Features that identify the Church of Jesus Christ are Revelation, Authority from God, The Church Organization, First Principles and Ordinances and Ordinances Performed for the Dead.
As stated in Article of Faith 1:6, "We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth".
Jesus established His Church when He was on the earth. It was called the Church of Jesus Christ and the members were called Saints (see Ephesians 2:19-20 and 3 Nephi 27:8"
After Jesus was resurrected, he visited the people in the Americas and organized His Church among them, teaching the people for three days and then returning often for some time thereafter (see 3 Nephi 11-28).
Throughout history, evil people have tried to destroy the work of God. This happened while the Apostles were still alive and supervising the young, growing Church. God had foreseen the Apostasy and prepared the gospel to be restored. The Apostle Peter spoke of this to the Jews: "He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began" (Acts 3:20-21).
We are so fortunate to live in a time when the fullness of the Gospel is available on the earth. We are blessed with modern day revelation from God's Prophet on the earth today, President Thomas S. Monson. Do we realize the significance of this in our lives today? In just 3 weeks we will have the opportunity to hear a Prophet's voice for ourselves when we watch General Conference.
For more on Lesson #16, "The Church of Jesus Christ in Former Times" click on this link.
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