Priesthood

Priesthood:

President Thomas S Monson, in the april 2013 General Conference priesthood Session said:Each year our young men in uniform bring many souls into the kingdom of God by honoring their priesthood, living the commandments of God, and teaching to others the Lord’s divine word.
Thomas S. Monson, come all ye sons of God, April 2013 General Conference,

You young men cannot know what acts of priesthood service the Lord is preparing you to give. But the greater challenge for every priesthood holder is to give spiritual help. All of us have that charge. It comes with being a member of a quorum. It comes with being a member of a family. If the faith of anyone in your quorum or your family is attacked by Satan, you will feel compassion. Much like the service and mercy given by the Samaritan, you will also minister to them with healing balm for their wounds in their time of need.
-Henry B. Eyring, 2013, bind up Their Wounds

Those who join this Church love the Savior Jesus Christ and they wish to follow Him. They rejoice in the knowledge that God speaks to mankind again. When they receive sacred priesthood ordinances and make covenants with God, they can feel His power in their lives. When they enter the holy temple, they sense they are in His presence. When they read the holy scriptures and live the teachings of His prophets, they grow closer to the Savior they love so much.

-Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Come Join with us, October 2013. 

Although you cannot see the power of the priesthood, you can feel it, and you can see the results of it. The priesthood can be a guiding and protecting power in your life.
-Boyd K Packer, The Aaronic Priesthood, General Conference 1981

Brothers and sisters, can you imagine how dark and empty mortality would be if there were no priesthood? If the power of the priesthood were not upon the earth, the adversary would have freedom to roam and reign without restraint. There would be no gift of the Holy Ghost to direct and enlighten us; no prophets to speak in the name of the Lord; no temples where we could make sacred, eternal covenants; no authority to bless or baptize, to heal or comfort. Without the power of the priesthood, “the whole earth would be utterly wasted.”
-Robert D. Hales, Blessings of the priesthood, General Conference 1995

The priesthood is the power of God, which is given to man to act in His name. The priesthood of God is timeless. It “was in the beginning, [and] shall be in the end of the world also” (Moses 6:7; see also History of the Church, 3:386). Before this world was created, the premortal Council in Heaven was held under the direction of the priesthood. The formation of the universe and of the world upon which we live was brought to pass—not by chance, but through the power of the priesthood. The great Creator spoke, and the elements obeyed. The processes of nature that enable us to exist on this planet, the resources of this world that sustain life—all were set into motion and continue their course through the power of God’s magnificent priesthood. While most of the earth’s inhabitants do not recognize this priesthood power, all living creatures are its beneficiaries.

The creation of this earth provided a place for the sons and daughters of God to live and grow—a place where our Father could bestow the blessings of his wondrous priesthood upon us. The priesthood was first given to Adam, who held the keys from generation to generation. Adam ordained seven generations of his posterity to the priesthood, beginning with his sons Abel and Seth (see D&C 84:16; D&C 107:40–53). After the death of Adam, the priesthood continued from father to son, even until Melchizedek.

- Robert D. Hales, Blessings of the priesthood, General Conference 1995

It has been over 180 years since the priesthood was restored. We now number nearly 14 million members. Even so, we are a tiny fraction when compared to the billions of people on earth. But we are who we are, and we know what we know, and we are to go forth and preach the gospel.

The Book of Mormon makes it clear that we never will dominate by numbers. But we have the power of the priesthood.

Boyd K Packer, The Power of the Priesthood, General Conference, Ensign, April 2010. 

Priesthood is the authority and the power which God has granted to men on earth to act for Him. ²³ When priesthood authority is exercised properly, priesthood bearers do what He would do if He were present.

We have done very well at distributing the authority of the priesthood. We have priesthood authority planted nearly everywhere. We have quorums of elders and high priests worldwide. But distributing the authority of the priesthood has raced, I think, ahead of distributing the power of the priesthood. The priesthood does not have the strength that it should have and will not have until the power of the priesthood is firmly fixed in the families as it should be.

Boyd K Packer, The Power of the Priesthood, General Conference, Ensign, April 2010. 

We need everyone. The tired or worn out or lazy and even those who are bound down with guilt must be restored through repentance and forgiveness. Too many of our priesthood brethren are living below their privileges and the Lord’s expectations.

We must go forward, confident of the supernal power of the priesthood. It is a source of strength and encouragement to know who we are and what we have and what we must do in the work of the Almighty.

Boyd K Packer, The Power of the Priesthood, General Conference, Ensign, April 2010.

 

The authority of the priesthood is with us. After all that we have correlated and organized, it is now our responsibility to activate the power of the priesthood in the Church. Authority in the priesthood comes by way of ordination; power in the priesthood comes through faithful and obedient living in honoring covenants. It is increased by exercising and using the priesthood in righteousness.

Now, fathers, I would remind you of the sacred nature of your calling. You have the power of the priesthood directly from the Lord to protect your home. There will be times when all that stands as a shield between your family and the adversary’s mischief will be that power. You will receive direction from the Lord by way of the gift of the Holy Ghost.

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The ultimate end of all activity in the Church is that a man and his wife and their children might be happy at home, protected by the principles and laws of the gospel, sealed safely in the covenants of the everlasting priesthood.
Boyd K Packer, The Power of the Priesthood, General Conference, Ensign, April 2010.

The Aaronic Priesthood is a great gift of spiritual power that the Lord conferred upon Aaron and his sons.³ It holds “the key of the ministering of angels and the preparatory gospel”⁴ and also includes “the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins.”⁵

I would like to say a word about the ministering of angels. In ancient and modern times angels have appeared and given instruction, warnings, and direction, which benefited the people they visited. We do not consciously realize the extent to which ministering angels affect our lives. President Joseph F. Smith said, “In like manner our fathers and mothers, brothers, sisters and friends who have passed away from this earth, having been faithful, and worthy to enjoy these rights and privileges, may have a mission given them to visit their relatives and friends upon the earth again, bringing from the divine Presence messages of love, of warning, or reproof and instruction, to those whom they had learned to love in the flesh.”⁶ Many of us feel that we have had this experience. Their ministry has been and is an important part of the gospel. Angels ministered to Joseph Smith as he reestablished the gospel in its fulness.

A Royal Priesthood, James E. Faust, April 2006, General conference, ensign.