2 Thessalonians 2:2-3
"That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition"
This "falling away" that Paul talks about is the falling away from the teachings of Christ, known as the Apostasy. There are essentially two events that result in this Apostasy. They are:
- The first being the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
- The martyrdom of the Apostles
The Keys of the Priesthood
When Christ was crucified he was resurrected and went to dwell in Heaven in the presence of God the Father. When He was here on the Earth, Christ had the Keys of the Priesthood. The Keys of the Priesthood provides us the ability to exercise the Priesthood of God here on Earth through His Apostles and other disciples whom he had given that priesthood power to.
To understand why the Keys of the Priesthood are important, envision a Prophet of God with a large key unlocking the door to Heaven where he gets access this priesthood of God. Without this key, that door is locked and he cannot gain access to, or use Gods priesthood in any way.
To further understand why this important we need to recognize that the priesthood is the power by which God reveals his word to his people. So without the priesthood of God here on the earth, there is no revelation from God to guide, instruct and educate man. Additionally, there will be no working of miracles or other gifts of the spirit, such as healings, visions, etc.
Christ Transferred the Keys to Peter
With Christ no longer on the Earth after his ascension into Heaven, someone on the earth had to have those Keys of the Priesthood of God in order for that priesthood to be used for the benefit of among man. We know from the teachings of Jesus Christ in Matthew 16: 18-19 that Jesus Christ gave Peter these keys of the priesthood of God.
"And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
So now Peter holds all the Keys of the Priesthood on the face of the earth. This makes him the Prophet here on the Earth. His responsibility was no different than that of Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the many other prophets who also held those Keys of the Priesthood while they were here on the earth.
However , when Peter was also martyred those keys of the Priesthood fell on the entire body of the Twelve Apostles, not to an individual. Under normal circumstances, those Twelve Apostles would then have selected Peters successor through prayer settling only when all ballots are 100% unanimous. But these times were anything but normal circumstances. Though the remaining body of the twelve Apostles had the priesthood keys, they were being chased and hunted down. They were thus unable to meet together as a body to transfer those keys to a successor before they themselves were martyred.
The martyrdom of the Apostles marks the official removal of the Keys of the Priesthood of God from this people. At this time the Priesthood power of God was no longer found among this people, nor were the ongoing revelations and teachings of God, nor were His miracles, nor any workings of His Holy Spirit.
With the elimination of that Truth and Light of God which comes through His priesthood and His prophets, the people of that time did their best to remember those things that were taught by Christ and his Apostles and to pass those teachings on to the next generations. However over time, those teachings were diluted, altered and many of them eliminated from the records of man. This is what we now know as the dark ages.
Dark Ages
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During the dark ages, there was very little progression. The churches on the earth didn't have the Priesthood of God to receive that ongoing revelation and teaching that comes from God to his people here on the Earth. Without this, these churches and their congregations had to rely on the understandings of man who in many cases did the very best they could. However there were other men that clearly had ulterior motives. In many cases they changed the doctrines taught to their congregations to be something entirely different in order to give them more political power or to satisfy their greed. Far too many of these self-proclaimed holy men were nothing more than murderers for power and money. Because of these things, the Gospel and doctrine of Christ was changed. Things were added to it and other things were removed from it. This resulted in many different churches, each teaching different doctrines, but none of them teaching the complete Gospel of Jesus Christ with that all important Priesthood power of God.
For nearly 1600 years the people lived in filth, both physically and spiritually. They were a bloodthirsty people with nothing upon which to base their morals or values. And because of this state of filth and the absence of the priesthood, there was very little progress in the way of general academics, including science and theology.
However in the latter end of these dark ages, there began to be some scientific progress. This progress came in the forms of the printing press, Martin Luther, Christians fleeing to the Americas to be able to freely worship God, books and many other foundational inventions.
Restoration of the Priesthood of God
This progress set the stage for something wonderful that was about to happen. With religious freedom, freedom of speech, and the many other freedoms enjoyed by the early United States, the time had come when God would once again restore his Priesthood here to the Earth. However, He needed a Prophet. He needed someone who would be humble, loyal and who he could mold to become that Prophet that would be a tool in the hand of God to restore not only the Priesthood, but also the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Church of Jesus Christ exactly as it was in the times of Christ. He needed a young man that wouldn't be pompous, selfish, conceited, or prideful in any way.
In the spring of 1820 God chose just a young man. He chose Joseph Smith Jr. to be that tool in His hands to restore His Priesthood to the Earth and to bring forth the full and complete Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Joseph Smith at the young age of 15 diligently searched the scriptures and went about visiting the many different faiths available in his area. He desperately wanted to know which of all the churches was really true. He knew that they couldn't all be true because they all taught different doctrines and their so called truths contradicted each other. The following are his own words.
Joseph Smith-History: 7-20
7 I was at this time in my fifteenth year. My father's family was proselyted to the Presbyterian faith, and four of them joined that church, namely, my mother, Lucy; my brothers Hyrum and Samuel Harrison; and my sister Sophronia.
