“This Greater Priesthood Administereth the Gospel and Holdeth the Key of the Mysteries of the Kingdom, Even the Key of the Knowledge of God”
Doctrine and Covenants 84:19–22
19 And this greater priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God.
20 Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest.
21 And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh;
22 For without this no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live.
President Joseph Fielding Smith wrote:
“The Lord says the ‘priesthood continueth in the church of God in all generations, and is without beginning of days or end of years’ [D&C 84:17]. This ‘greater priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God. Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest. And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh’ [D&C 84:19–21].
“Thus, we see, that it is impossible for men to obtain the knowledge or the mysteries of the kingdom or the knowledge of God, without the authority of the priesthood. Secular learning, the study of the sciences, arts, and history, will not reveal these vital truths to man. It is the Holy Priesthood that unlocks the door to heaven and reveals to man the mysteries of the kingdom of God. It is this divine authority which makes known the knowledge of God! Is there any wonder that the world today is groping in gross darkness concerning God and the things of His kingdom? We should also remember that these great truths are not made known even to members of the Church unless they place their lives in harmony with the law upon which these blessings are predicated [see D&C 130:20–21].”
(Church History and Modern Revelation, 2 vols. [1953], 1:338.)
