The Holy Order The Book of Mormon Lecture 15 by Hyrum Andrus
Channel: Light and Truth
Date: 2016-06-13

Hyrum L Andrus
All rights reserved August 10-12, 1989
Lecture – 15 THE HOLY ORDER
There are two great Orders of the Holy Priesthood that give foundation to the Kingdom of God: the Holy Order, and the Ecclesiastical Order; and each has a Melchizedek and an Aaronic Division of power, authority and functions. The Prophet Joseph Smith made it clear that Paul's statement in Hebrews 7 pertains to the Holy Order of the Priesthood, with its focus on that which was held anciently by Melchizedek, Abraham, and the lesser Priests and Levites of Israel. "This Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God," said Paul of the first great personage, "met Abraham ... and blessed him; to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all [his goods]; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace." (Hebrews 7:1-2.) Here may be seen the meaning of the name, "Melchizedek," within the context of the Holy Order. The Prophet Joseph Smith's Inspired Revision of this chapter continues: "For this Melchizedek was ordained a priest after the Order of the Son of God, which Order was without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life. And all those who are ordained unto this priesthood are made like unto the Son of God, abiding a priest continually." (Hebrews 7:3.)
Having quoted this statement in a discourse on the Holy Order, Joseph Smith explained: "The Melchizedek Priesthood holds the right from the eternal God, and not by descent from father and mother; and that priesthood is as eternal as God Himself, having neither beginning of days nor end of life." Again: "Those holding the fulness of the Melchizedek Priesthood are Kings and Priests of the Most High God, holding the keys of power and blessings. In fact, that Priesthood is a perfect law of theocracy, and stands as God to give laws to the people, administering endless lives to the sons and daughters of Adam." (TPJS, pp. 323, 322.)
While the Ecclesiastical Order of the Priesthood is a system of Presidencies, Councils, Quorums, Offices and Auxiliaries which God gives, Paul wrote, "for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:12-13), the Holy Order is a system of kings and priests unto the Most High God, which is built up through the sacred rites, ordinances, covenants and conferrals that are given in the Temple, the House of the Lord.
The Holy Order was the functioning system of the Priesthood which operated among the Nephites for much of their history, although the Ecclesiastical Order was brought forth and functioned at times. After the death of Lehi, Nephi was the presiding figure within the Holy Order. By the authority of his office he appointed his brother, Jacob, to be an official within the Holy Order, who said: "I, Jacob, having been called of God, and ordained after the manner of his Holy Order, and having been consecrated by my brother Nephi, unto whom ye look as a king, or a protector." (2 Ne. 6:2.)
The purpose of men like Alma was to bring the people into he Holy Order. In Alma 7:14, for example, he said: "Now I say unto you that ye must repent, and be born again; for the Spirit saith if ye are not born again ye cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven; therefore come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye may be washed from your sins, that ye may have faith on the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, who is mighty to save and to cleanse from all unrighteousness." He then explains, in verse 22: "And now my beloved brethren, I have said these things unto you that I might awaken you to a sense of your duty to God, that ye may walk blameless before him, that ye may walk [and note this] after the Holy Order of God, after which ye have been received."
Now to illustrate what I mean by that, let me turn to 3 Nephi 5. There Mormon, in his treatment of Nephite history and doctrine, etc., makes a few explanations, in verse 12, stating: "And behold, I am called Mormon, being called after the land of Mormon, the land in which Alma did establish the church among the people, yea, the first church which was established among them after their transgression."
Now, what does that mean? Let's deal with the last term first--"after their transgression." When the Nephites came to the western hemisphere, they settled initially in a land which they called "the land of Nephi." And they built up their culture and their society in that land. They were promised by inspired leaders that if they departed from the ways of the Lord that the righteous would be gathered out from among them and… Get the full transcription from www.hyrumandrus.com!