The Holy Order, The Order of His Son

The Holy Order, The Order of his Son

I have thought a lot about these phrases and what they mean. Some have spoken much on the subject. Here are a few thoughts as I was reading in Helaman and cross referencing to other verses with the same key words. My commentary will be after the verses but I’ll highlight and underline those words I’ll come back to and discuss. I have other discourses by another that is deeply profound and helpful in understanding keys, authority and priesthood that I have tried to share. After studying the holy order, one may be more receptive to further explanation. 

“And now behold, if God gave unto this man such power, then why should ye dispute among yourselves and say that he hath given unto me no power whereby I may know concerning the judgments that shall come upon you except ye repent? But behold, ye not only deny my words, but ye also deny all the words which hath been spoken by our fathers, and also the words which were spoken by this man, Moses, who had such great power given unto him — yea, the words which he hath spoken concerning the coming of the Messiah. Yea, did he not bear record that the Son of God should come? And as he lifted up the brazen serpent in the wilderness, even so should he be lifted up who should come. And as many as should look upon that serpent should live, even so as many as should look upon the Son of God with faith, having a contrite spirit, might live, even unto that life which is eternal. And now behold, Moses did not only testify of these things, but also all the holy prophets from his day, even to the days of Abraham. Yea, and behold, Abraham saw of his coming, and was filled with gladness and did rejoice. Yea, and behold, I say unto you that Abraham not only knew of these things, but there were many before the days of Abraham who were called by the Order of God, yea, even after the Order of his Son — and this that it should be shewn unto the people a great many thousand years before his coming that even redemption should come unto them. And now I would that ye should know that even since the days of Abraham there have been many prophets that have testified these things; yea, behold, the prophet Zenos did testify boldly, for the which he was slain, and behold, also Zenoch, and also Ezaias, and also Isaiah, and Jeremiah, Jeremiah being that same prophet who testified of the destruction of Jerusalem — and now, we know that Jerusalem was destroyed according to the words of Jeremiah — oh then why not the Son of God come according to his prophecy? And now will ye dispute that Jerusalem was not destroyed? Will ye say that the sons of Zedekiah were not slain, all except it were Muloch? Yea, and do ye not behold that the seed of Zedekiah are with us and they were driven out of the land of Jerusalem? But behold, this is not all. Our father Lehi was driven out of Jerusalem because he testified of these things. Nephi also testified of these things, and also almost all of our fathers, even down to this time; yea, they have testified of the coming of Christ, and have looked forward and have rejoiced in his day which is to come. And behold, he is God, and he is with them, and he did manifest himself unto them, that they were redeemed by him; and they gave unto him glory because of that which is to come” (RE Helaman 3:9; 

• “Therefore, whosoever repenteth and hardeneth not his heart, he shall have claim on mercy, through mine only begotten Son, unto a remission of his sins, and these shall enter into my rest. And whosoever will harden his heart and will do iniquity, behold, I swear in my wrath that he shall not enter into my rest. And now, my brethren, behold, I say unto you that if ye will harden your hearts, ye shall not enter into the rest of the Lord. Therefore, your iniquity provoketh him, that he sendeth down his wrath upon you as in the first provocation — yea, according to his word in the last provocation, as well as in the first, to the everlasting destruction of your souls; therefore, according to his word unto the last death, as well as the first.

• And now, my brethren, seeing we know these things, and they are true, let us repent and harden not our hearts, that we provoke not the Lord our God to pull down his wrath upon us, in these his second commandments which he has given unto us; but let us enter into the rest of God, which is prepared according to his word.

• And again, my brethren, I would cite your minds forward to the time when the Lord God gave these commandments unto his children. And I would that ye should remember that the Lord God ordained priests after his Holy Order, which was after the Order of his Son, to teach these things unto the people. And those priests were ordained after the Order of his Son in a manner that thereby the people might know in what manner to look forward to his Son for redemption. And this is the manner after which they were ordained: being called and prepared from the foundation of the world, according to the foreknowledge of God, on account of their exceeding faith and good works in the first place, being left to choose good or evil; therefore they, having chosen good, and exercising exceeding great faith, are called with a holy calling — yea, with that holy calling which was prepared with, and according to, a preparatory redemption for such. And thus they have been called to this holy calling on account of their faith, while others would reject the spirit of God on account of the hardness of their hearts and blindness of their minds (while, if it had not been for this, they might had as great privilege as their brethren — or in fine, in the first place they were on the same standing with their brethren — thus, this holy calling being prepared from the foundation of the world for such as would not harden their hearts, [‘Before I formed you in the belly I knew you, and before you came forth out of the womb I sanctified you, and I ordained you a prophet unto the nations’(Jeremiah 1:1).] being in and through the atonement of the Only Begotten Son who was prepared), and thus, being called by this holy calling and ordained unto the High Priesthood of the Holy Order of God to teach his commandments unto the children of men, that they also might enter into his rest — this High Priesthood being after the Order of his Son, which Order was from the foundation of the world, or in other words, being without beginning of days or end of years, being prepared from eternity to all eternity according to his foreknowledge of all things. Now they were ordained after this manner, being called with a holy calling, and ordained with a holy ordinance, and taking upon them the High Priesthood of the Holy Order — which calling, and ordinance, and High Priesthood is without beginning or end; thus, they become high priests for ever after the Order of the Son, the Only Begotten of the Father who is without beginning of days or end of years, who is full of grace, equity, and truth. And thus it is. Amen” (RE Alma 9:8-10; Alma 12:31-37, 13:1-9).

