Chauncey C. Riddle
The Holy Priesthood is power and authority from Jesus Christ to accomplish the work of godliness on this earth. By this power the earth and the world were created. By this power men have been placed on the earth as children of God. Through it men are born again of water and of Spirit to a newness of spiritual life. True happiness and peace in this life and eternal life in the world to come are achieved only through the power of the priesthood. These generalizations come to this point: only when men and women learn to accept the proper role of the Priesthood in their lives can the eternal blessings of God begin to flow unto them. What is that proper role?
The proper role of the Holy Priesthood is to be the power by which our lives are governed and by which we govern. To honor the Holy Priesthood is to honor our Savior. He has ordained every office, calling and stewardship in His Kingdom. To accept that power, either in being governed or in governing, is to accept explicitly Jesus Christ as our Savior.
What does it mean to be governed by the Savior? Paul tells us that the Lord:
gave some , apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11–13)
It is the goal of saints to become perfect, to become as the great Exemplar, Jesus Christ. This can be done only as men take upon themselves the divine nature. The same power by which Jesus was perfect is the power of the Holy Priesthood to make men perfect. The Savior overcame the world and extends to every human being the same privilege through the power of his Priesthood:
And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou has sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. (John 17:22–23)
But according to Paul what is it that enables men to become perfect or “whole”? It is the guidance of the Lord’s anointed. He sends his prophets to reveal the mind, will and power of God to all who would be edified. As men humble themselves in mighty prayer and repentance before their Father in Heaven, the Holy Spirit teachers them to see the prophets as the personal representatives of the Savior. Such men see no tyranny or threat in the prophets; rather they feel hungry to be instructed by those from whom they feel the Holy Spirit radiating. As they accept that instruction and put it to practice in their lives, the order of love based on truth establishes men in a brotherhood more potent for human happiness than any act of which the world ever dreams.
Every member of the Kingdom of God is blessed to be governed, if he wishes to be, by an authorized servant of Jesus Christ. He enjoys not only one such benefactor, but many. The Lord has set the father of the family, the ministering brothers, the quorum or group leader, the Bishop, the stake president, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and the First Presidency to be earthly guides to every member of the Church to lead each one in the way of happiness and salvation. And there is no other way. The world has tried for six thousand years to counterfeit the Kingdom of God and to save men by natural means. But no attempt or power of the world ever has or ever will compare with that organization which has an omnipotent, omniscient and perfect being at its head.
The challenge to every Latter-day Saint is simply this: will we look to the Priesthood authorities of the church to order all things?
What does it mean to govern by the power of the Priesthood? It means that we should recognize that all right to govern resides with the Creator of all things. Men have been given the freedom to govern their stewardships as they will, but they have the right to govern only if they receive that right from Him whose right it is, and they maintain that right only as they act under the personal direction of the Lord. All other power and usurpation will come to naught.
If every man could see his opportunity to govern, be it his mind, his body, his conversation, his family, his business, his quorum, his ward, his stake, as God-given, then every man would be better prepared to take the second step, to govern in a godly manner. He would then seek to be worthy and to remain worthy to govern, subduing every sinful and unholy influence in his life, that through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the mind of Christ, he might govern in pure love, the power of Christ:
No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, but gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned;
By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile—
Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy;
That he may know that thy faithfulness is stronger than the cords of death.
Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distill upon thy soul as the dews from heaven.
The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever. (D&C 121:41–46)
These sublime words from our Savior give us a precious glimpse of what it means to govern. But that glimpse becomes our condemnation if we do not set about to transform those ideas into a living reality in our own lives. There is much in the world about which we can do little; but we can do something about our own stewardship. We are accountable for how we govern. As we govern wisely, our Savior increases our authority, that our influence might bless an ever-widening circle of His children. So we should see that the governor of our own stewardship (our self), loves the Lord with all his heart, might, mind and strength and stands ready to carry into effect in that stewardship the directions of the living prophets, for we each may know that those directives come from our Savior. We can see that our stewardship is governed by the pure love of Christ, in that no stiff-necked selfishness of the governor prevents the free flow of the blessings of Jesus Christ down through the channels of authority to every individual in our stewardship.
May we learn to govern and be governed in the true order of the Son of God, that we might be faithful and honor Him who gave all for us.