Show ad IS C 0 TT T T IR S MI BY amm PIRIE JOHN imog T I 1 delivered delivered at paris bear lake on bunday sunday morning homing august ath 1880 REPORTED BY GEO GM F GIBBS it will be perceived that it is a long time since this discourse was delivered and at a time when the T twelve apostles were acting as first presidency of the church I 1 arise this morning to make mate a few remarks to you von as I 1 may be led and dictated by the spirit of god I 1 am sorry that we have not more time to spend with you but having a conference to at V tend at manti Sau pete on next K saturday and sunday which is quite a long way from here and in the meantime having business to attend to at home we shall be obliged in order to make connections with the train at logan to v leave this place at the close of this ji meeting I 1 should and so would my brethren with me have been very much pleased to have visited you at your several settlements but owing to these circumstances it will be impracticable to do so there are a few items to which I 1 ff wish to call your attention yesterday we heard a very interesting discourse from brother snow in which he compared the climate clima teete ete etc of your valley with that of southern utah and the remarks made will r doubtless have the effect to dispel a good deal of the restlessness which 1 I understand many have manifested because of the severity of your winters and I 1 would further remark in relation to these matters i that this Is the zion of our God that we are gathered here not for the purpose of seeking to do our own wills or to carry out our own de signs our own ideas or theories but to be subject to the law of god to the order of god and to the priesthood of god and that our greatest safety and happiness under all cir cum stances is in rendering strict obedience to to his jam jaw and to the counsels that may be given from f fatime time to time through the holy t priesthood we are today to day a kingdom of priests holding to a very JI it great extent the holy priesthood y and it is essential that we submit submit ourselves to the laws of that priesthood and be governed by them in elli till allot of our actions the seventies for instance that is those who choun un der stand themselves expect to be on hafid hand at any time to go to all the world and preach the gospel to vry every creature that would be no emo imo more bore re than their duty which is in keeping with the command of god f to them and as to whether they if live in hot or cold countries is really a matter of very little importance to them their calling being to preach he the gospel to every creature the worl orld orid dover over then the high priests have certain duties to perform and if inthey th eyare are in an organized condition as the people of this stake are for instance their duties are to pre pro pare are themselves for certain events hat that may transpire and to be learn lean ing ng to preside for the duties of he the meichi Melchi sedek or high priesthood have been in all ages of the world to preside so says the doctrine and covenants extracts from which I 1 may read to you but it is not because a man is a high priest that he should necessarily preside until he is called to fulfill fulfil some of the duties and responsibilities devolving dev devolving olvin 9 upon that priesthood and it is the duty of a president of the high priests to get the members of his ft quorum under him together and to instruct them as to the duties of the presidency Tresi deney dency so that in the event of any being called say to occupy the L f boffice of one of the twelve apostles who are high priests they would be prepared to enter upon such duty or 5 that in case they should be called to preside over a stake they would be to enter udon unon the duties of that office or if they should be call li ed to be counselors to the president t of the stake they could act wisely and efficiently in that position or if they should be called upon to be high councilors councillors Counci lors they would know how to act righteously and equitably f P in in nil all cases that they might be call ed to adjudicate and then if they should be called to be bish ops aps or bishops counselors as the case maybe may be they should be pre ll 11 pared red to occupy these or any other A 0 0 offices that they mig might I 1 be called to officiate in high priests have those aug OV in 1 than I 1 IPPI ns much as it devolves upon the seventies to go to the nations to preach and there is no such thing in the pro gramme as sitting and singing ourselves away to everlasting bliss or if we are called to fill an office we should not feel at liberty to neglect its responsibilities and sit down and do nothing the meals idea is that we are to magnify our office and calling no matter what its duties may be then there are certain duties devolving upon the bishops and also upon the presidents of stakes and then the twelve wherever they may be located have also their particular duties and especially lr ir is 14 this the case in the present bation of the church the twelve occupying the position of the first presidency I 1 wish for your information to offer some few ideas on some of these leading points that you may understand something of the nature of the duties and responsibilities ties that devolve upon