Difference Between Priesthood and Priestcraft

An atheist in a reply to a post of mine chose the following from one of his atheist grab bag collection of quotes :

"Morality is doing what is right, no matter what you're told. Religion is doing what you're told, no matter what is right." - Jerry Sturdivant

The Priesthood after the Order of the Son of God (known as the Melchizedek Priesthood) is different from religious sectarianism. Many people believe the Founding Fathers were anti Christianity but they believed in Christ not sectarianism (Catholicism and Protestantism).
Watch this flash presentation to learn more about the Priesthood and how it was lost through the Catholic Church.

http://www.artbulla.com/zion/priesthood2.html

5 So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee.
6 As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard din that he feared;
8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
10 Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.

Hebrews 5:5-6



5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13 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 fulness of Christ:

Ephesians 4:5-7,11-13

29 He commandeth that there shall be no priestcrafts; for, behold, priestcrafts are that men preach and set themselves up for a light unto the world, that they may get gain and praise of the world; but they seek not the welfare of Zion.

(2 Nephi 26:29)

16 Nevertheless, this did not put an end to the spreading of priestcraft through the land; for there were many who loved the vain things of the world, and they went forth preaching false doctrines; and this they did for the sake of riches and honor.

(Alma 1:16)


21 And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh;

Doctrine and Covenants 84:21

"I am like a huge rough stone rolling down from a high mountain; and the only polishing I get is when some corner gets rubbed off by coming in contact with something else, striking with accelerated force against religious bigotry, priestcraft, lawyer-craft, doctor-craft, lying editors, suborned judges and jurors, and the authority of perjured executives, backed by mobs, blasphemers, licentious and corrupt men and womenall hell knocking off a corner here and a corner there. Thus will I become a smooth and polished shaft in the quiver of the Almighty." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 304.)

"Then came Martin Luther, that great soul, who had the courage to stand against priestcraft and kingcraft, and declare that his conscience was a captive to God's word. That was his declaration when he stood before the Diet at Worms. "There I take my stand; I can do no otherwise. So help me God." That was his answer to hie accusers."

(President Anthony W. Ivins, Conference Report, April 1928, Third Day Morning Meeting, p.119)

"God bless you, my brethren and sisters, keep us all from the sins of the world, keep us clean and unspotted. make us more devoted if possible to his word and more loyal and patriotic to the government of which we form a part. For without this government the Church of Christ could not exist, unless God should manifest his power in an unusual manner in our behalf. He has raised up this government and the men who direct its affairs for our protection and benefit, for the protection and benefit of the people of the world in righteousness. But whenever people depart from the way of righteousness, whenever priestcraft shall take the place of Priesthood, God's mercy will be withdrawn. (Distinguish between the words-priestcraft is that system by which men pretend to speak and act in the name of the Lord without authority and without power; Priesthood is the keys and authority to properly act and speak in the name of the Lord, and the power of the Priesthood will be manifest in the works of those who exercise it. And that characterizes the lives of these men, these apostles who are before you, these presiding seventies, and presidents of missions. They exercise the Priesthood of the Lord our God through proper authority, and they exercise it in a proper way.) When priestcraft shall assume that which does not belong to it, then God's mercy and protection will be withdrawn. Go on and read the remainder of this eighty-eighth section of the D&C, (I do not like to read it here) because it tells us what is going to happen to priestcraft, and it is coming with those other manifestations of the power of the Lord which are so prevalent."

(President Anthony W. Ivins, Conference Report, October 1926, First Day Morning Session, p.20-21)

My Conversation with Two Mormon Elders

In Escondido, CA on Oct. 1st, Monday, around 11:40 am, I was riding my bike on my way to the post office when I saw two Mormon elders walking to a neighborhood. They were Elders Parker and Orr. We exchanged greetings and I started out by saying that I have a testimony of the Book of Mormon and that I knew Joseph Smith was a true Prophet of God. They seemed very pleased. I continued by saying that however I am not part of the Church and that I believed the current Church had departed from the teachings set out by the original Church. I explained that the Church ceased to receive "Thus saith the Lord" revelations. I said the last revelation was written by President Wilford Woodruff in 1889, a year before the 1890 Manifesto that overturned polygamy as Church doctrine ( a man made fabrication that the leaders wrote to avoid persecution from the federal government although then President John Taylor in 1886 received a "Thus saith the Lord" revelation saying that plural marriage is an everlasting principle and cannot be done away with: http://www.artbulla.com/zion/1886.html) Elder Parker did most of the talking. He was obviously the file leader. He said how he knew that Gordon B. Hinckley is a true Prophet and that the Spirit is with him. I preached to both of them about how the Church apostatized. I pulled out my laptop and showed them the following quote by Brigham Young:

