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.

181st Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Afternoon Session

Sunday 3 April 2011 my wife and I were in Salt Lake City to attend the 181st Annual General Conference.  Herein I will just talk about my feelings I had at the Conference, but first I must address a query that I have always had.

I have always wondered whether or not one could sit on the grass and listen to General Conference outside.  From a photo from DeseretNews.com, irrefutable proof is offered to show that one can do so, as the sustaining of Church officers happened while a session was already in progress.

When Presidents Thomas S. Monson, Henry B. Eyring, and Dieter F. Uchtdorf walked into the Conference Center, all arose in honor of God's mouthpiece on Earth, President Thomas S. Monson.  As we did so, I felt the Spirit of the Almighty envealope me.  I felt a literal warmth, as if a thick wind blew around me.  Truely, it was the Spirit testifying of the prophetic call of Thomas S. Monson, as the only man on earth with the Authority to lead God's Kingdom on Earth. 

God's Kingdom is not found in the Catholic Church, the Community of Christ, or the FLDS Church; neither in the religion of Islam, Buddhism, nor any other faith - only in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!  In the Name of Jesus Christ, amen!

Mormon Theology no. 19 - The Keys of the Priesthood and the Succession Crisis

On 27 June 1844 at approximately 5pm, the Prophet Joseph Smith, Jun. and his brother Hyrum Smith, the Patriarch to the Church, were murdered in the jail at Carthage, Illinois.  On 8 August 1844 a meeting was held to discuss with the Church who is the rightful successor in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Herein I present testimonies of those who were given Priesthood Keys by President Joseph Smith, Jun. before he was killed, thus showing that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only holder of the Priesthood of God within the Latter-day Saint movement as well as in the whole world.

Of his giving the Priesthood Keys to the Quorum of the Twelve, President Joseph Smith, Jun. said, "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).

From Elder Orson Hyde we have the following words.  "Before I went east on the fourth of April last, we were in council with Brother Joseph almost every day for weeks. . . . He conducted us through every ordinance of the holy priesthood, and when he had got through with all the ordinances he rejoiced very much and says: `Now if they kill me you have got all the keys . . ." (Times and Seasons 5:651).

President Wilford Woodruff said,

I bear my testimony that in the early spring of 1844, in Nauvoo, the Prophet Joseph Smith called the Apostles together and he delivered unto them the ordinances of the church and kingdom of God; and all the keys and powers that God had bestowed upon him, he sealed upon our heads, and he told us we must round up our shoulders and bear off this kingdom, or we would be damned. … His face was as clear as amber, and he was covered with a power that I had never seen in any man in the flesh before. (Journal History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Mar. 12, 1897, p. 2.  See also Holzapfel, Richard Neitzel and Smoot, Stephen H., “Wilford Woodruff’s 1897 Testimony”, Banner of the Gospel: Wilford Woodruff, ed. Alexander L. Baugh and Susan Easton Black (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2010).

President Brigham Young spoke of the bestowal of keys by Joseph Smith.  Said he, "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 in this world or in the world to come" (History of the Church, 7:230).

Three of these men (Elder Hyde and Presidents Young and Woodruff) I have quoted were at the same meeting.  But that is beside the point.  This is the point: "In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established" (2 Cor. 13:1).  Since there are no witnesses from the Community of Christ, they haven't a leg to stand on, nor do any other "Restorationist" churches.  The only legitimate successor when concerned with Priesthood Keys is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!