It’s important to read the verses in RE T&C 82:11-13; D&C 84:18-24 (below) in light of the following passage, “And there ran a young man and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them. And Moses said unto him, Do you envy for my sake? Would to God that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them. And Moses went into the camp, he and the elders of Israel” (RE Numbers 7:19; Num. 11:26-30).

• “And the Lord confirmed a priesthood also upon Aaron and his seed throughout all their generations, which priesthood also continues and abides for ever, with the Priesthood which is after the holiest Order of God.

• And this greater Priesthood administers the gospel and holds the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God. [“And this is life eternal: that they might know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (RE John 9:19, John 17:3).] Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest, and without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the Priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto man in the flesh, for without this no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live.

• Now, this, Moses plainly taught to the children of Israel in the wilderness, and sought diligently to sanctify his people that they might behold the face of God, but they hardened their hearts and could not endure his presence. Therefore, the Lord, in his wrath (for his anger was kindled against them) swore that they should not enter into his rest — which rest is the fullness of his glory — while in the wilderness” (RE T&C 82:11-13; D&C 84:18-24).

• “Now Melchizedek was a man of faith who wrought righteousness. And when a child, he feared God, and stopped the mouths of lions, and quenched the violence of fire. And thus, having been approved of God, he was ordained a high priest after the Order of the covenant which God made with Enoch, it being after the Order of the Son of God, which Order came not by man, nor the will of men, neither by father nor mother, neither by beginning of days nor end of years, but of God. And it was delivered unto men by the calling of his own voice, according to his own will, unto as many as believed on his name.

• For God, having sworn unto Enoch and unto his seed with an oath by himself that everyone being ordained after this Order and calling should have power, by faith, to break mountains, to divide the seas, to dry up waters, to turn them out of their course, to put at defiance the armies of nations, to divide the earth, to break every band, to stand in the presence of God, to do all things according to his will, according to his command subdue principalities and powers; and this by the will of the Son of God which was from before the foundation of the world. And men having this faith, coming up unto this Order of God, were translated and taken up into Heaven.

• And now Melchizedek was a priest of this Order, therefore he obtained peace in Salem and was called the Prince of Peace. And his people wrought righteousness, and obtained Heaven, and sought for the city of Enoch which God had before taken, separating it from the earth, having reserved it unto the latter days, or the end of the world, and has said and sworn with an oath that the heavens and the earth should come together, and the sons of God should be tried so as by fire. And this Melchizedek, having thus established righteousness, was called the King of Heaven by his people — or in other words, the King of Peace” (RE Genesis 7:18-20; JST Genesis 14:26-36).

There is a lot here and I don’t pretend to know the full extent of the meaning here but I am coming to some conclusions on what the Order of the Son of God is, who is called and how they are called. 

Who Is Called?

Prophets and high priests are called after the order of the Son. They are called on account of their “exceeding faith and good works” and “prepared from the foundation of the world”. God knew them before they were born (see Jeremiah 1:1). Previous actions of faith have prepared these high priests and they were called before they were born. Those that have entered the presence of the Lord are called and chosen. The phrase, “that they also might enter into his rest,” implies these prophets have entered the rest of the Lord and are not helping others obtain his rest too. 

Why Are They Called?

Because of their exceeding faith and good works, God prepared them before the foundations of this world “to teach his commandments unto the children of men, that they also might enter into his rest.” They are chosen by God and not because of relation or position among men, only because God knows them and they know him (RE Genesis 7:18-20; JST Genesis 14:26-36). Because they have entered the rest of the Lord, or his presence, they now know how to help others come into his presence and be redeemed from the fall. 

How Are They Called?

By his own voice, the voice of God (RE Genesis 7:18-20; JST Genesis 14:26-36). 

They are called in this manner so “the people might know in what manner to look forward to his Son for redemption”. We learn in Ether that entering into the presence of the Lord is how we are redeemed, “...the Lord shewed himself unto him and said, Because thou knowest these things, ye are redeemed from the Fall. Therefore, ye are brought back into my presence; therefore I shew myself unto you” (RE Ether 1:13; Ether 3:13-16). Since we know entering into the rest of the Lord is entering his presence, we also conclude that we now know how to be redeemed by him. Being redeemed by the Lord happens by entering into the Lord’s presence, his rest.

True high priests, those that are called after his holy order, have been in the presence of God. They are called to share the process of repentance and sanctification that all may enter into the Lord’s presence and be redeemed from the fall. 

There is a great deception in thinking someone is called of God because a religious institution has called them to serve in a position of leadership, even naming the position “prophet” or “high priest.” The scriptures warn of false prophets and we see high priests who sent the Lord to the cross. 

True messengers after the order of the Son of God will guide one to the Lord so they can independently KNOW the Lord. All healing, justification, redemption and truth come from the Lord, the god of truth and light. The spirit of the Lord is freedom. Looking in any other direction or to any other individual will lead to captivity and death. Choose wisely who you consider to be of God’s holy order. 

The Lord taught, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them” (RE Matthew 3:46; Matthew 7:15-20).