The Power of the Priesthood

     In the course of my scripture study over the past several days, I have come across a couple of wonderful passages about the power of the Melchizedek Priesthood.  The first is found in the Joseph Smith Translation of Genesis 14:30-31.  These verses refer to the power available to those who are ordained to the High Priesthood after the order of Melchizedek:

For God having sworn unto Enoch and unto his seed with an oath by himself; that every one 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.

      The second passage is probably more familiar to most Latter-day Saints.  It is found in Doctrine and Covenants 107:18-19:

The power and authority of the higher, or Melchizedek Priesthood, is to hold the keys of all the spiritual blessings of the church--

To have the privilege of receiving the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, to have the heavens opened unto them, to commune with the general assembly and church of the Firstborn, and to enjoy the communion and presence of God the Father, and Jesus the mediator of the new covenant.

     And, finally, Doctrine and Covenants 84:19-20:

And this greater priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God.

Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest.

     Does any priesthood holder truly understand the power the Lord has blessed us with?  What are the challenges we face today that the priesthood could help us overcome?  We can break down mountains of pride, divide seas of uncertainty and confusion, and dry up rivers of doubt.  We can set at defiance the armies of Satan, and break the bands of sin and transgression.  Ultimately, the power of the Melchizedek Priesthood, and the ordinances thereof, will bring us back into the presence of God the Father, and His Son Jesus Christ.  It is the power that seals us up unto eternal life.
     Having been blessed with the Melchizedek Priesthood, "let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed" (D&C 123:17, emphasis added).

Beauty for Ashes

     I love the pioneer-era buildings in downtown Provo, Utah.  Like many other people, I was very sad to hear of the fire that gutted the tabernacle several years ago, but elated by the announcement by Pres. Thomas S. Monson in October 2011 that the tabernacle would be rebuilt as a temple.

     While I was in the Mount Timpanogos Temple recently, I was reading one of my favorite chapters of scripture, Isaiah 61.  As I pondered this beautiful passage, thoughts of the destruction of the Provo Tabernacle and its subsequent rebuilding as a temple came to mind:

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.

 And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.

     Christ's Atonement has the power to restore what is lost and repair what is broken, and the restoration of the Provo Tabernacle as a temple is the perfect symbol of this power.  Many lives on both sides of the will be greatly blessed by the ordinances that will be performed in this temple.  As Isaiah said, the Lord is blessing us with "beauty for ashes."  The blessings far exceed the sorrow that we experienced at the loss of the building.  As the psalmist said, "weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning" (Psalm 30:5).