthly is the image of the Heavenly shows that [it] is by the multiplication of Lives that the eternal worlds are created and occuped [for] that which is born of flesh is flesh that which is born of spirit is spirit" (Franklin D. Richards account of 16 July 1843 (2) discourse). Joseph had previously taught that resurrected beings will have "spirit in their [veins] & not blood" (Wilford Woodruff account of 20 March 1842 discourse). The implication is that if your body is not resurrected, your children will be born flesh and bones, but that if your body is resurrected and has spirit in its veins your children will be spirits.
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2. On 8 October 1875 Brigham Young gave a discourse on the resurrection that taught the same point as the Prophet is here teaching. No doubt Brigham Young based his discourse on this teaching of the Prophet. See Ben E. Rich, Scrapbook of Mormon Literature 2 vols. (Chicago: Henry C. Etten & Co., Press, n.d.) 2:40-51. Brigham Young and others often alluded to this concept of the resurrection. See for example Journal of Discourses 13:76.
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6 May 1843 1. See History of the Church, 5:383-84. Not in Teachings. The History of the Church account is an amalgamation of the reports in the Joseph Smith Diary and the Nauvoo Neighbor. The report by Levi Richards is here published for the first time. A reminiscent account of this discourse by James Burgess contains the essential details found in the other three accounts published here, and adds that the "Constitution and Government would hang by a brittle thread." In the month of May 1843. Several miles east of Nauvoo. The Nauvoo Legion was on parade and review. At the close of which Joseph Smith made some remarks upon our condition as a people and upon our future prospects contrasting our present condition with our past trials and persecutions by the hands of our enemies. Also upon the constitution and government of the United States stating that the time would come when the Constitution and Government would hand by a brittle thread and would be ready to fall into other hands but this people the Latter day Saints will step forth and save it. General Scott and part of his staff on the American Army was present on the occasion. I James Burgess was present and testify to the above (James Burgess Notebook, Church Archives).
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Those who come in here and have received their washing & anointing will [later] be ordained Kings & Priests, and will then have received the fullness of the Priesthood, all that can be given on earth. For Brother Joseph said he had given us all that could be given to man on the earth (Heber C. Kimball Journal kept by William Clayton, 26 December 1845, Church Archives).
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7. At this time Joseph Smith was not willing to discuss the temple ordinances of conferral of the fulness of the priesthood, of marriage for time and eternity, or of sealing children to parents; nevertheless, he indicated that the conferral of the fulness of the priesthood was a "sealing . . . on top of the head", of which the phrase "sealed in their foreheads" was symbolic. Furthermore, Joseph Smith here taught that it was through the ordinance of conferral of the fulness of the priesthood that men could be qualified to be a part of the special missionary force of the last days which would number 144,000 high priests (D&C 77:8-11,14). When Cornelius P. Lott and his wife received these ordinances on 4 February 1844, the Prophet indicated that "the selection of [the] persons to form that number had already commenced." He had already conferred these blessings on at least 17 men (History of the Church, 6:196 and Wilford Woodruff Journal, under date given).
