Losing the Priesthood – 5 – Excommunication

Excommunication and Priesthood – Does the Church or a Person’s Action’s Effect Their Authority?

Where does all of this leave those who have maintained the ordinances as God restored them, who still live all of the laws of the Gospel, and believe all of it’s doctrines?  A strange situation has arisen since the turn of the century that many of those not supporting the very changes that may invalidate the Priesthood have been told their Priesthood would not be recognised by the Church because of this.  But, does the Church’s non-recognition of a persons authority invalidate that authority however?  No, prophets and apostles have stated such action will be of no effect:
“Persons sometimes say that they have enjoyed the spirit of the work as much since they were cut off as when they were in the Church.  Have they enjoyed the Spirit?  Yes.  Why?  Simply because they were cut off in such a way that it did not take the Spirit of God from them.  And the reason why they were cut off was because they did not come up to the particular standard of perfection of those who dealt with them, or they did not come up to their feelings.”(1)

In fact President Taylor prophesied that this would happen, as did Joseph Smith -

“Some of you will be handled and ostracized and cast out from the Church by your brethren because of your faithfulness and integrity to this principle, and some of you will have to surrender your lives because of the same, but woe, woe, unto those who shall bring these troubles upon you.”(2)

“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 Saviour, Jesus Christ. Many will be hoisted because of their money and worldly learning which they seem to be in possession of; and many who are the true followers of our Lord and Saviour will be cast down.”(3)

To many Latter-day Saints being cut off from the Church must seem the worst punishment possible, and many of those who receive it undoubtedly do because of their own transgressions.  But excommunication itself is a formal ceremony to confirm or dispute alleged misconduct, the act which causes excommunication happens before it ever reaches the Church court, and God makes his judgment at the moment the sin is committed.

However, like any organization, whether ecclesiastical, social or in the world of business, the Church has the right to withhold or withdraw membership to anyone it sees fit.  This does not mean however that God will always acknowledge and approve whatever Church leaders do, only on the condition that it is in accordance with his commandments.  As He states, “The powers of heaven cannot be controlled or handled, only upon principles of righteousness.”(4)

The Priesthood is the authority upon which the Church was organised, the Church does not have power over the Priesthood itself, although it can chose not to recognise a particular persons administrations.  It may even say with some certainty that committing certain actions will leave a person without the companionship of the Spirit, the privilege of operating within Church callings, and that God will deprive them of the power of the Priesthood where they are unworthy of it.  However, as President John Taylor pointed out, “You cannot take away any man’s priesthood without transgression.”(5)

The Lord is ultimately the only authority who can make final approval on the actions of someone holding and exercising the Priesthood, and can only be taken away by He who gave the power in the first place, which is something that Church leaders such as Brother Joseph F. Smith once taught and recognised – “No endowments or blessings in the house of the Lord, no patriarchal blessings, no ordination to the Priesthood can be taken away, once given.”(6)

Conclusion

Those who had hoped to disprove John Taylor’s prophesy regarding the Priesthood and the other statements and events that took place at the same meeting in 1886, can see once again that the doctrines of the Gospel and the prophecies of God’s servants cannot be so easily explained away or ignored, but are substantiated again and again.

This may leave many mainstream LDS Church members who might be reading this asking themselves – “If I found that someone in my line of authority was ordained during the period when Priesthood was not conferred properly, or by those who lost the Priesthood because of their actions; then how do I know that my Priesthood authority is valid?”  Those in such a situation would be better to have their ordinances re-administered by someone with the correct authority.  The Lord before this point may have blessed them with a portion of His Spirit because the intent of their heart was to do His will, but with the knowledge they now have, it is no longer enough, they are now without excuse, and will be accountable for what they have learned.

Following God in such matters may mean coming into conflict with leaders in the Church, but the Lord has always maintained a body of Priesthood willing to live all of His laws at any cost, and there will be many whose names may not be upon the earthly records of the Church but are written in the heavenly Lamb’s Book of Life.  We can best uphold the Church by maintaining the foundation on which it was built, and keeping alive in our own lives those principles that at the moment the majority do not want or are unable to live.

1. Millennial Star 24:99
2. John Taylor, 27 September 1886.
3. Joseph Smith to Mosiah Hancock, as recorded in his Journal, p. 19
4. Doctrine and Covenants 121:36
5. Times & Seasons 6:922
6. Improvement Era 11:466