Chapter 4

The Priesthood
Blesses the Priesthood Holder

The covenant . . . is confirmed upon you for your sakes.

—Doctrine and Covenants 84:48

The Lord has declared that the priesthood exists for two primary reasons: to bless the individual who holds it and to fulfill the work of salvation through the priesthood holder’s exercise of it. In September 1832, elders began returning from their missions in the Eastern States and reporting their labors. The Prophet Joseph Smith received a revelation on the priesthood in which the Savior taught about the covenant associated with the Melchizedek Priesthood and these two primary reasons for the priesthood:

“And the Father teacheth him [the one holding the Melchizedek Priesthood] of the covenant which he [Heavenly Father] has renewed and confirmed upon you, which is confirmed upon you for your sakes, and not for your sakes only, but for the sake of the whole world” (Doctrine and Covenants 84:48; emphasis added).

Through revelation we understand that the priesthood blesses the priesthood holder and he holds the priesthood to bless the world through its use. This chapter considers how the priesthood blesses the individual priesthood holder.

Abraham recognized that the priesthood blesses the life of the priesthood holder and, by extension, his family. He actively sought these blessings.

And, finding there was greater happiness and peace and rest for me, I sought for the blessings of the fathers, and the right whereunto I should be ordained to administer the same; having been myself a follower of righteousness, desiring also to be one who possessed great knowledge, and to be a greater follower of righteousness, and to possess a greater knowledge, and to be a father of many nations, a prince of peace, and desiring to receive instructions, and to keep the commandments of God, I became a rightful heir, a High Priest, holding the right belonging to the fathers. (Abraham 1:2; emphasis added)

Abraham identified the blessings of holding the Melchizedek Priesthood as: greater happiness, peace and rest, righteousness, knowledge, and family blessings. He recognized that receiving the priesthood would result in his becoming a prince of peace and a rightful heir to God. These blessings are the greatest the Lord can promise and are also offered to priesthood holders today. Let’s consider each blessing individually.

Greater happiness. Great joy comes to individuals as they accept the gospel and make covenants for themselves. Greater happiness comes to a priesthood holder as he aligns his purpose with the work and glory of God, “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39; Doctrine and Covenants 18:15–16). Because he holds the priesthood, a priesthood holder can officiate in priesthood ordinances. As he helps others to make and keep the covenants associated with each ordinance along the path to exaltation, he progresses steadily toward being like God. The Spirit is with him, prompting and directing his life.

Greater peace and rest. As a priesthood holder progresses along the path toward being like God, he can know that he stands approved before Him. This peace and rest can be contrasted with the anxiety that exists when one is unsure of one’s standing before God. Peace of mind leads to restful existence even during turbulent times.

A life filled with priesthood service qualifies for the peace of the “Comforter,” the Holy Ghost. Worthy priesthood holders qualify to attend the temple and receive a fulness of the Holy Ghost and, by extension, a fulness of comfort and peace (Doctrine and Covenants 109:15). To those endowed in temples (both men and women), these additional promises of peace are made:

That thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power, and that thy name may be upon them, and thy glory be round about them, and thine angels have charge over them. . . .

That no weapon formed against them shall prosper; that he who diggeth a pit for them shall fall into the same himself;

That no combination of wickedness shall have power to rise up and prevail. (Doctrine and Covenants 109:22, 25–26)

An endowed priesthood holder experiences this kind of peace and rest.

Greater righteousness. As a priesthood holder performs priesthood functions, he is refined. The principles that govern the use of the priesthood distill on his soul as dews from heaven. His natural-man tendencies are replaced with Christlike attributes. Impurities are eliminated just as in a refiner’s fire.

An analogy can be drawn from the physical sciences. In the solid state, the purity of an element can be assessed by its melting point. The greater the impurities, the lower the melting point. Conversely, the greater the purity of the element, the greater the temperature must be before the element changes from solid to liquid. The melting point of pure gold is 1,948 degrees Fahrenheit (1,064 degrees Celsius). Any impurity will decrease the melting temperature. Gold that is 90 percent pure will melt at approximately 1,938 degrees Fahrenheit (1,059 degrees Celsius). Pure gold tolerates more heat than impure gold does.

The same is true for a priesthood holder. He becomes refined through his righteousness. The purer he becomes, the more he can do, the more he can withstand. He becomes more trustworthy, more capable, and more dependable.

