The Savior Restored His Priesthood, Church and Gospel

How was the __________________ Church established or founded?

Article of Faith 6 We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.

Erasmus (A.D. 1466–1536): “Everything is now so entangled with these questions [of doctrine] and decrees that we dare not even hope to call the world back to true Christianity.” Thomas Jefferson : “The religion-builders have so distorted and deformed the doctrines of Jesus, so muffled them in the mysticisms, fancies and falsehoods, have caricatured them into forms so monstrous and inconceivable as to shock reasonable thinkers. . . . Happy in the prospect of a restoration of primitive Christianity, I must leave to younger athletes to encounter and lop off the false branches which have been engrafted into it by the mythologists of the middle and modern ages.”

Pierre Van Paassen, a respected author, summarized world conditions without apostles and prophets: “A world without prophets is . . . like a ship without rudder or compass floundering about helplessly, aimlessly drifting toward perdition.” Will Durant, a world-renowned historian, recognized this exact set of circumstances and wrote: “When the first generations of Christianity had passed away, the oral tradition of the apostles began to fade . . . and a hundred heresies disordered the Christian mind.”

John Wesley, a Christian theologian who lived in the eighteenth century, noted this absence of the gifts of the Spirit in his day: “It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the Church for more than two or three centuries. We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the Emperor Constantine called himself a Christian. . . . From this time they [the spiritual gifts] almost totally ceased; very few instances of the kind were found.” Martin Luther: “I have sought nothing beyond reforming the Church in conformity with the Holy Scriptures. . . . I simply say that Christianity has ceased to exist among those who should have preserved it.”

We believe The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a restoration of the original Church established by Jesus Christ, which was built ‘upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone’ [Ephesians 2:20]. It is not a breakoff from any other church. Pres. James E. Faust

Brother Tad R. Callister If one were to match … Christ’s original Church against every church in the world today, he would find that point for point, organization for organization, teaching for teaching, ordinance for ordinance, fruit for fruit, and revelation for revelation, it will only match one - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Brother Tad R. Callister

The Doctrine and Covenants is a latter-day testament of the ministry of Jesus Christ to the children of God through prophets and servants of God, and it illustrates the divine pattern of revelation that guides the Church and its members today. Elder Gary J. Coleman

Pres. Joseph Fielding Smith All revelation since the fall has come through Jesus Christ… The Father has never dealt with man directly and personally since the fall, and he has never appeared except to introduce and bear record of the Son. Pres. Joseph Fielding Smith

Pres. Joseph Fielding Smith When Adam was in the Garden of Eden, he was in the presence of God our Eternal Father. After his fall, he was driven out of the presence of the Father… Then, according to the scriptures, Jesus Christ became the Advocate for Adam and his standing between mankind and the Eternal Father, pleading our cause. From that time forth it was Jesus Christ who directed his servants on the earth and gave revelation and guidance to the prophets. Pres. Joseph Fielding Smith

The Godhead Modern Revelation The Book of Mormon Restoration of Priesthood Restoration of Church & Gospel

Event(s) of the Restoration Date(s) Event(s) of the Restoration Spring 1820 Joseph Smith prays in the grove and sees God the Father and His Beloved Son (The First Vision) September 21-22, 1823 Moroni appears to Joseph Smith 3 times during the night, once during the day, and again at the Hill Cumorah; an ancient record – The Book of Mormon – was to be bought forth. September 22, 1827 Moroni delivers up the plates and Urim & Thummim. February, 1828 Martin Harris takes characters copied from the plates to Dr. Charles Anthon in NYC. April, 1828 Martin Harris begins to act as scribe for Joseph Smith; he pleads with Joseph to show the manuscript to his family, and loses it. The plates and Urim & Thummim are taken from Joseph for a season. Mid-summer 1828 Joseph restarts the translation work but is restricted from devoting much time to it. April 7, 1829 Oliver Cowdery visits Joseph Smith in Harmony, PA; the work of translation proceeds. May 15, 1829 John the Baptist visits Oliver and Joseph and ordains them to the Aaronic Priesthood; they baptize each other in the Susquehanna River at his direction. May-June 1829? Peter, James and John visit Oliver and Joseph and ordain them to the Melchizedek Priesthood. Mid-June 1829 Translation of the plates completed. Mid-summer 1829 The Three Witnesses are visited by an angel and hear a voice from heaven attesting to the validity of the translation; the plates are shown and hefted by the witnesses in Fayette. Eight witnesses are shown the plates by Joseph Smith in Manchester. March 26, 1830 The Book of Mormon is first available for sale. April 6, 1830 The Church of Jesus Christ is organized in Peter Whitmer’s Sr. cabin in Fayette.

Revelation

Jesus Christ Apostles & Prophets

Jesus Christ Apostles & Prophets Priesthood Authority

Doctrine, Principles, Teachings Jesus Christ Apostles & Prophets Priesthood Authority Doctrine, Principles, Teachings

Doctrine, Principles, Teachings Jesus Christ Apostles & Prophets Priesthood Authority Doctrine, Principles, Teachings Ordinances & Covenants

Doctrine, Principles, Teachings Jesus Christ Apostles & Prophets Priesthood Authority Doctrine, Principles, Teachings Ordinances & Covenants Church Organization, Practices & Policies

Doctrine, Principles, Teachings Jesus Christ Apostles & Prophets Priesthood Authority Doctrine, Principles, Teachings Ordinances & Covenants Church Organization, Practices & Policies Fruits & Gifts of the Spirit

What does it mean to you and me? The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will never again be taken from the earth or experience an institutional apostasy or collapse in these latter days? How do we know that? What does it mean to you and me?

He Lives Lesson 24 ~ Next week: Mosiah 5:1–15 Doctrine and Covenants 45:3–5 Doctrine and Covenants 76:19–24 Doctrine and Covenants 110:1–4

Elder Orson F. Whitney, an Apostle of the restored Church, once told of a learned Catholic theologian who spoke to him as follows: You Mormons are all ignoramuses. You don’t even know the strength of your own position. It is so strong that there is only one other tenable in the whole Christian world, and that is the position of the Catholic Church. The issue is between Catholicism and Mormonism. If we are right, you are wrong; if you are right, we are wrong; and that’s all there is to it. The Protestants haven’t a leg to stand on. For if we are wrong, they are wrong with us, since they were a part of us and went out from us; while if we are right, they are apostates whom we cut off long ago. If we have the apostolic succession from St. Peter, as we claim, there is no need of Joseph Smith and Mormonism; but if we have not that succession, then such a man as Joseph Smith was necessary, and Mormonism’s attitude is the only consistent one. It is either the perpetuation of the gospel from ancient times, or the restoration of the gospel in latter days.

The scriptures testify and warn of this apostasy The Bible ends The apostles were killed and the Quorum of Twelve Apostles ceased to exist The scriptures testify and warn of this apostasy The Bible ends A dramatic loss of miracles and gifts of the Spirit Many teachings of Christ’s church were lost, altered, or replaced by man Many ordinances of Christ’s church were lost, altered, or replaced by man The simple manner of prayer was altered The scriptures were removed from the hands of the lay people The ongoing church no longer bore the Savior’s name The priesthood was lost Tad R. Callister, The Blueprint of Christ’s Church