"Let this Church which is called the Kingdom of God on the earth. We will summons the First Presidency, the Twelve, the High Council, the Bishopric, and all the Elders of Israel, suppose we summons them to appear here, and here declare that it is right to mingle our seed, with the black race of Cain, that they shall come in with us and be partakers with us of all the blessings that God has given to us. on that very day and hour we should do so, the Priesthood is taken from THIS CHURCH AND KINGDOM and god leaves us to our fate. The moment we consent to mingle with the seed of Cain, the Church must go to destruction we should receive the curse which has been placed upon the seed of Cain, and never more be numbered with the children of Adam who are heirs to the Priesthood until that curse be removed."

(Brigham Young Addresses, Ms D, 1234, Box 48, Folder 3, dated Feb. 5, 1852, located in the LDS Historical Dept. SLC, UT.)

Elder Parker expressed skepticism that this was a real quote from Brigham Young. I talked about the One Mighty and Strong and the two Messiahs , one to Judah and one to Ephraim. I described how after King Solomon died Israel was divided into two nations, the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom. The tribes Judah, Benjamin, and Levi made up the Southern and the Northern was comprised of Ephraim and the rest of the 8 tribes. I said Ephraim was attacked and taken captive by Assyria around 750 BC and scattered through Europe completely losing its national heritage. I said Judah was invaded and taken away into captivity by Babylon around 600 BC but after 70 years a few thousand returned and restored their nation. Elder Parker agreed with this fact of history. I said Jesus was the Only Begotten and was Messiah to the Jews. He asked me if I knew what Messiah means. I said it means "Lord's Anointed" which he agreed with me. I said Ephraim has its own Messiah.

1 NOW the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he [was] the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright.
2 For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him [came] the chief ruler; but the birthright [was] Joseph's (:)
(1 Chronicle 5:1-2)

19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which [is] in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, [even] with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.

(Ezek 37:19)


34 Behold, this is the blessing of the everlasting God upon the tribes of Israel, and the richer blessing upon the head of Ephraim and his fellows.
35 And they also of the tribe of Judah, after their pain, shall be sanctified in holiness before the Lord, to dwell in his presence day and night, forever and ever.

(D&C 133:34-35)

"EPHRAIM PRESIDES OVER ALL ISRAEL. I take it we, the members of the Church, most of us of the tribe of Ephraim, are of the remnant of Jacob. We know it to be the fact that the Lord called upon the descendants of Ephraim to commence his work in the earth in these last days. We know further that he has said that he set Ephraim, according to the promises of his birthright, at the head, Ephraim receives the "richer blessings," these blessings being those of presidency or direction. The keys are with Ephraim. It is Ephraim who is to be endowed with power to bless and give to the other tribes, including the Lamanites, their blessings. All the other tribes of Jacob, including the Lamanites, are to be crowned with glory in Zion by the hands of Ephraim. "
(Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 3 vols., edited by Bruce R. McConkie, 2:, p.250)

He asked me throughout our conversation if the Church no longer holds the keys who does. So I finally talked about Art Bulla. I said in 1969 he was 21 years old in North Carolina, walking to the bus depot to join the army when he had a vision where he saw and spoke to God face to face for close to an hour. I compared his vision to Paul's:

2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.
3 And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)
4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
(2 Cor 12:2-4)

I told them a couple years later in 1971 he was stationed in Fort Sam, Houston when he was reading the first chapter of the Book of Mormon when he felt the Spirit powerfully. He was baptized into the Church that year and was an Elder until ordained a 70 Apostle by Rex D. Pinegar in 1974. I said that Brigham Young stated if all the 12 and the Seventies had died except one Seventy he had the keys to build up the entire Kingdom of God. After the apostasy happened after blacks were given the Priesthood in 1978, the keys to the Priesthood was taken from the Church and given to the hands of Art Bulla. The President of the Church is a separate office from the Lord's Anointed.

