Volume l #4 September 1992

EPHRAIM'S FORUM

For those who are of Ephraim, holding the rights

and responsibilities of the kingdom, this is your

forum; to pursue remedy for our ills, and

accomplish the bringing forth of Zion.

HOW EPHRAIM FUNCTIONS

equality of ...................... The nature of

"This then is the nature of the Priesthood: every man holding the presidency of his dispensation, ..." (TPJS, page 169) "What is a dispensation? I answer, it is the power and authority to dispense the word of God, and to administer in all the ordinances thereof." (DHC Vol. 3:50)

What does this mean? It means that every man stands on equal ground who holds the priesthood of the Almighty, by virtue of the Apostleship which each and every one of us holds. "... while it is the right of all the Twelve Apostles ... to hold the keys in the fullness, it is only the right of one man at a time to exercise that power in relation to the whole people, ... The Church (and Kingdom) ... is governed by men who hold the keys of the apostleship, who have the right and authority. Any one of them, should an emergency arise, can act as President of the Church, with all the powers, with all the authority, with all the keys, ..." (JD 19:233-234) "If every man of the Twelve but one were slain, the one remaining would have the right to organize a First Presidency of the Church, to choose Twelve Apostles, and to organize the Church in its fullness and power, ..." (JD 19:235)

"... Joseph ... never had a right to organize a Church before he was an Apostle." (JD 1:137) Brigham was very clear in showing that every man holding the Melchizedek Priesthood is or should be an embryo of the kingdom, every man should be a living constitution. For he said, "... suppose only one Elder should be left on the earth, could he go and set in order the kingdom of God? Yes, by revelation. (JD 9:88) With this we come to the understanding that every Elder possesses the Apostleship, and, "To say a man is an Apostle, is equal to saying that a man is ordained to build up the Kingdom of God from first to last; ..." (JD 1:136)

To some this may smack of anarchy; with all power being vested in every Elder, and he having complete licence or authority to exercise said power and authority. This is exactly what was feared when the Constitution of the U.S. was drawn up and adopted; and it did not become anarchy because of its nature, or the order by which it functioned. Although it is not as refined it functions on the same principle as that which will when Jesus comes as King of kings. Every man must be a sovereign, holding supreme authority over his dominion, exercising jurisdiction as king. If not, then how can he be held responsible?

If a man must be held amendable to (an)other(s) and is not given sovereign power then the success or failure cannot be attributed to him but to those in authority over him; he cannot be held accountable only for that which he is lord over. This is, "According to the laws and constitution of the people, which I have suffered to be established, ... That every man may act ... according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment. Therefore it is not right that any man should be in bondage to another." (D & C 101:77-79)

Bondage is the state of being bound. If we are bound by other than our conscience or reason, then we are in a state of bondage or unright-eous dominion. For, "No power or influence can or ought to be main-tained by virtue of the Priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffer-ing, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; ..." (D & C 121.41-2) Joseph put it this way, "I will not seek to compel any man to believe as I do, only by the force of reasoning, for truth will cut its own way." (TPJS, page 313) Without this concept of truth and reason holding sway instead of a man or men there could be no equality.

Bound by counsel ........ Union ........ Common consent

In George Washington's vision while at Valley Forge he "... saw a bright angel, on whose brow rested a crown of light on which was traced the word "union", bearing the American Flag, ..." This is a governing principle of the priesthood, i.e. Ephraim. Joseph when addressing the Relief Society said, "All must act in concert, or nothing can be done, and should move according to the ancient Priesthood; ..." (TPJS, page 202) "We are Elders in this Church -- ministers of God to perfect the people for the coming of the Son of man. Many of us ... cannot live together in peace and dwell together in union; and if we cannot do this, how can we sanctify the people; ..." (JD 11:255) "The greatest tem-poral and spiritual blessings which always come from faithfulness and concerted effort, never attended individual exertion or enterprise. The history of all past ages abundantly attests to this fact." (TPJS, page 183)

Going back to the nature of the priesthood, "... it is the right of all the Twelve Apostles to ... hold the keys in the fullness, (yet) it is only the right of one man at a time to exercise that power in relation to the whole people, ... always actin in conjunction with his fellow-servants." (JD 19:233)

In the Council of Fifty i.e. the Kingdom of God rule #5 was, "To pass, a motion must be unanimous in the affirmative. ... If any Council member has any objections he is under covenant to fully and freely make them known to the Council. But if he cannot be convinced of the right-ness of the course pursued by the Council he must either yield or with-draw membership in the Council. Thus, a man will lose his place in the Council if he refuses to act in accordance with righteous principles in the deliberations of the Council. ..." ("It seems like heaven began on Earth" : Joseph Smith and the Constitution of the Kingdom of God by

Andrew F. Ehat)

There are many places where we are told that the priesthood has the right to give counsel or to dictate. Neither word does justice; the word counsel means something you can take or leave; dictate means some-thing you have to take. They are both right and wrong. As per rule #5 counsel must be taken, unless you withdraw from it. You don't have to abide by the counsel of the priesthood, but if you don't you will be in the act of withdrawing yourself from it; from the righteous priesthood body of which you are a part. Unless it is not acting in righteousness; in which case your withdrawal maintains your priesthood while they as a body negate theirs. Of course there are superficial differences that don't conflict with righteous principles either way, to which all of us must be willing to bend at some time or another.

