History LessonHistory Lesson By Heather Bergeson Church Magazines. Personal Application: Joseph...
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An ancient falling away can help you know how to stand strong today. Personal Application: God will give us truth and knowledge when we ask. But we need to believe in Him and believe He answers prayers. We can show God that receiving personal revelation is important to us by asking questions and acting on the answers we receive. As we seek answers, He gives us knowledge and guidance. Historical Point: As apostasy spread, many people began to think that God wasn’t going to speak to His people anymore except through the scriptures that already existed. is false belief that the heavens were “sealed” caused many people to stop asking questions and seeking reve- lation. As a result, “[those] that [said], We have enough, from them [was] taken away even that which they [had]” (2 Nephi 28:30). Personal Application: e priesthood and its keys are essential, because without them there is no way to receive saving ordinances and make eternal covenants. e authority and keys of the priesthood were restored through Joseph Smith so that these essential ordinances could once again be administered to mem- bers of Christ’s Church (see Joseph Smith History 1:66–75). Historical Point: When Christ came to the earth, He ordained 12 Apostles and gave them the priesthood, with keys and authority to act in His name. But as wicked- ness spread and people rejected truth, these priesthood keys were taken from the earth. Let’s look at some lessons from the Great Apostasy we can apply to our lives today: Lesson # 2: Priesthood keys are Necessary for Salvation Lesson # 1: Revelation is Key W ith all the persecution that Christians suffered after the Savior’s Resurrection and Ascension, the essalonian Saints figured the Second Coming would be happening soon. But Paul taught them that before Christ’s Second Coming there would be a “falling away first” (2 essalonians 2:3). at falling away did occur. We refer to it as the Great Apostasy. After people rejected and killed the Savior and His Apostles, the Lord’s priesthood authority and His Church were lost from the earth. is con- tinued until Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith in 1820 to begin the Restoration of the fulness of the gospel. Even though the fulness of the gospel wasn’t on the earth during that time, we can gain a lot from studying this period. A Great (Apostasy) History Lesson By Heather Bergeson Church Magazines
Transcript of History LessonHistory Lesson By Heather Bergeson Church Magazines. Personal Application: Joseph...
An a
ncien
t fa
llin
g aw
ay c
an h
elp
you
know
how
to
stan
d st
rong
tod
ay.
Per
son
al
App
lic
ati
on
: God
will
giv
e us
trut
h an
d kn
owle
dge
whe
n w
e as
k. B
ut w
e ne
ed to
bel
ieve
in H
im a
nd
belie
ve H
e an
swer
s pr
ayer
s. W
e ca
n sh
ow G
od th
at re
ceiv
ing
pers
onal
re
vela
tion
is im
port
ant t
o us
by
aski
ng q
uest
ions
and
act
ing
on th
e an
swer
s w
e re
ceiv
e. A
s w
e se
ek a
nsw
ers,
He
give
s us
kno
wle
dge
and
guid
ance
.
His
tor
ica
l Po
int:
As
apos
tasy
spr
ead,
man
y pe
ople
beg
an to
thin
k th
at G
od w
asn’
t goi
ng to
spe
ak to
His
peo
ple
anym
ore
exce
pt th
roug
h th
e sc
riptu
res
that
alre
ady
exis
ted.
This
fals
e be
lief t
hat t
he h
eave
ns w
ere
“sea
led”
cau
sed
man
y pe
ople
to s
top
aski
ng q
uest
ions
and
see
king
reve
-la
tion.
As
a re
sult,
“[th
ose]
that
[sai
d], W
e ha
ve e
noug
h, fr
om th
em [w
as]
take
n aw
ay e
ven
that
whi
ch th
ey [h
ad]”
(2 N
ephi
28:
30).
Per
son
al
App
lic
ati
on
: The
prie
stho
od a
nd it
s ke
ys a
re e
ssen
tial,
beca
use
with
out t
hem
ther
e is
no
way
to re
ceiv
e sa
ving
ord
inan
ces
and
mak
e et
erna
l co
vena
nts.
