Done by the Authority of the Priesthood, not the Power

Today I read Doctrine and Covenants section 113, which is another question and answer session between Joseph Smith and the Lord. This time it is about Isaiah chapter 11 and 52. Most of the section, which is not very long at only 10 verses, has to do with a servant that the Lord is going to, or has, risen up in the last days as an ensign to the nations.

One could easily argue that the servant is Joseph Smith as it states that this servant is one whom the keys of the kingdom and the priesthood rightly belongs to. I do not know Joseph Smith's lineage but if he is partly from the house of Judah and partly from the house of Ephraim, I would say he fits the description quite nicely.

That's the answers to the questions about Isaiah 11. The last few verses are about Isaiah 52:1-2, 6-8. In these verses, I find something interesting that brought a couple of conference talks to mind. The Lord answers one of the brethren's questions about the people referred to in verse 1 chapter 52 and says that they are people that the Lord should call in the last days who should hold the power of the priesthood.

I am not sure that I have ever brought it up here, but it always irks me when I hear someone give a blessing and they use the wrong verbiage. When exercising the priesthood, such as giving a blessing, the priesthood holder is supposed to state that the ordinance is done by the authority of the priesthood. Yet all too often I hear people state that it is done by the power of the priesthood. This is wrong for 2 reasons.

First, we perform all ordinances by the authority of the priesthood, not the power of it. This is because when we state this phrase, we are declaring that we have the authority, or the right to perform this ordinance in God's absence. We are acknowledging that God should be the one performing this, but since He is not here, we are acting in His stead, and what's more, we have the right to do so. So, since we are merely stating our right to be performing this ordinance, we need to make sure that we use the proper phrasing.

Secondly, we need to say we do it by the authority, and not the power, because we don't have power in the priesthood. God does. When we are ordained to the priesthood, be it Aaronic or Melchizedek, we are given the authority to perform sacred ordinances in God's name. We are NOT given power in the priesthood. We are told by our church leaders that such power comes only through righteous living, much the way Father gets His power in the priesthood. Thus it is a huge misnomer to claim power in the priesthood when performing an ordinance in His name.

Now, one might ask if one little word is so important in such matters and I would direct to you look at all the saving ordinances, baptism, the sacrament and the temple ordinances. They are all done, word for word, the same every time. Yes, the wording is important. To the Lord it is very important that we use the proper verbiage in all things, and especially when we are performing ordinances. It is a personal pet peeve of mine, as you can probably tell, when I hear someone bless their new baby, or give a blessing and they state it is done by the power of the priesthood. I understand they don't know any better and are probably just doing it the way they were taught, but it is pleasing to the Lord for us to do things in the proper fashion.

On that same vein I will close with this thought: have you ever noticed that the General Authorities in the church always close their talks with a prayer or testimony? They do not just end their talk saying the oh too common, "these things I say in the name of Jesus Christ" that we hear in our sacrament meetings. Rather you will almost always hear a General Authority close their talk by one of two ways. It will be either, "is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ" or "of these things I testify, in the name of Jesus Christ". They are not closing their talks in His name, rather they are closing their prayer or testimony in His name. That was pointed out to me about 10 years ago and I have found it to be true in all this time and I have since changed the way I close my talks and lessons as well. Food for thought. Until tomorrow.