Excerpt from a letter Art written to Ogden Kraut:

"Now suppose the entire First Quorum had apostacized or were killed by a mob, along with the Twelve and First Presidency, which many claim is impossible, because the Lord would never allow it, then the Lord could by Revelation to an Apostle, proceed to direct and reorganize the Kingdom of God upon the earth, by direct Revelation, with all the keys of the Priesthood encompassed, as Brigham learned by experience and by precept from the mouth of Joseph Smith himself, saith the Lord, but which knowledge was lost in succeeding generations through a gradual apostasy, within the Apostleship which is held and recognized of the Lord by that one faithful Apostle, or Seventy. The Lord could and has directed him and given him the sealing power, which is already, by ordination, encompassed within the Apostleship, the Lord merely by revelation agreeing that whatsoever he would bind on earth would be bound in heaven, etc. He would need no further ordination, as did not Brigham, by the laying on of the hands, except in the matter of reorganizing the other presiding quorums, which I am at present doing in the name of the Lord God of Brigham Young. The other quorums being the First Quorum of Seventy, the Twelve and the First Presidency, which are all absolutely necessary, saith the Lord, for the perfection of the Saints, and the work of the ministry, and shall never in time or in eternity be done away, for this Order continueth in the Resurrrection from the dead, saith the Lord, and shall not be abrogated among the wicked of the Saints of the Most High, by their unrighteous decrees which are not of me, saith the Lord, but must be maintained exactly as set up by my servant Joseph in all holiness before me, saith the Lord.

"It is now that I, Art Bulla declare unto the world that such an apostasy has indeed occurred among those whose duty it was to preserve it as handed down to them from under the hands of Peter, James and John, who are Gods, namely because of their great wickedness, the details of which I have received through direct revelation, the which I invite all to examine freely as to its authenticity. Consequently, the Lord has commanded and directed me to begin the work preparatory to the complete restoration of all of Israel among the nations of the earth, among those who will receive of his word and authoritative direction. The rest, saith the Lord, shall be burned at my coming in the clouds of heaven. There are others who can with power testify to the veracity and authority of this work, as witnesses, namely George Robert Allen and others who will remain unnamed at this time. All who ernestly pray concerning these things will receive it also, and I care not if the whole world perish, if they harden their hearts against it, for can they do anything more unto me, that they did unto the Lord's Only Begotten Son?"

Throughout our conversation, Elder Parker had an arrogant attitude about him although I could tell he and Elder Orr were very interested in what I had to say. Two other Elders stopped by and they had to leave so that concluded our meeting. Before we parted company I wrote down the website address on a piece of paper and gave it to them. He gave me a piece of paper with information about the Conference meeting that weekend.

Dear Mr. Jones,

I've been reading your recent correspondence with Art and I have some issues to take up with you on certain points you made. The first issue is "why you bother":

Whenever the Gospel is preached in towns, cities, country places, or in any community who are in darkness, it never fails to bring light; it manifests their ignorance; it distracts them, and annoys their peace. They say, "I supposed I was wise, happy, comfortable, and well enough off; but here comes something that informs me I am mistaken, that this and the other thing are wrong. It reflects light upon my understanding, and teaches me that my acts, while I live upon the earth, should tend to the glory of God and the peace of mankind. This naturally seems contrary to my feelings, disposition, passions, and traditions, and to every thing about me, except the reflection of truth upon my mind, which enlightens my understanding, and teaches me to glorify God, and do good to my fellow creatures." (Journal of Discourses, 26 vols., 1:, p.236)

11 Again I say unto you, that it shall not be given to any one to go forth to preach my gospel, or to build up my church, except he be ordained by some one who has authority, and it is known to the church that he has authority and has been regularly ordained by the heads of the church. (D&C 42:11)

The above only applies when the Church holds the Priesthood. The Priesthood is not limited to the Church but circumscribes it.

''An assumption frequently made is that the authors of the prophetic books of the Old Testament were the constituted authorities of the Church in their eras. This, however, was not always the case. Some of them were even considered rebels by the religious leaders of Israel in their days. Jeremiah was one such prophet who stood outside of the Church. The established Church, through its Priests, even attempted to put Jeremiah to death. Micah, Amos, Hosea, and Zephaniah were also prophets who were critical of corruption within the Church.

"These Old Testament prophets did not speak as representing the Church, but as representing the Lord. Though the prophets may have held the higher Priesthood authority, there is no Biblical indication that the general Church membership of that time was aware of it." Thus Saith the Lord; Duane S. Crowther, p. 148.

