FOURTH LEAF.

Divine Authority—Without it all Gospel Administrations Vain—It Cannot be Acquired—The Priesthood, its Antiquity, Power and Blessings—The Priesthood of Melchisedek—The Aaronic Priesthood—Priestcraft—The Authority of God Must Come From God—Ordination—Value of the Priesthood.

The ordinances of the gospel, being of divine origin, require divine authority in their administration. Baptism at the hands of one not appointed to attend to it is void. It is therefore without value and without effect. If any unauthorized person were to lay hands upon a baptized believer, even if the correct form of the ordinance were observed, the Holy Ghost would not flow to the subject. No matter how good the intentions of either party might be, the lack of authority would vitiate the whole transaction. No company, firm, society, court or government would acknowledge or become responsible for the acts of any but its duly appointed and properly accredited agents. Why then should the Great King endorse the doings of men who take upon themselves duties not required of them, or bestow, through their unauthorized performance, blessings that belong only to the administrations of His chosen ambassadors?

It is strange that intelligent persons who clearly perceive the necessity of valid authority in human affairs, should imagine that it is not necessary in divine affairs; that while no earthly potentate would be expected to pay the slightest attention to proceedings of any pretended representative of a nation or ruler, the Eternal Monarch of the universe must needs honor the acts of any individual of a devotional cast of mind, who chooses to perform ceremonies and ordinances in His great name.

A man may have such faith in God as to obtain choice blessings, behold visions, receive heavenly gifts, and lay hold upon extraordinary spiritual powers, and yet have no right to administer any ordinance in the name of the Lord. Man cannot acquire this authority; it must be conferred upon him in the appointed way.

In every age when the Almighty has had a church or organized body of true worshipers on earth, He has sent among them men who were authorized by Him to act in His name. Of such were Noah, Melchisedec, Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Peter, James and John, and many others. They were not only endowed with the Holy Ghost, but were also appointed and set apart to administer needful rites in God's stead. What they sealed on earth by this authority was sealed in heaven, and what they loosed on earth was loosed in heaven. In other words, what they performed, as directed of God, was accepted by Him and was of the same force as though attended to by Him in person. Any authority less than this is the same as no authority.

This delegated power from God to man is called the Priesthood. Sometimes this term is used in reference to the men who hold this authority. Properly speaking, however, it relates to the office rather than the person. Melchisedec was a great high priest, and the authority he held was eternal in its nature; without beginning of days or end of life. It did not depend upon lineage either of father or mother, and it is written that he who holds it in faithfulness "abideth a priest continually;" that is, he retains it in this world, and also in the world to come. Aaron received a Priesthood which was of another order, and that ran in a family line, descending from father to son, and was subordinate to the higher Priesthood after the order of Melchisedec.

John the Baptist held and administered the Aaronic or lesser Priesthood, but Jesus received and acted in the Melchisedec or higher Priesthood. So John could baptize the repentant for the remission of sins, but could not confer the Holy Ghost as Jesus did. In like manner, Philip, acting in the lesser Priesthood, could baptize the people of Samaria, but had to send for Peter or some other apostle acting in the higher Priesthood, to come down and lay hands upon them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost.

Jesus did not take this authority upon Himself although he was the Son of God. "He glorified not Himself to be made an High Priest," but His Father called Him, saying, "Thou art a Priest forever, after the order of Melchisedec." Moses and Elijah held similar authority in their day and retained it when they left the sphere of mortality. And they came and administered in that Priesthood to Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. As the Father called Him, so called He the apostles, and so, under divine direction, they called and ordained others.

Thus the Priesthood in both orders or branches was continued in the early Christian Church, until through transgression, it was taken from among men, and in its place a spurious priesthood, destitute of divine authority, divine inspiration and divine power, was set up by ambitious and designing men. This is priestcraft, the base counterfeit of the true and heavenly coin.

When the Priesthood is once lost it cannot be regained merely by the hopes, wishes or acts of men. No matter how strong a desire any one may have to benefit his fellow man, he must not attempt to administer to him any ordinance or ceremony of the gospel unless called of God so to do. And this call does not come to men merely "in the heart" or the imagination. A great many enthusiastic persons have felt themselves "called" to the ministry. But this over-anxiety does not give them the Priesthood, any more than strong wishes of a politician for the post of minister to Berlin, clothe him with authority to represent this government in the German empire.

The Priesthood is given by ordination. When there is no man living in the flesh, who holds this authority, its restoration can only be effected by the administration of heavenly beings who formerly held it on the earth. They can return when so permitted and instructed, as Moses and Elias did on the mount. But when the link is restored, they never step over the line of the two spheres for this purpose again, while there remains one man on the earth holding the legitimate authority. For God's house is a house of order, and the rights and powers of His Priesthood cannot be invaded with impunity either by mortal men or the heavenly hosts.

Under divine inspiration and certain rules and provisions, those who hold this Priesthood may ordain others by the laying on of hands. Thus, while mankind are worthy of its administrations and accompanying blessings, it may be perpetuated in the earth, a medium of communication between God and man, a guide for the feet of erring mortals to the straight and narrow path that leadeth unto life. Without it, the inhabitants of the earth wander in spiritual darkness, and those who presume to step forward as their teachers, are blind leaders of the blind, and all their ministrations in the name of Him who never sent them are vain, worthless and without force or virtue in time or eternity.