I sometimes think that when we consider the visit of John the Baptist to Joseph and Oliver (the main event discussed in this lesson), we focus on the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood, but leave out the restoration of the ordinance of baptism. Yes, the ordinance can’t be performed without the priesthood, but then I think that in some ways the priesthood is defined by the ordinances that it can perform. Without baptism, wouldn’t the Aaronic Priesthood be different?

Fortunately, the lesson does address both the priesthood and ordinances, putting both in the context of the restoration, the ‘great and marvelous work.’

I can participate in God’s “great and marvelous work.”

Certainly ‘great and marvelous work’ has become its own term, so that it’s hard in LDS speech to talk about a work that is only ‘great’ or just ‘marvelous.’ And the term is closely connected with the growth of the Church, starting with the restoration — and perhaps also with the entire plan of salvation.

That larger idea is the focus of Octave F. Ursenbach’s poem presented here, which sees the restoration through the lens of the Old Testament prophets whose work was being restored. I think Ursenbach is a fascinating character in LDS history and literature. Known for his missionary and organizational efforts, Ursenbach was the son of one of Karl Maeser’s missionary companions, and himself served in the Swiss-German mission in the 1890s and then in the French mission in the 1930s and as the President of that mission just prior to World War II.

 

The Prophet Turned the Key

by Octave F. Ursenbach

The Prophet turned the Moses Key. When lo,

Like all pervading rays from yonder sun,

A hope, wide-spread, in hearts of men was born,

Impelling the rare urge, resounding full:

“Back, back to our tents, O, Israel.”

Great Judah’s hordes, in purpose firm, now stand –

Press on to repossess the Holy Land;

While Ephraim, from every land and tongue,

In mountain tops – to Zion’s ramparts throng.

The Prophet turned Elijah’s Key. When lo,

Began a wondrous urge in the hearts of men –

To ancestors long gone, now turned again,

Impelled, search cobwebbed annals of the past –

To weld great family links secure at last.

Great libraries genealogical,

With records of dead ancestors are full,

While, within Holy Temples, blessings spread

O’er millions upon millions of the dead.

The Prophet turned Elias’ Key. When lo,

The flood-gates of intelligence arise –

Majestically truth comes from yonder skies –

God’s spirit lavishly bestowed to men –

Young men see visions, old men dream, dream on.

Lo, yesterday’s achievements, scarcely past –

Today discarded – nearly red with rust,

While in the glare we wait the morrow’s dawn,

To see what God, with human aid, has done.

Work marvelous! Behold God’s great design;

His mercy, love and truth forever shine,

Encompassing within its great embrace,

Salvation for the entire human race.

Aghast, stand we to greet the Hundred Years –

Aspiring in our faith, our hope and fears,

To spend and be spent o’er and o’er again,

Preparing men for Christ’s majestic reign.

1930

 

 

Jesus Christ sent John the Baptist to restore the Aaronic Priesthood.

While the priesthood restoration is mentioned in many poems, this poem makes it a key event in the ongoing restoration. Written under the pseudonym ‘Fig Tree’, I don’t know who the author is, and I’m not sure how to figure it out. The poem was published in the LDS newspaper in New York City, The Prophet, just six months after the martyrdom.

 

In eighteen hundred and twenty seven

by Fig Tree

In eighteen hundred and twenty seven

The Lord sent an angel down from heaven,

Who restored the priesthood long since lost,

With the gifts and blessings of the Holy Ghost.

Seventeen long years have passed away,

And we are yet left to rejoice in the day;

Even eighteen hundred and forty five

The work of Jehovah continues to thrive.

For ages darkness has covered the earth,

Few men could tell us the cause of this death;

Millions on millions have gone to the tomb

But none have returned to tell us their doom.

Some believe they all went to heaven,

There to rejoice from morn until even’;

Others assert that part went to hell,

Where there is no brook of cool watter nor well;

To cool their burnt tongues or quench the fierce flame

While christians rejoice in glory; O shame!

Priests, and their people have made up a song,

We are the great men, the noble, and the strong.

We build up churches to Peter and Paul,

Philip, Bartholamew, Stephen and all;

Poor soules! they do the deeds of their fathers,

By staining their hands in the blood of Martyrs.

All this because the angel brought sad news,

Saying, all men are wrong, Gentiles and Jews

Israel by sin was cut off from God’s fold,

The Gentiles were grafted, but did not fast hold.

So now is the evening of time once more,

The Lord has decreed all things to restore;

The Saints will gather, the Jews will return,

Then sects with their churches like stubble will burn.