8 During this time of great excitement my mind was called up to serious reflection and great uneasiness; but though my feelings were deep and often poignant, still I kept myself aloof from all these parties, though I attended their several meetings as often as occasion would permit. In process of time my mind became somewhat partial to the Methodist sect, and I felt some desire to be united with them; but so great were the confusion and strife among the different denominations, that it was impossible for a person young as I was, and so unacquainted with men and things, to come to any certain conclusion who was right and who was wrong.
9 My mind at times was greatly excited, the cry and tumult were so great and incessant. The Presbyterians were most decided against the Baptists and Methodists, and used all the powers of both reason and sophistry to prove their errors, or, at least, to make the people think they were in error. On the other hand, the Baptists and Methodists in their turn were equally zealous in endeavoring to establish their own tenets and disprove all others.
10 In the midst of this war of words and tumult of opinions, I often said to myself: What is to be done? Who of all these parties are right; or, are they all wrong together? If any one of them be right, which is it, and how shall I know it?
11 While I was laboring under the extreme difficulties caused by the contests of these parties of religionists, I was one day reading the Epistle of James, first chapter and fifth verse, which reads: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
12 Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know; for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible.
13 At length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs, that is, ask of God. I at length came to the determination to "ask of God," concluding that if he gave wisdom to them that lacked wisdom, and would give liberally, and not upbraid, I might venture.
14 So, in accordance with this, my determination to ask of God, I retired to the woods to make the attempt. It was on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty. It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally.
15 After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction.
16 But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction-not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being-just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.
17 It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other "This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!
18 My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong)-and which I should join.
19 I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: "they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof."
20 He again forbade me to join with any of them; and many other things did he say unto me, which I cannot write at this time. When I came to myself again, I found myself lying on my back, looking up into heaven. When the light had departed, I had no strength; but soon recovering in some degree, I went home. And as I leaned up to the fireplace, mother inquired what the matter was. I replied, "Never mind, all is well-I am well enough off." I then said to my mother, "I have learned for myself that Presbyterianism is not true." It seems as though the adversary was aware, at a very early period of my life, that I was destined to prove a disturber and an annoyer of his kingdom; else why should the powers of darkness combine against me? Why the opposition and persecution that arose against me, almost in my infancy?
(Learn more about the Restoration of the Gospel and watch a Video)
The Dark Ages were Officially Over
This marked the beginning of an era in which the unaltered Gospel of Jesus Christ would once again be taught among the people of the Earth. The Keys of the Aaronic Priesthood was given to him a few years later in May 1829. This was followed by the Melchizedek Priesthood after that.
Joseph Smith-History:
68 We still continued the work of translation, when, in the ensuing month (May, 1829), we on a certain day went into the woods to pray and inquire of the Lord respecting baptism for the remission of sins, that we found mentioned in the translation of the plates. While we were thus employed, praying and calling upon the Lord, a messenger from heaven descended in a cloud of light, and having laid his hands upon us, he ordained us, saying:
69 Upon you my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah, I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; and this shall never be taken again from the earth until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness.
70 He said this Aaronic Priesthood had not the power of laying on hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, but that this should be conferred on us hereafter; and he commanded us to go and be baptized, and gave us directions that I should baptize Oliver Cowdery, and that afterwards he should baptize me.
71 Accordingly we went and were baptized. I baptized him first, and afterwards he baptized me-after which I laid my hands upon his head and ordained him to the Aaronic Priesthood, and afterwards he laid his hands on me and ordained me to the same Priesthood-for so we were commanded.
72 The messenger who visited us on this occasion and conferred this Priesthood upon us, said that his name was John, the same that is called John the Baptist in the New Testament, and that he acted under the direction of Peter, James and John, who held the keys of the Priesthood of Melchizedek, which Priesthood, he said, would in due time be conferred on us, and that I should be called the first Elder of the Church, and he (Oliver Cowdery) the second. It was on the fifteenth day of May, 1829, that we were ordained under the hand of this messenger, and baptized.
73 Immediately on our coming up out of the water after we had been baptized, we experienced great and glorious blessings from our Heavenly Father. No sooner had I baptized Oliver Cowdery, than the Holy Ghost fell upon him, and he stood up and prophesied many things which should shortly come to pass. And again, so soon as I had been baptized by him, I also had the spirit of prophecy, when, standing up, I prophesied concerning the rise of this Church, and many other things connected with the Church, and this generation of the children of men. We were filled with the Holy Ghost, and rejoiced in the God of our salvation.
74 Our minds being now enlightened, we began to have the scriptures laid open to our understandings, and the true meaning and intention of their more mysterious passages revealed unto us in a manner which we never could attain to previously, nor ever before had thought of. In the meantime we were forced to keep secret the circumstances of having received the Priesthood and our having been baptized, owing to a spirit of persecution which had already manifested itself in the neighborhood.
(Learn more about the Restoration of the Priesthood and watch a short video.)
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