The Oracles ............ Connected with Heaven

"... the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, ..." (D & C 121.36) On one hand every Elder has all power and authority vested in him via the priesthood; on the other hand every Elder must have that connection with the heavens or, "Amen to the priesthood or authority of that man." (D & C 121:37) Before any man is qualified to be a priest, i.e. hold the priesthood he must be a prophet, for prophets receive revelation. "No man is a minister of Jesus Christ without being a Prophet." (TPJS, page 160) This connection with heaven is vital because, "Where there is no kingdom of God there is no salva-tion. What constitutes the kingdom of God? Where there is a prophet, a priest, or a righteous man unto whom God gives His oracles (revelation), there is the kingdom of God, and where the oracles of God are not, there the kingdom of God is not." (TPJS, page 272)

It becomes easy to see that it doesn't matter whether there are Apostles, Seventies, High Priests, etc. without the oracles, or revela-tion they really don't have the kingdom. Yet, "... suppose only one Elder should be left on the earth, could he go and set in order the Kingdom of God? Yes, by revelation." (JD 9:88)

"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 7:21) And how shall we do the will of the Father except we first receive it. "This is the principle on which the government of heaven is conducted - by revelation ..." (TPJS, page 256)

Righteous Dominion .......... Righteous Jurisdiction

What can "... hinder the Almighty from pouring down knowledge from heaven upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints. Behold many are called, but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen? Because ... as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion." (D & C 121:33-39) When we "... exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens

withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or authority of that man." (D & C 121.37)

There can be no harm to give all authority and power to those who seek after it if there is a clause that says: "This authority can only be used in righteousness". But what is righteousness? "That which the world calls righteousness I have not any regard for. To be righteous is to be just and merciful." (TPJS, page 206) If we then can understand justice and mercy we can understand who is exercising righteous dominion and who is not.

What is this, "... a little authority, as they suppose, ..."? It seems that when a man is called to an office he tends to believe it gives him more authority than it really does, or as he supposes. Look at the presidential orders of the U.S. President. Does the Constitution give him this power? And what is the Constitution? It is basically a contract which the President as well as all other public servants are bound to comply with. Why? Because all officers of the government of the U.S. derive their, "... just powers from the consent of the governed." (U.S. Constitution) (Remember, "... all things shall be done by common consent ..." (D & C 26:2) Look at the bestowal of priesthood upon the negro; was it within the realm of righteous dominion being done prior to common consent?

"... the word of the Lord came unto us ... commanding us that I should ordain Oliver Cowdery to be an Elder in the Church of Jesus Christ: and that he also should ordain me to the same office: ... We were, however, commanded to defer this our ordination until such times as ... our brethren ... should be ... assembled together, when we must have their sanction ... to have them decide by vote whether they were willing to accept us ... or not: ..." (DHC Vol. l:61-2) irregardless of the fact that this was a command of God, "... all things shall be done by common consent in the Church," (D & C 26:2)

There were two separate jurisdictions. l) The priesthood itself. 2) The office in that priesthood. As for the priesthood; Joseph and Oliver need not wait for the sanction of the Church to receive it; "... Joseph ... never had a right to organize a Church before he was an Apostle." (JD 1:137) Joseph and Oliver both received the priesthood i.e. the apostleship under the hands of Peter, James and John. Notwith-standing the fact that they were Apostles they had to have the sanction of the Church before they could be Elders in that Church. Two Apostles asked to be made Elders!

To understand jurisdiction one must understand agency. No one has the right to act for another (stand in the office, or officiate) without their permission, sanction, election to do so. To do otherwise is to automatically exercise unrighteous dominion. Everything God does in conjunction with the children of men by covenant, contract, or agree-ment. Why? Because without consent he would be abridging the indi-vidual's agency. This He cannot do without ceasing to be God. Just as

we cannot without negating our priesthood. There is a good reason for this similarity; as we stand in our priesthood, we stand as God, because we are doing just as He would do, if it is ever other than this .... it is not priesthood.

What does it mean to hold an office? Where do they come from? An officer or one holding an office, officiates for other(s), or is an officiator. There is no power in an office, save the power of those for who(m) one is officiating. This is a grand key that it seems so many miss; whether President of the U.S. or President of the Priesthood and Kingdom of God, the only power given with an office is the power of who(m) you are standing in the place of, or officiating for.

To hold the priesthood is to hold the office of God, of course the contract is very strict, the only validity of your actions are those things done in righteousness. But when you do them, it is the same as if God Himself had done them. Who gave this power, or called and elected you to this office? The one for whom you are officiating, God. Who else? Does God give you power over others? No! He cannot without abridging their agency. Since the power you hold is to act for God and no one else, no one else needs to give their sanction.

Now, say you are the President of the Priesthood. For whom are you officiating? Who must give their sanction? Is the office one where you will be officiating for God? Yes. Is the office one where you will be officiating for those holding the priesthood? Yes. Then whose sanction must you have? And whose power or authority do you have? And what does the contract say in relation to these powers?

When the President of the U.S. signs a paper it is just as if every citizen of the U.S. had marched in there and signed it. That is the power, the power of unity, union. That is why everything must be done by common consent. In conjunction with, and in concert, if not, via unrighteous dominion, the covenant, contract, agreement has been broken and so has the union, and thus the power.

The U.S. has been struck and virtually destroyed by a nuclear holo-caust or some other disaster of great magnitude. There are only five men surviving, a clerk from New York, a carpenter from Mississippi, a Justice of the Peace from Montana, A farmer from Utah, and a governor from Texas. As they come together with a determination to rebuild their once great nation they ask themselves who has the right to preside. The governor says he should preside as he is a governor, and the J.P. says he should be second in command as he was an elected J. P. The other three think about it a little and decide that they never elected the other two, and they have as much of a right to represent their home state as the others, regardless of office. They tell the governor, and the J.P., "The people who elected you are not here, but are dead, there-fore your office is as dead as the people are who elected you. We will, as equals, rebuild this nation until one of us elected by us to offici-ate for us. And not so he can rule over us.