On the Lord's errand

I have a apersonal assistant whom I send to do all the things I cannot do because of time and other constraints.  I delegate responsibilities to her and give her authority to act in my name.  For example, I send her to take care of problems the business is having with the phone bill, I have her send flowers to my sweetheart on special occasions, and I tell her to deal with the webmaster to fix the web site the way I want it.  She has to go and do all of these without me being there.  She is on my errand, and represents me. 

Because of this, I would expect everyone I do business with to respect her as they would me.  I expect them to listen to her and do as she asks them.  When she is on my errand, doing my will, it is as if I had asked in person. 

In the name of the Lord

Likewise, those who are servants of the Lord are on His errand.  They are sent by Him to do His will.  When they speak, they are speaking His words.  When they command they are giving His commandments.  They use His name because they are doing His will.  This ability and authority is a gift that must be developed by first keeping His commandments as given by others, and then learning His will for us.  As we come to know Christ and learn His will we are given tasks to perform and the authority to perform them in His name.  We then become His servants on His errand and can speak His name in Spirit and truth.

Those who are on His errand speak for God.  They are doing His will and He expects everyone to respect them as if He were there in person.  The people with whom the servants of the Lord have contact should treat them with the same reverence they would treat God Himself.  This includes being obedient to their words.  The Lord said, "whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same."  (D&C 1:38)  This is how they, too, can learn to speak in the name of the Lord.

Obedience is the first law

When Adam was cast out of the Garden of Eden he built an altar and offered sacrifice.  Later, an angel came to him and asked why he was doing that, and Adam said, "I know not, save the Lord commanded me."  Then the angel explained that it was a type or shadow of the sacrifice of the Son of God.  Adam was told, "Thou shalt do all that thou doest in the name of the Son."  (Moses 5:8)  The sacrifice on the altar was done in the name of the Lord because He commanded it.  Adam first was obedient to the commandment of the Lord before he learned why and received another commandment to do everything in His name.

This illustrates a pattern of obedience in faith before we understand why.  We follow the same pattern to learn the will of the Lord.  We must believe in His word and do it, being obedient to "every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God"  (Matthew 4:4) before we gain the understanding to be his mouthpiece.

In our Rotary Club the minister who asked the members to pray before the meeting told them not to pray in the name of Jesus.  This was Club policy so as not to offend those who didn't believe in Christ.  My bishop was in the same club and was asked to pray, he agreed, but closed his prayer in the name of Jesus Christ.  I have often thought about the arrogance of asking a person to pray and tell him he can't pray to his God.  This is especially true of Christians because we are commanded to "Pray always in His name."  As Peter and the other Apostles told the Sanhedrin, We ought to obey God rather than men."  (Acts 5:29) 

Growing in the Word

Because of this commandment, we do everything in the Church in the name of Jesus Christ.  Every prayer, talk, or other message is automatically closed in His name.  However, it often seems that members of His Church use His name in vain, or without His authorization.  We do it without thinking. I heard of one instance of a Mormon news anchorwoman who closed her broadcast (accidentally) "in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."  We get up in church and speak our own words in His name.  We bless the obviously unhealthy refreshments to our health in His name.  We ask for our own desires in His name.  We lay hands on the heads of others and give our own blessing in His name.  We even curse others in His name.  Like all children, we make these mistakes until we grow up, understand and repent.

Growing in the Spirit is the process of repentance.  We gradually learn to hear the Spirit of God as we let go of our own desires and seek His.  There is a specified process of learning the will of the Lord called "the Gospel of Jesus Christ."  It starts with faith in Him, and then we repent and make covenants such as baptism and we can receive the Holy Ghost.  It is by His Spirit that we learn His will.  If we speak only as the Spirit directs, then we can rightly speak in His name.  This is the spirit of prophecy, or the testimony of Jesus Christ.

With authority

When we know the will of the Lord for ourselves we can use it to bless the lives of others.  At the time of Jesus the religious leaders of the day spoke from the words of other authorities.  When Jesus taught, however, He spoke the Word of God on His own authority.  "On the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught.  And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes."  (Mark 1:21-22)  We are given this same authority today, the Priesthood.  Those who have this conferred upon them can speak in His name when they are doing His will.  But if they try to use this authority to force their will upon others they lose it entirely.  This is why we must first repent and have the Holy Ghost before we can receive the Priesthood -- so we understand His will.

The Priesthood of God is organized to assure that everyone understands who has the authority to speak in His name.  There is only one man on the Earth today with the authority to give the word of God to everyone on the Earth -- the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  He is the Prophet of God on the Earth today, and is authorized to speak for God.  The President of the Church delegates the work of the Lord to other authorities, who have jurisdiction over their individual stewardships.  For example, a bishop can speak in the name of the Lord, but only in the congregation over which he presides.  In turn, the bishop delegates the work to others; each is given his own duties, and is qualified to speak in the name of the Lord in his calling.  "And whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation."  (D&C 68:4) 

When we are doing our duty as given to us by the proper authority we are doing God's work, and are thus entitled to revelation from Him to fulfill it.  Then we can speak in the name of the Lord, or with authority, as Jesus did in His day and as the Prophets do today.  Thus, "every man might speak in the name of God the Lord, even the Savior of the world" (D&C 1:20) when we are on the Lord's errand.