Why the Apostasy?

The Four Gospels tell of Christ’s ministry on the earth, his interaction with the people, his parables and teachings, he gives us the ultimate perfect example that we are told to follow. In these books in explains Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection from the dead, He lives. Christ continues to teach in the America’s then ascends to His Father in Heaven leaving the promising to come back again, the Second Coming. When Christ left the earth the gospel continued to grow as long as the priesthood was still on the earth and people were willing to listen, however a few hundred years later of gospel has disappeared off the face of the earth. My focus on this report is the importance of the apostasy.

In 2 Thes. 2:1-3 We learn that Christ will come again and that we need to stay steadfast in keeping his commandments and continue being a disciple of Christ. However in order for Christ to come again there must be a falling away first. As we read in Amos 8:11,12 there will be a famine of words, people will search for these words and they won’t be there to find. This famine was prophesied, it was planned, it is an essential part of the gospel.

During the apostasy we know that the gospel is no longer on the earth, God has not left His children but the priesthood is no longer with him. From history we know that many more religions developed claiming to be the right church, confusion and confrontation crusades. False prophets and teachers came and taught. In the New Testament Student Manual describes the apostasy as

The Greek word Paul uses is apostasia, the word from which we derive the words apostasy, apostatize, and apostate. The literal meaning of the word is to revolt; but in secular Greek usage it meant political revolt or the changing of governmental forms. The passage in Thessalonians is a reference to the apostasy that was to occur before the Lord returns to the earth to rule and reign in majesty and power. (276)

Because of the apostasy and the gospel being off the earth, when the gospel was restored to the earth through a prophet Joseph Smith, Christ and the Father appeared to him in 1823, and in 1831 the keys to the gospel were back on the earth. The scriptures prophesied of the forth coming of the church and we will know our purpose again. Eph 2:19-20, we are no more strangers but saints and part of the household of God and the gospel foundation is built on Jesus Christ, the “chief cornerstone” of the gospel. Matt 24: 9-12, 24 describes the hardships the latter-day saints would go through, the persecutions and the killings. These things happened because it was a new church in the land, because of the apostasy. The apostasy is crucial to the plan because without the apostasy you cannot have a restoration. The gospel had to be restored to the earth and grow from nothing, from a farm boy who saw a vision, a boy who would not give up despite the persecutions, a true sacrifice for the kingdom of God to lose everything he had, including his life, he became a martyr for the truth. Even with the prophets death the saints continued to stay steadfast and continued to grow. Some fell away but this is a crucial part for the church to go through hardships and prove their willingness to serve God and not give up at a little trial. Without the apostasy you wouldn’t have the great restoration saints wouldn’t have to prove themselves to God, they were saints because they know the gospel is true. May gave their life for it, and died with a testimony steadfast and unmovable in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.