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A DIAGRAM OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD. The above diagram shows the order and unity of the kingdom of God. The eternal Father sits at the head, crowned King of kings and Lord of lords. Wherever the other lines meet, there sits a king and a priest unto God, bearing rule, authority, and dominion under the Father. He is one with the Father, because his kingdom is joined to his Father's and becomes part of it. The most eminent and distinguished prophets who have laid down their lives for their testimony (Jesus among the rest), will be crowned at the head of the largest kingdoms under the Father, and will be one with Christ as Christ is one with his Father; for their kingdoms are all joined together, and such as do the will of the Father, the same are his mothers, sisters, and brothers. He that has been faithful over a few things, will be made ruler over many things; he that has been faithful over ten talents, shall have dominion over ten cities, and he that has been faithful over five talents, shall have dominion over five cities, and to every man will be given a kingdom and a dominion, according to his merit, powers, and abilities to govern and control. It will be seen by the above diagram that there are kingdoms of all sizes, an infinite variety to suit all grades of merit and ability. The chosen vessels unto God are the kings and priests that are placed at the head of these kingdoms. These have received their washings and anointings in the temple of God on this earth; they have been chosen, ordained, and anointed kings and priests, to reign as such in the resurrection of the just. Such as have not received the fulness of the priesthood, (for the fulness of the priesthood includes the authority of both king and priest) and have not been anointed and ordained in the temple of the Most High, may obtain salvation in the celestial kingdom, but not a celestial crown. Many are called to enjoy a celestial glory, yet few are chosen to wear a celestial crown, or rather, to be rulers in the celestial kingdom. While this portion of eternity that we now live in, called time, continues, and while the other portions of eternity that we may hereafter dwell in, continue, those lines in the foregoing diagram, representing kingdoms, will continue to extend and be lengthened out; and thus, the increase of our kingdoms will increase the kingdom of our God, even as Daniel hath said: "of the increase of his kingdom and government there shall be no end." All these kingdoms are one kingdom, and there is a King over kings, and a Lord over lords. There are Lords many, and Gods many, for they are called Gods to whom the word of God comes, and the word of God comes to all these kings and priests. But to our branch of the kingdom there is but one God, to whom we all owe the most perfect submission and loyalty; yet our God is just as subject to still higher intelligences, as we should be to him. . . .These kingdoms, which are one kingdom, are designed to extend till they not only embrace this world, but every other planet that rolls in the blue vault of heaven. Thus will all things be gathered in one during the dispensation of the fulness of times, and the Saints will not only possess the earth, but all things else, for, says Paul, "All things are yours, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's" (Orson Hyde, "A Diagram of the Kingdom of God." Millennial Star9 [15 January 1847]:23-24).
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19. When the Church historians amalgamated the entries from the Joseph Smith Diary and the William Clayton Diary to create the version of this discourse that was published, the passage that the blessings conferred by the ordinance of sealing parents and children was unconditional. The wording of the published version suggests that the children of parents who receive the fulness of the priesthood can never fall. This previously unpublished, more complete account of the Prophet's idea docs contain a conditional. Clearly this is a more reasonable and consistent doctrine: if it were not for such a conditional, the concept would contradict significant doctrines taught by Joseph Smith, not the least of which would be a contradiction of his article of faith that "men will be punished for their own sins."
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20. 2 Corinthians 12:1-4. 