Yesterday I had the privilege of standing as a representative of the Lord in the baptism of my eldest son. After I had acted pursuant to the authority that I had, he and I came forth out of the water. Then my father, one of God's high priests, laid his hands upon my son's head and confirmed him a member of the Church of Jesus Christ and gave him the gift of the Holy Ghost. This gift of the Holy Ghost is the right to the constant companionship of that member of the Godhead, based on righteousness.
THE PRIESTHOOD
My father and I each acted in the authority of the priesthood, and pursuant to authorization given by those who hold the keys of the priesthood. Priesthood is one thing; keys another. Priesthood is the power and authority of God delegated to man on earth to act in all things for the salvation of men. Keys are the directing power, the right to preside and govern in the priesthood and in the Church.
These two things, the authority of the priesthood and the directing power that goes with the keys of the priesthood, distinguish us from the world. The power and authority of God are found in the Church of Jesus Christ; they are not found in the churches which are not of Jesus Christ. The churches of the world have a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof. It is in and through the authority of the priesthood that the power of godliness is manifest And we are the only people on earth who have that priesthood, that power to act in the Lord's name and have our acts approved and acknowledged both on earth and in heaven.
This is a restored Church In it is found today, in all essential respects, exactly and precisely what the ancients had. Just as Christ gave Peter and the Apostles of old both the authority of the priesthood and the keys of the kingdom of heaven, or in other words the keys of the kingdom of God on earth, which is the Church, so has he given these things to us in our day. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is in the most real and actual sense the kingdom of God on earth, and it is designed to prepare and qualify men to go to the kingdom of God in heaven which is the celestial kingdom of heaven.
THE KINGDOM OF GOD
The Prophet Joseph Smith preached a glorious sermon in which he defined the kingdom of God. From it I read these sentences:
Where there is a priest of God--a minister who has power and authority from God to administer in the ordinances of the gospel and officiate in the priesthood of God, there is the kingdom of God. . . . Where there is no kingdom of God there is no salvation. What constitutes the kingdom of God? Where there is a prophet, a priest, or a righteous man unto whom God gives his oracles, there is the kingdom of God; and where the oracles of God are not, there the kingdom of God is not.
. . . If we do not get revelations, we do not have the oracles of God; and if they have not the oracles of God, they are not the people of God. . . . Jesus in his teachings says, "Upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." What rock? Revelation . . . .
Whenever men can find out the will of God and find an administrator legally authorized from God, there is the kingdom of God; but where these are not, the kingdom of God is not. (D. & C., vol. 5, pp. 256-259.)
RESTORATION OF GOSPEL
By the grace of God, and through his mercy, we have had restored to us in this day the fulness of the everlasting gospel: all of the laws, ordinances, and principles by obedience to which we can be both saved and exalted in our Father's kingdom. No other peoples have had so much of the light and truths of heaven poured out upon them as we have.
To us has come the Book of Mormon--a record of God's dealings with a people who had the fulness of the everlasting gospel--and it contains, in plain and simple form, the truths of salvation. We have many of the truths of heaven, and if we will accept them and then live them, we can gain the greatest rewards that are available in eternity. But it is not enough to have the truth alone. The mere possession of truth will not save a man. It is not enough to read the doctrines of the kingdom and know what they are. The devils also believe and tremble. It is not enough to take the Book of Mormon and read it and believe it. We must do all these things. But thereafter we must accept the truth by covenant under the hands of a legal administrator, someone who can bind on earth and in heaven.
COVENANT OF BAPTISM
The Prophet Joseph Smith wrote these words in his journal referring to a discussion he had with the Twelve Apostles: "I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding its precepts, than by any other book." (Ibid., vol. 4 p. 461.)
I agree with every word that Brother Marion G. Romney said yesterday. As he has done, I have read the Book of Mormon, prayerfully and carefully, more times than I have fingers; I believe it, sincerely and wholeheartedly. I know that it is a true witness of Christ and an accurate revealer of the Doctrines of Christ.
But after we have found the truth, after we have learned that the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God and is verily true, after we have obtained the testimony of Christ that comes by hearing the word of God taught by one having authority--and taught in righteousness and with the power of the Spirit--we must then then accept that truth by covenant of baptism; and we must do it under the hands of a legal administrator.
Baptism is the gateway to the kingdom of God both on earth and in heaven. And the kind of baptism that you and I want is one which will be recognized both on earth and in heaven. It is one thing to set up a system that will be recognized by men; it is quite another thing to have a system which God will recognize. The Lord said to Peter: "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be hound in heaven. . . ." (Matthew 16:19.)
We want a baptism, (and this goes for all ordinances,) that will be binding on earth and in heaven, that will be recognized by the Lord both here and hereafter.
DIVINE AUTHORITY
Now, this sentence from the Prophet's sermon: "All the ordinances, systems, and administrations on the earth are of no use to the children of men, unless they are ordained and authorized of God; for nothing will save a man but a legal administrator; for none others will be acknowledged by God or angels." (D.H.C., vol. 5, p. 259.)