Greater knowledge. The promise of greater knowledge is repeatedly given by God to those who seek and serve Him. For instance, He has said: “That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day” (Doctrine and Covenants 50:24).

Being on the covenant path leads to greater and greater light. Light is spiritual knowledge. Abraham knew that if he embarked on the path of righteousness, embodied by those who accepted the priesthood, his quest for spiritual and temporal knowledge would be rewarded. In general, though, this knowledge is the kind that enables one to serve better. This is made clear in a commandment the Lord gave to priesthood holders in the beginning of this dispensation:

And I give unto you a commandment that you shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom.

Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand;

Of things both in heaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pass; things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wars and the perplexities of the nations, and the judgments which are on the land; and a knowledge also of countries and of kingdoms—

That ye may be prepared in all things when I shall send you again to magnify the calling whereunto I have called you, and the mission with which I have commissioned you. (Doctrine and Covenants 88:77–80)

Spiritual knowledge is not granted to satisfy idle curiosity but to fulfill God’s purposes in His work.

After being converted by the teaching of Abinadi, Alma the Elder established a church. Baptism was performed, and priests were ordained to teach the people. These priests “were not to depend upon the people for their support; but for their labor they were to receive the grace of God, that they might wax strong in the Spirit, having the knowledge of God, that they might teach with power and authority from God” (Mosiah 18:26). For their labor, they received the grace of God, a greater portion of the Spirit, and greater knowledge. The express purpose for this “wage” is to teach with greater power and authority.

Family blessings. Abraham sought to be a father of many nations with a large posterity. He may have understood that he would receive eternal increase. The Lord accomplishes this by sealing His children to both forebears and posterity in holy temples.

On one occasion, through the prophet Malachi, the Lord expressed some sadness over Israel’s complaint that He had somehow not held up His end of the covenant.

Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee?

Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts?

And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.

Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name.

And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.

Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. (Malachi 3:13–18; 4:1–2)

The time will come when the difference between the righteous and the wicked will be clear. The righteous will be sealed, by priesthood authority, to both their roots (their forebears) and their branches (their posterity). Whatever unfairness has occurred will be resolved. Whatever wounds have been incurred will be healed. The vagaries of an unpredictable environment will be removed and the ultimate protection will be offered, resulting in great joy. In that day, the Lord says, we will be able to judge between those who have followed His commands and those who have not.

Prince of peace. Abraham desired to become a prince of peace like Melchizedek, who was known to his people as the Prince of peace.

“And now, Melchizedek was a priest of this order [the Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God]; wherefore he obtained peace in Salem, and was called the Prince of peace. And this Melchizedek, having thus established righteousness, was called the king of heaven by his people, or, in other words, the King of peace” (JST, Genesis 14:33, 36; Doctrine and Covenants 107:3).

The peace that is spoken of is not just a freedom from conflict but a reconciliation to God through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

Being a prince of peace naturally involves being a peacemaker or promoting peace (see Matthew 5:9; 3 Nephi 12:9). The scriptures also refer to a peacemaker as one who proclaims the gospel (see Mosiah 15:11–18). By preaching the gospel, the preacher invites people to come unto Jesus Christ so that they may be reconciled with Heavenly Father.

Rightful heir. Abraham also desired to be a rightful heir to the blessings promised to the fathers. In other words, Abraham desired to be a joint-heir with Jesus Christ, who, as the perfectly obedient firstborn, inherits all that Heavenly Father has. All of God’s sons and daughters who have been born again through the Atonement of Christ become joint-heirs, rightful heirs to the inheritance (see John 1:12; Romans 8:14, 16–17; Mosiah 27:25; 3 Nephi 9:17; Doctrine and Covenants 11:30; 25:1; Moses 6:68; 7:1). Using God’s incomparable mathematics and the Savior’s generosity, the addition of shareholders does not diminish the share each receives. All receive all that Heavenly Father has.

The blessings Abraham sought are also promised today to each priesthood holder. For his sake, for his family, for his happiness, for his peace, for his righteousness, for his knowledge, for his reconciliation, and for his inheritance, the priesthood holder can participate in God’s priesthood. But with this great gift comes his obligation to bless others. For the priesthood is not for his sake alone.