The
auth
ority
and
key
s of
the
prie
stho
od w
ere
rest
ored
thro
ugh
Jose
ph
Smith
so
that
thes
e es
sent
ial o
rdin
ance
s co
uld
once
aga
in b
e ad
min
iste
red
to m
em-
bers
of C
hris
t’s C
hurc
h (s
ee Jo
seph
Sm
ith H
isto
ry 1
:66–
75).
His
tor
ica
l Po
int:
Whe
n Ch
rist c
ame
to th
e ea
rth,
H
e or
dain
ed 1
2 Ap
ostle
s an
d ga
ve th
em th
e pr
iest
hood
, w
ith k
eys
and
auth
ority
to a
ct in
His
nam
e. B
ut a
s w
icke
d-ne
ss s
prea
d an
d pe
ople
reje
cted
trut
h, th
ese
prie
stho
od
keys
wer
e ta
ken
from
the
eart
h.
Let’s
look
at s
ome l
esso
ns fr
om th
e Gre
at
Apos
tasy
we c
an a
pply
to o
ur li
ves t
oday
:
Less
on #
2:
Prie
sth
oo
d k
eys
are
Nec
essa
ry f
or
Salv
atio
n
Less
on #
1:
Reve
lati
on
is K
ey
With
all
the
pers
ecut
ion
that
Chr
istia
ns s
uffer
ed a
fter t
he S
avio
r’s
Resu
rrec
tion
and
Asce
nsio
n, th
e Th
essa
loni
an S
aint
s fig
ured
the
Seco
nd C
omin
g w
ould
be
happ
enin
g so
on. B
ut P
aul t
augh
t the
m
that
bef
ore
Chris
t’s S
econ
d Co
min
g th
ere
wou
ld b
e a
“falli
ng a
way
firs
t” (2
Thes
salo
nian
s 2:
3). Th
at fa
lling
aw
ay d
id o
ccur
. We
refe
r to
it as
the
Gre
at A
post
asy.
Afte
r peo
ple
reje
cted
and
kill
ed th
e Sa
vior
and
His
Apo
stle
s, th
e Lo
rd’s
prie
stho
od a
utho
rity
and
His
Chu
rch
wer
e lo
st fr
om th
e ea
rth.
This
con
-tin
ued
until
Hea
venl
y Fa
ther
and
Jesu
s Ch
rist a
ppea
red
to Jo
seph
Sm
ith in
18
20 to
beg
in th
e Re
stor
atio
n of
the
fuln
ess
of th
e go
spel
.Ev
en th
ough
the
fuln
ess
of th
e go
spel
was
n’t o
n th
e ea
rth
durin
g th
at
time,
we
can
gain
a lo
t fro
m s
tudy
ing
this
per
iod.
A G
rea
t (A
post
asy) H
isto
ry
Les
son
By H
eath
er B
erge
son
Chur
ch M
agaz
ines
Per
son
al
App
lic
ati
on
: Jo
seph
Sm
ith w
as th
e fir
st p
roph
et
in th
is d
ispe
nsat
ion,
and
we
have
bee
n bl
esse
d w
ith li
ving
pro
phet
s an
d ap
ostle
s ev
er s
ince
. Tod
ay, P
resi
dent
Rus
sell
M. N
elso
n, h
is C
ouns
elor
s, an
d th
e Tw
elve
Ap
ostle
s ha
ve th
e ke
ys a
nd a
utho
rity
to d
irect
the
Chur
ch, a
nd G
od g
uide
s th
em o
n ho
w
to b
est h
elp
Chur
ch m
embe
rs. A
s w
e su
stai
n ou
r lea
ders
and
follo
w th
eir c
ouns
el, w
e ca
n kn
ow th
at w
e ar
e fo
llow
ing
God
’s di
rect
ion.