Speaking of the new and everlasting covenant, which is the gospel, the Lord said to the Prophet: ". . . All covenants, contracts, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances, connections associations or expectations that are not made and entered into and sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, of him who is anointed. both as well for time and for all eternity and that too most holy, by revelation and commandment through the medium of mine anointed, whom I have appointed on the earth to hold this power . . . are of no efficacy, virtue or force in and after the resurrection from the dead; for all contracts that are not made unto this end have an end when men are dead. (D. & C. 132:7.)
Then the Lord propounds a question to all those who have set up systems of religion on assumed authority, authority claimed from generations dead and gone. It is: ". . . will I receive at your hands that which I have not appointed?" (Ibid., 10.) Certainly not. His house is a house of order, and not a house of confusion. No man can come unto him or unto his Father except it be by his word which is his law.
And finally, in language so broad and comprehensive as to cover all principles, doctrines, ordinances, and systems, the Lord says: "And everything that is in the world, whether it be ordained of men, by thrones, or principalities, or powers, or things of name, whatsoever they may be, that are not by me or by my word, saith the Lord, shall be thrown down, and shall not remain after men are dead, neither in nor after the resurrection, saith the Lord your God. For whatsoever things remain are by me; and whatsoever things are not by me shall be shaken and destroyed." (Ibid., 13-14.)
Thus there are only two ways in which anything in this world can be so ordained as to remain with full force and validity in the spirit world and in the resurrection. Either God himself must ordain it or an agent of God, acting under and in accordance with proper authorization from him, must do it. Then and then only will the act be recognized in eternity. There is no other way.
Baptism is the gate to the celestial kingdom of heaven, provided it is performed by a legal administrator, one whose administrations will be recognized by God, and provided also that the candidate has made himself worthy and that the ordinance is sealed upon him by the Holy Ghost.
The same principle applies to all ordinances. The Lord said of the sacrament:
"Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day." (John 6:54.)
But in order to obtain that blessing we must participate in the ordinance worthily, with the ratifying approval of the Holy Ghost, and as it is performed by a legal administrator.
It is the same with marriage. Men can ordain any system of marriage that suits their pleasure. They can make a man and a woman husband and wife in this life; but when men are dead, that ends the marriage. In order for a man and a woman to be husband and wife in the spirit world and in the resurrection, for the family unit to continue after death, the sealing must be done by God personally or by an authorized agent holding authority from him so to act; and it must be sealed and approved by the Holy Ghost, a condition that is fulfilled only if the participants are worthy.
RESTORATION OF PRIESTHOOD
Now we have received the same power and authority that the ancients had. In May of 1829, John the Baptist came and gave to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery both the Aaronic Priesthood and the keys of that priesthood. Shortly thereafter Peter, James, and John came and gave to those same worthies the Melchizedek Priesthood and the keys of the kingdom of God. Then in 1835, when the first quorum of Apostles was called in this dispensation, those Apostles were given the keys of the kingdom of God on earth.
Thereafter additional keys were given. Elijah came on April the third in 1836. He gave the keys of the sealing power, or in other words, he authorized the use of the priesthood to seal on earth and bind in heaven. Moses came and gave the keys of the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth, and the leading of the ten tribes from the land of the north. Elias came and gave the keys of the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham. The Prophet says that divers angels from Michael or Adam on down to the present time all came, declaring their dispensations, their rights, their keys, their honors, their majesty and glory, and the power of their priesthood, until we had in this dispensation, which is the one of the Fulness of Times, all of the power and authority that God had ever given in any dispensation that went before.
KEYS OF THE KINGDOM
Then just a few weeks before Joseph and Hyrum went to Carthage Jail to seal their testimony with their blood, the Prophet, in the Nauvoo Temple, conferred upon the Apostles all of the keys of the kingdom of heaven. After the bestowal of these powers and keys he said: "I have sealed upon your heads all the keys of the kingdom of God. I have sealed upon you every key, power, principle that the God of heaven has revealed to me. Now, no matter where I may go or what I may do, the kingdom rests with you. . . . ye apostles of the Lamb of God, my brethren, upon your shoulders this kingdom rests; now you have got to round up your shoulders and bear off the kingdom. (See, The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, p. 72.)
From that moment to the present time, every man who has been ordained to the holy apostleship has been given the keys of the kingdom of God on earth, or in other words the directive right to preside over this Church and this kingdom. And so, at this time, we have legal administrators, brethren holding both priesthood and keys. We have the truths of heaven to teach; we have the power to seal men up, conditioned on their faithfulness, unto eternal life. Nowhere else in all the world is this found.
This morning, President Smith expressed a sentiment which he has expressed over and over again. In this sermon of the Prophet Joseph Smith from which I have been quoting is the same thought. The sentiment shows the measure, the great capacity, the love that prevails in the hearts of the two men. The Prophet said: "I thank God for preserving me from my enemies; I have no enemies but for the truth's sake. I have no desire but to do all men good. I feel to pray for all men. We don't ask any people to throw away any good they have got; we only ask them to come and get more. What if all the world should embrace this gospel? They would see eye to eye, and the blessings of God would be poured out upon the people, which is the desire of my whole soul. (D.H.C., vol. 5, p. 259.)
As as the Prophet prayed, so pray I in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
