Mormon Theology no. 40 - Keys of the Priesthood Only in LDS Church

In this post, I will show that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only Church acknowledged by Heavenly Father as His Church.

We must always remember that Joseph Smith said, "I will give you a key that will never rust - if you will stay with the majority of the Twelve Apostles and the records of the Church, you will never be led astray." (Young Woman’s Journal, Dec. 1906, p. 543).  Therein lies the key of the subject.


Before President Joseph Smith died, he gave the Keys of the Priesthood to the Twelve Apostles, and it is they who had a right to lead the Church, simply because they had all the Keys, and all the men who formed the splinter groups never rose higher than Seventy, which office of Seventy were only Elders - not High Priests as the Twelve Apostles were.  Also, President Joseph Smith knew that the Latter-day Saints would one day go to the Rocky Mountains.  Said he, 

I prophesied that the Saints would continue to suffer much affliction and would be driven to the Rocky Mountains, many would apostatize, others would be put to death by our persecutors or lose their lives in consequence of exposure or disease, and some of you will live to go and assist in making settlements and build cities and see the Saints become a mighty people in the midst of the Rocky Mountains. (History of the Church 5:85)

Law of Witnesses
There are at least six witnesses testifying to whom the Keys of Priesthood were given.  President Brigham Young bore witness, "Joseph conferred upon our heads all the keys and powers belonging to the Apostleship which he himself held before he was taken away, and no man or set of men can get between Joseph and the Twelve" (Essentials in Church History, p. 320).

 President Wilford Woodruff said, "I bear my testimony that . . . in Nauvoo, the Prophet Joseph Smith called the Apostles together and he delivered unto them . . . all the keys and powers that God had bestowed upon him. . . . (Statement, 19 March 1897, Church Archives)"  

President John Taylor wrote, "A special conference of the Church was held in Nauvoo on the 8th [of August 1844], and it was carried without a discenting [sic] voice, that the 'Twelve' should preside over the whole Church" (Times and Seasons, 5:632, 2 September 1844).

 Elder Orson Hyde recalled, "We were in council with Brother Joseph almost every day for weeks. . . . He conducted us through every ordinance of the holy priesthood . . . and said, 'now if they kill me you have got all the keys, and all the ordinances'" (Times and Seasons, 15 Sep. 1844, p. 651). 


Elder Parley P. Pratt testified, 


This great and good man [Joseph Smith the Prophet] was led, before his death, to call the Twelve together, from time to time, and to instruct them in all things pertaining to the kingdom, ordinances, and government of God.  He often observed that he was laying the foundation, but it would remain for the Twelve to complete the building.  Said he, ‘I know not why; but for some reason I am constrained to hasten my preparations, and to confer upon the Twelve all the ordinances, keys, covenants, endowments, and sealing ordinances of the priesthood . . . for, said he, the Lord is about to lay the burden on your shoulders and let me rest awhile; and if they kill me . . . the kingdom of God will roll on, as I have now finished the work which was laid upon me, by committing to you all things for the building up of the kingdom according to the heavenly vision, and the pattern shown me from heaven.’ (“Proclamation,” Millennial Star, 5 [March 1845]: p. 151).

Lastly, President Joseph Smith testified, "I have lived until I have seen this burden, which has rested on my shoulders, rolled on to the shoulders of other men; . . . the keys of the kingdom are planted on the earth to be taken away no more for ever. . . . No matter what becomes of me" (Deseret News, Dec. 21, 1869, p. 2).  Thus we see that the LDS Church has the keys, and not any other Church.

I say boldly that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only Church God acknowledges.  I know with all the fervor of my soul that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God, and that he gave all the keys bestowed upon him to the Twelve.  I have a witness of the Holy Ghost.

The real issue lies in the prophetic calling of Joseph Smith.  If he was a prophet, what greater mission had he than to establish the Kingdom of God, never again to be thrown down?  This he did by giving the temple Endowment and the fullness of the Keys of the Priesthood (which is only found in the House of the Lord) to the Twelve.  President Brigham Young taught, "All that want to draw away a party from the church after them, let them do it if they can, but they will not prosper" (History of the Church, 7:232; also Millennial Star 25:216).

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only Church that:
1. Is acknowledged by Christ as His own (D&C 1:30-31; 115:4)
2. Was established by Joseph Smith himself, through revelation (D&C 115:4).  The only Church the Prophet was a member of was The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
3. Teaches all the doctrines Joseph Smith taught (Endowment of the Holy Priesthood, Baptism for the Dead, tithing, the Word of Wisdom, continual revelation through the President of the Church, eternal marriage, the proper mode and manner of baptism and bestowing the Gift of the Holy Ghost, temple work for the dead, the three degrees of glory, the need of the Sealing Authority, missionary work, gift of tongues, the importance of the Fall, the infinite reach of the Atonement, the age of accountability, the innocence of little children, etc.)

If a church is missing any one of the above criteria or doctrines, it is not the Church of Jesus Christ, but the church of the devil.

Also, the fact that those who broke off from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to form their own church were never sustained in an open conference by the regular membership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is further evidence of their lack of Authority. The entire Quorum of the Twelve were unanimously sustained by the membership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in an open conference (meaning, as Paul says, "this thing was not done in a corner" (Acts 26:26)).

I know what I have said is true, and that God knows it is true. God is a God of order, and had everything in order (through revelation), so that when Joseph Smith died, the Twelve could lead the Church.  In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.