Per
son
al
App
lic
ati
on
: Af
ter t
he R
esto
ratio
n br
ough
t an
end
to
the
Gre
at A
post
asy,
God
pro
mis
ed th
at th
ere
wou
ld n
ever
be
a ge
nera
l ap
osta
sy fr
om th
e tr
uth
agai
n (s
ee D
octr
ine
and
Cove
nant
s 65
:2).
But w
e st
ill h
ave
to b
e ca
refu
l and
gua
rd o
urse
lves
aga
inst
per
sona
l apo
stas
y.
Her
e ar
e so
me
thin
gs y
ou c
an d
o to
str
engt
hen
your
faith
in Je
sus
Chris
t, re
mai
n st
rong
in H
is C
hurc
h, a
nd p
rogr
ess
alon
g th
e co
vena
nt p
ath:
• Le
arn
how
the
Holy
Ghos
t spe
aks t
o yo
u an
d st
rive
to a
lway
s fol
low
the
prom
ptin
gs yo
u re
ceive
from
Him
.•
Stud
y an
d po
nder
eac
h co
vena
nt y
ou’ve
mad
e (o
r one
day
hop
e to
mak
e).
• St
rive
to o
bey
the
com
man
dmen
ts a
nd k
eep
your
sta
ndar
ds h
igh.
• W
rite
dow
n an
d ac
t on
coun
sel f
rom
Chu
rch
lead
ers
at g
ener
al
conf
eren
ce.
• Po
nder
the
Savi
or’s
love
for y
ou a
s yo
u pa
rtak
e of
the
sacr
amen
t.•
Seek
to c
onst
antly
str
engt
hen
your
test
imon
y th
roug
h da
ily s
crip
ture
st
udy,
pray
er, a
nd s
ervi
ce.
See
True
to th
e Fa
ith (2
004)
, 13–
14. N
E
His
tor
ica
l Po
int:
Thro
ugho
ut h
isto
ry, t
he L
ord
has
guid
ed
His
peo
ple
thro
ugh
livin
g pr
ophe
ts a
nd a
post
les.
But
dur
ing
the
Gre
at A
post
asy,
whe
n th
ere
was
no
one
on e
arth
with
apo
stol
ic
auth
ority
, the
re w
as n
o on
e to
act
as
God
’s sp
okes
man
on
the
eart
h.
His
tor
ica
l Po
int:
The
Gre
at A
post
asy
had
been
pro
phes
ied
in O
ld T
esta
men
t tim
es (s
ee Is
aiah
60:
2; A
mos
8:1
1–12
). Th
e pr
ophe
cy w
as fu
lfille
d as
fals
e te
achi
ngs
divi
ded
the
peop
le
of th
e an
cien
t Chu
rch.
The
doct
rines
that
Chr
ist t
augh
t be
cam
e co
rrup
ted
and
man
y pe
ople
did
n’t k
now
how
to
find
trut
h.
Less
on #
3:
Foll
ow
Liv
ing
Pro
phet
s an
d A
post
les
Less
on #
4:
Ho
w t
o G
uard
Yo
urse
lf A
gai
nst
Apo
stas
y
HiS
Au
ThO
rIt
Y
“Prie
stho
od is
the
mea
ns w
here
by th
e Lo
rd a
cts
thro
ugh
men
to s
ave
soul
s. O
ne o
f the
defi
ning
fe
atur
es o
f the
Chu
rch
of Je
sus
Chris
t, bo
th a
ncie
ntly
and
toda
y, is
His
au
thor
ity. Th
ere
can
be n
o tr
ue C
hurc
h w
ithou
t divi
ne a
utho
rity.”
Elde
r Dav
id A
. Bed
nar o
f the
Quo
rum
of t
he T
wel
ve A
post
les,
Apr
. 201
2 ge
nera
l co
nfer
ence
(Ens
ign
or L
iaho
na, M
ay 2
012,
48)
.
O c t o b e r 2 0 1 9 9
ILLUSTRATIONS BY BRYAN BEACH