us to attend to it is not correct to suppose that the whole duty of carrying athis kingdom devolves upon the twelve or the first presidency as the case maybe may be or upon the presidents of the stakes or upon the high priests or upon the seventies or upon the bishops or upon any other officer in the church and kingdom of god that to the contrary all of us have our several duties to perform and I 1 may go farther in regard to the duties of men and also rard fard in n regard to those of women all have their duties to perform before god goj the organization of this churchard Chur church chand and express purpose of putting every man in his place and it is then expected that every man in la that place will magnify his office and calling for through the ordinances of the gospel and the operations erat ions of the priesthood the blessings of god are manifested and without the ordinances we can not enjoy the falness of these blessings among us latter day saints nor could the saints in any age of the world among any people that ever existed we are of the household of faith the children of god we are gathered together for tb the e express purpose of being taught in the laws jaws of life so that we may comprehend the position that we occupy and theouties the duties and responsibilities which devolve upon us and as I 1 have before stated we are not here simply to carry out mir our own designs or to suit our own feelings orvis or wishes hes bes or to aggrandize ourselves beyond this earth as it now is beyond time in the eter oter eternities that are to come we have a work to perform and we have to prepare in in p part at for it while we are upon this earth and god has called us together for this purpose the world is wallowing in iniquity corruption wickedness and evil and d it is for us in the first place to rid ourselves of everything 0 of that kind kin and to feel that we are the e childre children of god that he is our father and that we are under his law and that we have to be subject to his commands and that he har has ordained and organized and set apart a priesthood Pries theod for this pur purpose 0 s e and what is that priesthood pl it t is the rule and government of god whether on the earth or in the heavens and is the means by which god has operated in all the ages of the world there is an order in this every man in his place t the e first presidency or twelve as the case maybe may be in their place the thid presidents of stakes in their paces p aces the high council in their places the high priesthood in their place the seventies in their place the elders in their place the presiding bishop with his counselors in his place and the other bishops in their place and the priests teachers and deacons in their place and every one feeling that they are the servants of the living god and that they are clothed upon with the holy priesthood and that they have a duty to perform in his kingdom that they stand ready at all times to carry out anything that god goil may inay dictate through his regularly constituted authority in regard to themselves their families their hoods wherein they live or in the church or the world tsat vat their du dut t is to spread the gospel to the tiie ends of the earth to gather the people to build temples and to accomplish anything and everything that god requires and that when we have llave built temples it is our duty to administer in them that we may be the children of god saviors upon M mount aunt zion and rid be the t lessed of the lord of hosts Hosta and our offspring with us this is the position we oc opine here upon the I 1 will noad read to yon from the M RM TR app ing of priesthood we are told that there remains bere berc hereafter after in the due dud time of the lord other bishops to be set feet apart in the church to minister even according to the first wherefore they shall be high priests who are worthy and they shall be appointed by the first presidency of the Melchi meichi sedek eke efe priesthood except they be literal descendants of aaron if they be the literal descendants of aaron they have a legal right to the bishopric if they are the first born among the sons of aaro aarol i i for the first born holds the ri right ht of the presidency over this priesthood priesthood and the keys and the authority of the same no man has li q a legal right to this office to hold tb the e keys beys of this priesthood except he be a literal descendant of aaron but as a high sigh priest of the isiel lylei ehi ebi s edek sedek priesthood has authority to officiate in all the lesser offices he may officiate in the office of a bishop when no literal descendant of aaron can be found provided lie he is called and set abir apart and nd ordained unto this power by the hands of the presidency of priesthood and a literal descendant of aaron also must be designated by this presidency and land found worthy and appointed and ordained under the hands of this presidency otherwise they are not legally authorized to officiate clate elate in their erlest FrIest priesthood priesthood hood but by virtue of the decree concerning their right to the priesthood desferd descending ding from father to son sou may claim their appointment if at any time they can prove their lineage or ascertain it by revelation from the lord under the hands