Without revelation direct from heaven, it is impossible for any person
to fully understand the plan of salvation. We often hear it said that
the living oracles must be in the Church, in order that the kingdom of
God may be established and prosper on the earth. I will give another
version of this sentiment. I say that the living oracles of God, or
the Spirit of revelation must be in each and every individual, to know
the plan of salvation and keep in the path that leads them to the
presence of God.
How true is the text that brother George A. Smith has quoted. There
are thousands of our Elders who ought now to be teachers, and to know
enough to commence the kingdom of God on the earth, and establish it,
and continue to lead, guide, and direct it, leading the people
directly through the gate into the celestial kingdom of our Father and
God, and yet they need to be taught like children.
From what has been remarked it appears that, in some instances, the
President and the Bishop of a Branch infringe upon the rights of each
other, perhaps honestly; and they think that they possess this power
and that authority, and thereby contention arises in the midst of this
people, creating alienation of feeling and apostasy. What a pity it is
that such circumstances should exist; they create sincere regret in
the soul of every person who desires to see the kingdom of God
prosper on the earth.
The spiritual and the temporal cannot be separated, and, in the
economy of the Framer of the Universe, are not designed to be. For
example, were we a congregation who had not heard the plan of
salvation and knew nothing of the kingdom of God upon earth, and were
listening patiently to a stranger opening the plan of salvation to us,
our hearts would be touched by the fire in the speaker, the eyes of
our understandings would be opened, and we would begin to comprehend,
admire, and rejoice in the truth. This is a spiritual work, an
internal work, a work upon the heart and affections. This is what we
call spiritual impressions. The speaker has portrayed before our minds
the beauties of the kingdom of God on earth so rationally, and in a
manner so congenial to the feelings of all honest persons, that they
are all influenced to believe the Gospel. What is the next step? You
next ask the preacher to baptize you, and here you commence a temporal
labor with both body and spirit. The preacher has been laboring with
his body, exercising his lungs, and his whole spiritual and temporal
system, and this labor produces a spiritual and temporal benefit on
those who believe and practice his teachings. It is so extremely nice
a point to draw the line of demarcation, between the temporal and
spiritual acts of man, that it is impossible to separate the two.
There is a class of men who do not believe anything in religion to be
temporal; they are baptized in their hearts, partake of the sacrament
in their hearts, preach in their hearts, and worship the Lord in their
hearts, while their bodies are constantly scrambling after the dimes.
To be baptized, change your wet clothes for dry ones, go to meeting to
worship the Lord, and to bring the body into subjection to the will of
Christ, is all a temporal labor aided by the Divine Spirit.
I will say a few words with regard to a Bishop. Except we find a
literal descendant of Aaron, a man has to be ordained to the High
Priesthood to administer as did Aaron and his sons. Suppose we then
place the same man also as a President in a Branch, how are we going
to divide his duties and labors? I said a few words in this subject
last year, and can say more about it. Can the Bishop baptize the
people, according to his Bishopric? He can. When the people he has
baptized assemble for confirmation, can he confirm them? He cannot,
under the power of his Bishopric; but as he has been ordained to the
office of a High Priest, after the order of Melchizedek, to prepare
him to act in the office of a Bishop in the Priesthood of Aaron, when
he has baptized the people under the authority of his Bishopric, he
has a right as a High Priest to confirm them into the Church by the
laying on of hands. Bishops begin a contention in their Branch, where
they operate in their calling, when they amalgamate with their
Bishop's office the office of the High Priesthood, when they try to
bring the authority of the High Priesthood in the kingdom of God down
to the capacity of the Priesthood that belongs to the office of an
acting Bishop; here they make a grave mistake, and fall into
perplexing errors.
What are the duties of a President and a Bishop? We will first notice
a duty that belongs to a President. For instance, he wishes a
comfortable place prepared for the people to meet in, and he calls on
the Bishop to marshal his forces to gather the material to build a
house, and the house is prepared for the comfort and accommodation of
all. In this instance you observe the duty and office of a Bishop is attended to. In his capacity the Bishop knows nobody only
as a member of the kingdom of God, and in the performance of this duty
he calls upon the President and everyone else to aid in accomplishing
the wishes of the President, to go to the canyon to get out timber, to
quarry rock, make adobies, &c., &c., for everybody is entitled to pay
Tithing. When the house is put up according to the President's
direction, then the President calls on the Bishop to see that it is
well seated, lighted, and warmed, for the convenience and comfort of
the congregation. Then in like manner he sees that the sacrament is
prepared and administered, for it is the right, and privilege, and
duty of the President to baptize, and confirm, and administer the
sacrament, and do all things for the spiritual building up of the
kingdom of God; and also it is the right of the Bishop to preach,
baptize, and administer the sacrament.
On Monday morning the Bishop calls upon the President and everybody it
concerns, to send their Tithing to the General Tithing Office. The
President, who officiates as presiding officer on Sunday, is as
subject to the Bishop on Monday as anybody else. My Bishop has just as
good a right to come to my house and demand of me my Tithing, as he
has to demand it of any other person in his ward, also to inquire into
the state of my family, whether I attend to my prayers, whether I have
contention with my neighbors, &c., in his capacity as a Bishop.
So these callings and Priesthoods are interwoven one with another, for
the convenience and furtherance of the kingdom of God, in the absence
of a literal descendant of Aaron. A Bishop sometimes officiates as a
High Priest, and sometimes as a Bishop. In his High Priesthood he can
act, when called upon so to do by the proper authority in every
calling in the Church, except that of an Apostle; there are still keys
and powers that can be conferred upon him; but when a man is ordained
to the office of an Apostle, he is ordained to the fullest extent a
man can be on earth.
May the Lord bless you. Amen.