21. The Prophet here teaches that though Abraham had not yet received the fulness of the priesthood, he had received from the Lord the promise of an innumerable posterity both for this world and in the world to come (D&C 132:28-31). Joseph Smith, however, clarifies that Abraham's endowment (Abraham Facsimile Number 2, figures 3 and 7) was greater than that which his descendants Aaron and Levi would be allowed; and thus "Abraham's" Patriarchal Priesthood (the ordinances of the endowment and patriarchal marriage for time and eternity) comprehended the Aaronic portion of the endowment. Additionally, the Prophet here clarifies that the Patriarchal Priesthood was not the same as the crowning ordinances of the fulness of the Melchizedek Priesthood. Elias returned the authority of promising innumerable posterity, but Elijah restored the authority of the fulness of the priesthood (D&C 110:12-16). Aside from this theological commentary, it is important to point out that the Prophet's teachings fit perfectly within a historical context. Joseph Smith administered the first ordinances of the Patriarchal Priesthood on 4 May 1842 when he gave both the Aaronic and Melchizedek portions of the endowment to nine men in his store in Nauvoo (see History of the Church, 5:1-2, or Teachings, p. 137; and H. W. Mills, "DeTal PaloTal Astilla," Annual Publications—Historical Society of Southern California 10 [Los Angeles: McBride Printing Company, 1917]: 120-21). By a year later, most of the nine received the ordinances of marriage for time and eternity. In particular, the Prophet and his wife, Emma, and James and Harriet Adams were sealed on 28 May 1843 (Joseph Smith Diary, Church Archives). Similarly, Hyrum Smith and his wife, Mary Fielding, Brigham Young and his wife, Mary Ann, and Willard Richards and his wife, Jennetta, were all sealed the next day. But the higher ordinances that confer the fulness of the priesthood had not as yet been administered. However one month and a day after this 27 August 1843 discourse, Joseph and Emma received the anointing and ordination "of the highest and holiest order of the priesthood" (Joseph Smith Diary, 28 September 1843, Church Archives). Hence by 27 August 1843, "Abrahams patriarchal power .. . [was] the greatest yet experienced in [the] church." As abstract as this may seem, the Prophet was not the only one who understood the relationship between these three orders of priesthood blessings that he said were illustrated in Hebrews 7; they who received these ordinances also understood these relationships. For example, Brigham Young later discussed in public discourse the relationship between the Aaronic and Patriarchal orders of the endowment as follows: When we give the brethren their endowments, we . . . confer upon them the Melchizedek Priesthood; but I expect to see the day, when we shall . . . say to a company of brethren, you can go and receive the [endowment] ordinances pertaining to the Aaronic order of Priesthood, and then you can go into the world and preach the Gospel, or do something that will prove whether you will honor that Priesthood before you receive more. Now we pass them through the [temple] ordinances of both Priesthoods in one day. (Journal ofDiscourses,10:309, quoted in John A. Widstoe, Discourses of Brigham Young [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1973], p. 396). Perhaps more important than his later understanding of the relationship between the Aaronic and Melchizedek portions of the endowment is the fact that three weeks before this 27 August 1843 discourse, Brigham Young demonstrates that the Prophet made clear to those who had received the endowment and patriarchal marriage ordinances, that they had not as yet received the fulness of the priesthood. On 6 August 1843, Brigham Young said, "If any in the church [have] the fullness of the Melchizedek Priesthood [I do] not know it. For any person to have the fullness of that priesthood, he must be a king and priest." Since he had received, with eight others, an anointing in 1842 promising him he would, if faithful, eventually receive another anointing actually ordaining him a king and a priest, Brigham Young therefore added, "A person may be anointed king and priest long before he receives his kingdom (History of the Church, 5:527, which is quoted verbatim from the contemporary account kept by Wilford Woodruff). Based on his understanding from Joseph the Prophet, Brigham Young said of this third order of priesthood blessings, "Those who . . . come in here [the Nauvoo Temple] and have received their washing & anointing will [later, if faithful], be ordained Kings & Priests, and will then have received the fullness of the Priesthood, all that can be given on earth. For Brother Joseph said he had given us all that could be given to man on the earth" (Heber C. Kimball Journal, kept by William Clayton, 26 December 1845, Church Archives, italics added). This is the theological and historical context for the Prophet's comments on the three orders of temple blessings outlined in this extremely important discourse.
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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 fullness of the priesthood and the fullness of eternal reward unless you receive the ordinances of the house of the Lord. . . . Then [the door is] open so you can obtain all the blessings which any man can gain. . . . You can have ["the fullness of the Lord's blessings"] 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. There is no exaltation in the kingdom of God without the fullness of the priesthood" (Joseph Fielding Smith, first address to the Priesthood as President of the Church, 4 April 1970, The Improvement Era 73 [June 1970]: 65-66). Regarding Abraham's receiving the "power of an endless life" after he offered his son Isaac, see note 29, this discourse.