A few years more will roll on their sad fate,

Their Priests will repent when it is too late;

Repent then ye people, priestcraft must fall,

And with it their glory, their grandure, their all.

The servants of God now are proclaiming,

The word of Jesus they are sustaining;

Faith and repentance, listen! O hear it,

Then be baptised with watter and spirit.

1845

 

Ordinances give me access to God’s power.

We participate in ordinances in many different ways and times. Some ordinances are once in a lifetime and others are weekly. Some are clearly special occasions, in chapels and temples, while others are in more intimate settings, at home. In every case faith is required in addition to the priesthood, in this way providing access to God’s power.

John Lyon’s unrhymed sonnet below, focuses on what is one of the more intimate of ordinances, the blessing of the sick. The Scottish Lyon was the most significant poet of the early converts in Britain, active there while most LDS publishing was in England because of the exodus in the U.S.

 

Faith

by John Lyon

‘Tis consolation sweet, and strength’ning to

The Saint, when sickness mars the bliss of life,

To have the healing ordinance applied;

To send for the Elders of the Church, and

Have the holy, consecrated oil poured

On the sickly frame, and hands devoutly

Laid upon the head, in fervent prayer.

Faith ministers to Faith, and blessings come;

The Priesthood seals, rebukes, and brings on earth

A foretaste of that power, unknown before

The Gospel and its blessings were revealed—

E’en health, intelligence, and sin forgiven.

Ah! who so void of sense, as to despise

What God commands, and sinful creatures need?

1853

 

Bringing souls unto Christ is of great worth.

Not only are ordinances important, but Baptism’s role as a gateway is particularly notable. Baptisms were, of course, the first ordinances performed after the restoration of the priesthood. The following poem, addressed to missionaries, focuses on one of the major roles of Baptism—conversion to the gospel.

The author is the same John Taylor who became the third president of the church. During the period before the Saints arrived in Utah, Taylor’s poems often appeared in LDS publications. From what I’ve seen, he is the most prolific poet among the church presidents.

 

Go ye messengers of glory

by John Taylor

Go ye messengers of glory,

Run ye legates of the skies,

Go and tell the pleasing story,

That a glorious angel flies,

Great and mighty,

With a message from the skies.

Go to every tribe and nation,

Visit every land and clime,

Sound to all the proclamation,

Tell to all the truth sublime,

That the gospel,

Does in ancient glory shine.

Go! to all the gospel carry,

Let the joyful news abound,

Go! till every nation hear ye,

Jew and Gentile hear the sound,

Let the gospel,

Echo all the earth around.

Bearing seed of heavenly virtue,

Scatter it o’er all the earth,

Go! Jehovah will support you,

Gather all the sheaves of worth,

Then with Jesus,

Reign in glory on the earth

1840

 

The Lord uses witnesses to establish His word.

The section on witnesses might seem a bit of an outlier in the lesson, with its focus on priesthood and ordinances. However, the role of witness is a part of many ordinances, and the following poem suggests that there is an underlying gospel principle to this role, and connects witnesses symbolically to baptism. So could the Three Witnesses actually be witnesses to a kind of ordinance? Is establishing scripture, or maybe restoration, an ordinance?

Regardless, this poem also connects the idea of three witnesses to the Godhead, implying that there is something special about using three witnesses. The author is again unknown, signing the poem with just the initial ‘T.’ in the poem’s publication in the Nauvoo newspaper Times and Seasons.

 

The Three Witnesses

by T.

The glorious plan which God has given,

To bring a ruined world to heaven,

Was framed in Christ by the new birth,

Was seal’d in heaven, was seal’d on earth.

As in the heavens they all agree,

The record’s given there by Three,

On earth three wienesses are given.

To lead the sons of earth to heaven.

Jehovah, God the Father’s one;

Another, God’s eternal Son;

The Spirit does with them agree—

The witnesses in heaven are three.

Nor are we, in the second birth,

Left without witnesses on earth.

To grope, as in eternal night,

About the way to endless light.

Buried beneath the liquid grave.

To know the Spirit’s power to save.

And feel the virtue of his blood,

Are witnesses ordained of God,

In heaven they all agree in one.

The Father, Spirit, and the Son.

On earth these witnesses agree,

The water, blood, and Spirit, three.

One great connecting link is given

Between the sons of earth and heaven.

The Spirit seals us here on earth,

In heaven records our second birth.

If we, on earth, possess those three,

Mysterious saving unity,

The Book of Life will record bear.

Our names are surely written there.

1843