So the Priesthood exists outside of the Church. The Gospel is made up of absolute truths and the Church can depart from the Lord having its free agency being a free voting body and when they become corrupt as it did in the Church in ancient Israel or it did when the LDS gave blacks the Priesthood, the Priesthood can depart. The Catholic Church once held the Priesthood but you would agree the Lord removed the keys of the Priesthood from them, correct? An interesting fact to note is that the Priesthood was restored back in May 1829 and the Church in April 1830 so this shows that the Priesthood exists without the Church.

"During the remarks made at the opening of this conference, by President Smith. I was led to reflect, and I felt very keenly that he was actuated by the spirit of boldness and courage that came from his calling, reinforced by our Father. He did not ask what would increase his good favor among this people. He evidently had but one thought, and that thought was akin to that which inspired the Prophet Brigham when the question came up as to who was to lead the Church, and he remarked "I do not care who leads this Church, even though it were Ann Lee, but one thing I must know, and that is what God says about it." And President Smith has but one consideration. "What is the will of the Lord concerning this people," and He has given it to us-the will of the Lord. There is a passage of scripture in one of the revelations, wherein the Lord says:" (Elder George H. Brimhall., Conference Report, October 1913, Second Overflow Meeting., p.68)

Journal of Discourses, Vol.1, Pg.133, Brigham Young, April 6, 1853

"Perhaps it may make some of you stumble, were I to ask you a question--Does a man's being a Prophet in this Church prove that he shall be the President of it? I answer, no! A man may be a Prophet, Seer, and Revelator, and it may have nothing to do with his being the President of the Church. Suffice it to say, that Joseph was the President of the Church, as long as he lived: the people chose to have it so. He always filled that responsible station, by the voice of the people. Can you find any revelation appointing him the President of the Church? The keys of the Priesthood were committed to Joseph, to build up the Kingdom of God on the earth, and were not to be taken from him in time or in eternity; but when he was called to preside over the Church, it was by the voice of the people; though he held the keys of the Priesthood, independent of their voice."

The Lord's Anointed is not the President of the Church. Did you know that Joseph Smith wanted Hyrum to be the President of the Church but because the Saints refused, Joseph was elected the President.

9 And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.

(Ezek 14:9)

"He (the Lord through Ezekiel) said if the Church ever departed from the Lord, they must fall. That they were dependent upon the prophet, hence were darkened in their minds, neglecting the duties devolving upon themselves (faith, judgment and mercy)..." TPJS p. 238.

"Let the Presidency of this Church, and the Twelve Apostles, and all the authorities unite and say with one voice that they will oppose that doctrine (polygamy) and the whole of them would be damned." Heber C. Kimball, JD 5:203.

."Let this Church which is called the Kingdom of God on the earth. We will summons the First Presidency, the Twelve, the High Council, the Bishopric,and all the Elders of Israel, suppose we summons them to appear here, and here declare that it is right to mingle our seed, with the black race of Cain, that they shall come in with us and be partakers with us of all the blessings that God has given to us. on that very day and hour we should do so, the Priesthood is taken from THIS CHURCH AND KINGDOM and god leaves us to our fate. The moment we consent to mingle with the seed of Cain, the Church must go to destruction we should receive the curse which has been placed upon the seed of Cain, and never more be numbered with the children of Adam who are heirs to the Priesthood until that curse be removed."

Brigham Young Addresses, Ms D, 1234, Box 48, Folder 3, dated Feb. 5, 1852, located in the LDS Historical Dept. SLC, UT.

"The next day the Prophet came to our home and stopped in our carpenter shop and stood by the turning lathe. I went and got my map for him. "Now," he said, "I will show you the travels of this people." ...You will live to see men arise in power in the Church who will seek to put down your friends and the friends of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Many will be hoisted because of their money and the worldly learning which they seem to be in possession of; and many who are the true followers of our Lord and Savior will be cast down because of their poverty."

Mosiah Hancock Journal

Art Bulla was ordained an Apostle by the proper authority called and ordained as was Moses or Aaron by the proper authority. I know that Art is the Lord's Anointed having received a witness by the Spirit. I know that you are deceived by the strong delusion to be poured by those who worship the son of perdition that sitteth in the temple of God and is worshipped as God.

Sincerely,

Aaron Kim