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Abraham indicated his willingness to sacrifice Isaac (Genesis 22:1-14). 30. One of the major milestones, if not the major milestone, of the Latter-day work was to be the restoration of the fulness of the priesthood (D&C 124:28). The Prophet's "mission . . . [was to] firmly [establish] the 306 The Words of Joseph Smith dispensation of the fullness of the priesthood in the last days, that all the powers of earth and hell [could] never prevail against it" (History of the Church, 5:140, or Teachings, p. 258). What was this fulness of the priesthood? The most concise but inclusive definition of the authority of the fulness of the priesthood was given by Joseph Smith in his 10 March 1844 discourse when he said, "Now for Elijah; the spirit, power and calling of Elijah is that ye have power to hold the keys 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 . . . [to] have power to seal on earth and in heaven." However, the Prophet had not as yet administered the ordinances that made men kings and priests. Brigham Young said three weeks before this discourse that no one yet in the Church had the fulness of the Melchizedek Priesthood, "For any person to have the fullness of that priesthood, he must be a king and priest" (History of the Church, 5:527, which is quoted verbatim from the original source kept by Wilford Woodruff, Church Archives). These ordinances were instituted on 28 September 1843 and in the next five months were conferred on twenty men (and their wives, except for those whose names are asterisked): Hyrum Smith, Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Willard Richards, Newel K. Whitney, William Marks, John Taylor, John Smith, Reynolds Cahoon, Alpheus Cutler, Orson Spencer, Orson Hyde*, Parley P. Pratt*, Wilford Woodruff, George A. Smith, Levi Richards*, Cornelius P. Lott, William W. Phelps, Isaac Morley, and Orson Pratt.* As George Q. Cannon later said, Previous to his death, the Prophet Joseph manifested great anxiety to see the temple completed, as most of you who were with the Church during his day, well know. "Hurry up the work, brethren," he used to say, "let us finish the temple; the Lord has a great endowment in store for you, and I am anxious that the brethren should have their endowments and receive the fullness of the Priesthood. . . . Then," said he, "the Kingdom will be established, and I do not care what shall become of me." Prior to the completion of the Temple, [Joseph Smith] took the Twelve and certain other men, who were chosen, and bestowed upon them a holy anointing, similar to that which was received on the day of Pentecost by the Twelve, who had been told to tarry at Jerusalem. This endowment was bestowed upon the chosen few whom Joseph anointed and ordained, giving unto them the keys of the holy Priesthood, the power and authority which he himself held, to build up the Kingdom of God in all the earth and accomplish the great purposes of our Heavenly Father." Knowing that Sidney Rigdon was the only member of the First Presidency to survive the martyrdom but knowing too that he had not received the ordinances of the fulness of the priesthood, George Q. Cannon added this significant comment: "It was by virtue of this authority, on the death of Joseph, that President Young, as President of the quorum of the Twelve, presided over the Church" (Journal of Discourses, 13:49). Joseph Smith's followers did believe he "firmly established the dispensation of the fullness of the priesthood . . . that all .. . earth and hell [could] never prevail against it." See notes 21, 22, 29, and 38, this discourse.
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4. In his 27 June 1839 discourse (Richards's Pocket Companion account), Joseph Smith said that when the ancients obtained the blessings of the Second Comforter— "Isaiah, Ezekiel, John upon the Isle of Patmos, St. Paul in the three heavens, and all the Saints who held communion with the general assembly and Church of the Firstborn"—the Lord taught them face to face and gave them a perfect knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God. While the Prophet stated there were things they received that were unlawful to utter (2 Corinthians 12:4[l-4]; 3 Nephi 17:17; 19:34 [32-34]; 28:12-14; D&C 76:115), yet there was a general theme revealed to all. That theme pertained to the future destiny of man before and during the earth's millennial state.
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7. James Adams was one of the nine men to whom the Prophet gave the patriarchal priesthood keys of revelation in May 1842 (see 5 October 1840, note 19).
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I shall take the broad ground then that if we have or Can receive a portion of knowledge from God by immediate revelation by the same source we can receive all knowledge.