of the above named presidency this is speaking more particularly in regard to the bishops I 1 have not time today to day to enter into many mans details pertaining to thi this but will simply draw your attention to one point which is this if we had bad among us a literal descendant of aaron who was the firstborn first born he would have a right to the keys or presiding authority of the bishopric but then lie would have to be set apart and directed by the first presidency no matter what his or their claims might be or how bow clear their proofs the same would have to be acknowledged by the first presidency th these ae claims of descent from aaron would have to be acknowledged hythe bythe by the first presidency and further the claimant would have bave to be set apart to his bishopric by them the same as in the case of a high priest of the Melchi meichi INI elchis sedek edek priesthood called to fill the same office tena thus jn in either case as a 1 it I tera leral descendant of aaron or as a high priest the right to officiate is i held first by authority of the priesthood and by appointment and ardi as above stated and then here is another thing I 1 desire briefly to mentions men tionA bishop of this kind holding the keys of this priesthood must beset apart by the first presidency and should occasion arise anise must also be tried by the first presidency this however does not apply to all bishops for there are a variety of bishops as for instance bishop partridge who presided ove over r the land of zion and whose duty was to purchase land and divide it among the people as their inheritances and to take charge of the temporal temporal temp krai bral affairs of the church chur C h A not pot ot only in zion but throughout all the western country and also to sit as a common judge in ishael and to preside in the capacity of bishop not to act as president over a dis district trici of country that nv wathen cabied cabled zion but as a general bishop s op george miller was afterward war appointed to the same bishopric newel ewel K whitney casap was appointed also as a general bish nish bishop op and presided over ki kirtland and alj all the churches in the country the calling of these men inen you louwill will wili pere pene perceive elve eive was very diffie different rent reat from that of a bishop over one of the wards of a stake for he can only pres preside itlo itle over his own ward vard outside of that he basno nas has no jurisdiction while the tho calling of the former was general that of the latter iatter is local and there were bishops agents appended formerly there was sidney gilbert he was a chops agent appointed to assist bishop partridge in his duties and p whitney also had bad his assist ants t 0 or r agents gents to assist him in his liis ad administrations ministrations the one presiding as bishop over the affairs of the church in the west the other presiding over the affairs ol 01 the church in tho east but neither of them was presiding bishop of the church at that time but you will find that afterwards george goorge miller IM W 4 N ahe tho B airn AIRM m bishopric that edward partridge held and that Vinson knight was appointed to the presidency py over the bishopric with samuel H smith and shadrach boundy roundy as his counselors I 1 speak of these things to throw out some general ideas and you will have to examine the doctrine and covenants for yourselves and this will give to you the key how to arrive at the truth in relation to these principles now these general bishops had to be appointed by the first presidency aythey they had to be tried by the first presidency as well as the presiding bishop because they were general and were the first presidency but stake bishops stand in another capacity the they have a presidency 0 over ver them a and nd although it is proper for them the take presidency to consult with the first presidency of the church yet they preside over them as well as over the affairs of their stake there is one thing associated with this matter that I 1 will mention here which is this while you have a high council in your stake and a presidency of your stake you also have brother charles crich C rich residing here chols who is one of the first council of the church and if I 1 were a president of this stake I 1 should always confer with him about any matters of importance pertaining to the interests of the church in the stake over which I 1 presided r e sided because the twelve now R hold hoid old oid the right ri ht of presidency and ahe is one of the twelve it would be proper and indeed I 1 should con sider aider it quite a privilege if I 1 was a president here to apply to him for council in all matters madders pertaining to the interests of the stake now I 1 speak of this for your information and by so doing you yop will avoid a great deal of trouble that you might otherwise fall into because bro rich is not only ai an apostle but you in connection with the other stakes have voted for him as one of the first presidency and therefore he would be the proper person to counsel in any matters of that kind and then if there should be anything not exactly clear to him it would be his privilege to apply to his quorum to obtain their mind in regard to it and when this course coune is adopted everything moves on |