Priesthood, the Government and Power of God

Priesthood . . .

- as Authority:

“The authority and power that God gives to man to act in all things for the salvation of
man.” (Official Church Website, Guide to the Scriptures)

- as Lineage:

“And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee; and in thee (that is,
in thy Priesthood) and in thy seed (that is, thy Priesthood), for I give unto thee a promise
that this right shall continue in thee, and in thy seed after thee (that is to say, the literal
seed, or the seed of the body) shall all the families of the earth be blessed, even with the
blessings of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal.”
(Abraham 2:11)

- as Government:

“When we talk of the celestial law which is revealed from heaven, that is, the Priesthood,
we are talking about the principle of salvation, a perfect system of government, of laws
and ordinances, by which we can be prepared to pass from one gate to another, and from
one sentinel to another, until we go into the presence of our Father and God.”
(Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses Vol. 2, p.139, December 3, 1854)

“We talk a good deal about the church and kingdom of God. I sometimes think we
understand very little about either. The kingdom of God means the government of God.”
(Journal of Discources, Vol. 21, page 63 President John Taylor, January 4, 1880)

Keys of the Priesthood . . . “Words & Signs”

“Upon you my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah I confer the Priesthood of Aaron,
which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and the gospel of repentance, and of
baptism by immersion for the remission of sins . . .” (D&C 13)

Joseph Smith received a revelation specifically requiring that he teach Hyrum Smith and
William Law certain "keys by which they could ask and receive" (D&C 124:95, 97)

In past dispensations, grand “Key-words” of the Holy Priesthood were specifically

revealed to Adam, Seth, Noah, Mechizedek Abraham and others.
(Figure 3, Facsimile No. 2, of the Book of Abraham)

The Prophet also stated that “Their [are] certain key words & signs belonging to the
priesthood which must be observed in order to obtain the blessings.”
(Joseph Smith, 20 March 1842, WJS, 108)

The Prophet Joseph Smith taught the Saints in Nauvoo that the Keys of the Priesthood “ .
 . . are certain signs and words . . . which cannot be revealed to the Elders till the Temple
is completed--The rich can only get them in the Temple--the poor may get them on the
Mountain top as did Moses.”
(Joseph Smith, 1 May 1842, WJS, 119-20)

President Brigham Young, on the occasion of the laying of the cornerstone of the Salt
Lake temple, described the importance of the words and signs of the Priesthood as
essential to entrance into the highest degree of heaven. “Your endowment is to receive all
those ordinances in the House of the Lord which are necessary for you, after you have
departed this life, to enable you to walk back to the presence of the Father, passing the
angels who stand as sentinels, being enabled to give them the key words, the signs and
tokens, pertaining to the Holy Priesthood, and gain your eternal exaltation in spite of
earth and hell." (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 2, p.315, April 6, 1853)
President John Taylor also confirms the requirement to “pass by” angels and Gods to
enter into our exaltation. “The time will come when we shall not only have to pass by
those officers whom I have referred to say, to have the sanction and approval of our
bishop, of the president of the stake, and of the president of the church but we are told in
this book (The Doctrine and Covenants) that we shall have to pass by the angels and the
Gods. We may have squeezed through the other; we may have got along tolerably well,
and been passed and acted upon, and sometimes a "tight squeeze" at that. But how will it
be when we get on the other side, and we have the angels and the Gods to pass by before
we can enter into our exaltation? If we cannot pass, what then? Well, we cannot, that is
all. And if we cannot, shall we be able to enter into our exaltation? I think not. What do
you think about it?” (Journal of Discources, Vol. 25, pages 161-162, June 15, 1884)

President Taylor’s Grand Vision of the Objectives of the Government and Power of God:

“Our main object is eternal lives and exaltations; our main object is to prepare ourselves,
our posterity and our progenitors for thrones, principalities and powers in the eternal
worlds . . .

“We are building temples for that purpose; we are receiving endowments for that
purpose; we are making covenants for that purpose, and all our objects, and all our aims,
like the object and aim of inspired men in former days, are altogether with reference to
eternal realities as well as to time. We have a Zion to build up, and we shall build it. We
shall build it. WE SHALL BUILD IT. No power can stop it. God has established his
kingdom, it is in his hands, and no influence, no power, no combination of whatever kind
it may be can stop the progress of the work of God.”

“This is what we are after, and we shall accomplish it, and no man can stop it, no
organization, no power, no authority, for God is at the helm, and his kingdom is onward,
onward, onward, and it will continue, and grow and increase until the kingdoms of this
world shall become the kingdoms of our God and his Christ.”
(Journal of Discources, Vol. 15, page 26, April 7, 1872)

“THE KINGDOM OF GOD OR NOTHING”

(Church motto presented by President Brigham Young August 30, 1857 and later institutionalized by President John Taylor)