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Now for Elijah, the spirit power & calling of Elijah is that ye have power to hold the keys of the revelations ordinances, oricles powers & endowments of the fulness of the Melchezedek Priesthood13 & of the Kingdom of God on the Earth & to receive, obtain & perform all the ordinances belonging to the Kingdom of God even unto the sealing of the hearts of the hearts fathers unto the children & the hearts of the children unto the fathers even those who are in heaven.14
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This spirit of Elijah was manifest in the days of the Apostles in delivering certain ones to the buffitings of Satan that they may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus, they were sealed by the spirit of Elijah unto the damnaton of Hell untill the day of the Lord or revealtion of Jesus Christ23
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I have asked of the Lord concerning his coming & while asking, the Lord gave me a sign & said in the days of Noah I set a bow in the heavens as a sign & token that in any year that the bow should be seen the Lord would not come, but their should be seed time—harvest during that year, but when ever you see the bow withdraw, it shall be a token that their shall be famin pestilance & great distress among the nations." But I take the responsibility upon myself to prophesy in the name of the Lord, that Christ will not come this year as [William] Miller38 has prophecyed, for we have seen the bow.
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A Revelation So long as we see the bow in the cloud seed time & harvest shall continue that year when the bow shall cease55 then shall come famine wars &c after which the sign of the son of man shall be seen in heaven.56
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A question will Mothers have their children in Eternity yes, yes, you will have the children But as it falls so it will rise, It will never grow,56 It will be in its precise form as it fell in its mothers arms. Eternity is full of thrones upon which dwell thousands of children reigning on thrones of glory not one cubit added to their stature
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as the Child dies so shall it rise from the ded & be living in the burng. of God.87—it shall be the child as it was bef it died out of your arms Children dwell & exercise power in the same form as they laid them down
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—the heads of the Gods appointed one God for us18—& when you take a view of the subject it sets one free to see all the beauty holiness & perfection of the God—
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8. All ordinances of the temple that are done for the living, including marriage for time and eternity and the fulness of the priesthood, can also be done for the dead (see James E. Talmage, The House of the Lord [Salt Lake City:
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27. Although David was anointed a king by the Prophet Samuel, it was not, according to this teaching of Joseph Smith, after the order of the fulness of the Melchizedek Priesthood (see 1 Samuel 16:12-13). For this reason, when David ordered the murder of Uriah (2 Samuel 11), he did not commit the unpardonable sin.
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29. Concerning the David of the Last Days to rule in Jerusalem see 2 Samuel 7:8-29 (esp. v. 8-19); Ezekiel 34:23-25; 37:21-28; Zechariah 3; Isaiah 55:3-5; Jeremiah 30:4-9; Psalms 89:1-4; and D&C 113:5-6.
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32. In conjunction with making your calling and election sure, the Lord grants this privilege of asking and receiving. See JST Genesis 14:31 (26-32); Isaiah 65:24; John 21:20-23; Helaman 10:5(4-10); 3 Nephi 28:1, 3, 10 (1-14); D&C 7:1 (1-8), 50:26-29; 76:55,59 (51-61); 101:27 (cf. 27 June 1839, note 9); 124:95, 97; 132: 40(40-49).
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52. Taken together, Ezekiel 1:1, Matthew 3:16; Mark 1:10; Acts 7:56; 1 Nephi 1:8; 11:14, 27, 30; 12:6; Helaman 5:48; 3 Nephi 17:24; 28:13; Ether 4:9; D&C 76:12, 19; 93:15; 107:19; 110:1, 11; 137:1, 138:11, 29; Moses 7:3 (cf. Moses 1:2-11, 24-41) Joseph Smith-History 1:16-20, 43 (27-43), 68; and Teachings, pp. 9, 51, 151, 312, 328, 338, 339, 345, 350, and 371 show that the phrase "heavens opened" usually refers to a direct heavenly vision on the order of the blessings attending the visitation of the Second Comforter (see 27 June 1839, note 15). Compare the two visions of Newel Knight recorded in History of the Church, 1:83 and 85.
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14. A little learning is a dangerous thing. Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring, There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, And drinking largely sobers us up again. —Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
