“For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of Hosts. ” (3 Nephi 24:6-7)

“Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him. The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word. The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.” (Isaiah 24:1-6)

Excerpts from an investigation of the priesthood by Joseph Smith dated October 5, 1840 (Day after he announced the Nauvoo Temple)

“He is Michael, because he was the first and father of all, not only by progeny, but he was the first to hold the spiritual blessings, to whom was made known the plan of ordinances for the salvation of his posterity unto the end, and to whom Christ was first revealed, and through whom Christ has been revealed from Heaven and will continue to be revealed from henceforth. Adam holds the keys of the dispensation of the fullness of times; i.e., the dispensation of all the times have been and will be revealed through him, from the beginning to Christ, and from Christ to the end of all the dispensations that are to be revealed.”

“Now, the purpose in himself, in the winding up scene of the last dispensation, is that all things pertaining to that dispensation should be conducted precisely in accordance with the preceding dispensations. And again, God purposed in himself that there should not be an Eternal fullness until every dispensation should be fulfilled and gathered together in one, and that all things whatever that should be gathered together in one, in those dispensations, unto the same fullness and Eternal glory, should be in Christ Jesus.”

“Therefore, he set the ordinances to be the same for ever and ever, and set Adam to watch over them, to reveal them from Heaven to man or to send angels to reveal them. Hebrews 1st chapter, 14th verse]: Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation? These angels are under the direction of Michael, or Adam, who acts under the direction of Christ.”

The ordinances must never change. Anytime additional information is revealed from Heaven it must be more. It must come from heavenly messengers authorized by Michael. Any perversion of, redaction or change from the original, causes the earth to be defiled, the law transgressed and the covenant broken because the ordinance has been changed by man and violated.

For this purpose we are warned adequately: Mankind can be authorized to use the priesthood but uses it his to his own salvation or condemnation. 

“The power, glory, and blessings of the Priesthood could not continue with those who received ordination, only as their righteousness continued. For Cain also being authorized to offer sacrifice, but not offering it in righteousness, therefore he was cursed. It signifies then that the ordinances must be kept in the very way God has appointed, otherwise their Priesthood will prove a cursing instead of a blessing. If Cain had fulfilled the law of righteousness, as did Enoch, he could have walked with God all the days of his life and never failed of a blessing. “

“But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul” (2 Nephi 32:9)

We must look to God and his angels to prepare a way and have the knowledge of heaven distill upon us as the dews. 

“How does he yet speak? Why, he magnified the Priesthood which was conferred upon him and died a righteous man, and therefore has become an angel of God by receiving his body from the dead, therefore, holding still the keys of his dispensation, and was sent down from Heaven unto Paul to minister consoling words, and to communicate unto him a knowledge of the mysteries of godliness. And if this was not the case, I would ask, How did Paul know so much about Abel, and why should he talk about his speaking after he was dead? Now, that he spoke after he was dead must be by being sent down out of Heaven to administer.”

By this we see that Abel had been sent by Michael to minister to Paul and ensure that the ordinances were kept according to the law of heaven, previous dispensations and the order of God. And we also see that Enoch ministered unto Jude

“Now this Enoch, God reserved unto himself that he should not die at that time, and appointed unto him a ministry unto terrestrial bodies, of whom there has been but little revealed. He is reserved also unto the presidency of a dispensation, and more shall be said of him and terrestrial bodies in another treatise. He is a ministering angel, to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation, and appeared unto Jude [Judas] as Abel did unto Paul. Therefore, Jude [Judas] spoke of him, 14th and 15th verses in Jude, [Epistle of Judas 1:3]: And Enoch, the seventh, revealed these sayings: Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints. Paul was also acquainted with this character and received instructions from him.” When these ten thousand saints come it will be for Zion to fall upon the necks of the inhabitants of Zion for this is the purpose of “this great winding up scene”, that the ordinances may be restored in their perfect state and Christ may present his kingdom or Family being of the Holy Order to the father. 

Scripture further elaborates “And righteousness will I send down out of heaven; and truth will I send forth out of the earth, to bear testimony of mine Only Begotten; his resurrection from the dead; yea, and also the resurrection of all men; and righteousness and truth will I cause to sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out mine elect from the four quarters of the earth, unto a place which I shall prepare, an Holy City, that my people may gird up their loins, and be looking forth for the time of my coming; for there shall be my tabernacle, and it shall be called Zion, a New Jerusalem. And the Lord said unto Enoch: Then shalt thou and all thy city meet them there, and we will receive them into our bosom, and they shall see us; and we will fall upon their necks, and they shall fall upon our necks, and we will kiss each other; And there shall be mine abode, and it shall be Zion, which shall come forth out of all the creations which I have made; and for the space of a thousand years the earth shall rest. “(Moses 7)

“This then is the nature of the Priesthood: every man holding the presidency of his dispensation and one man holding the presidency of them all, even Adam, and Adam receiving his presidency and authority from Christ, but cannot receive a fullness until Christ shall present the Kingdom to the Father, which shall be at the end of the last dispensation.”

The whole purpose of the Book of Mormon in these last days is to open our eyes to our ability to communicate with heaven. To see where the truth lies and that the times of our dispensation have been appointed. 

Ezekiel 37 tells us the dry bones will come alive, these messages of the prophets of old from in front of eyes, the stick of Joseph (Book of Mormon) will be brought forth to establish truth, a Davidic servant will precede the building of Zion, the cleansing of Israel, and gathering of the remnant in establishing the Lords sanctuary and ushering the millennia in his presence. 

This is all to be done so that heaven and earth can meet. The city of Enoch will reunite with Zion and the Lord will bring the Powers of Heaven with him. 3 Nephi 20:22 “And behold, this people will I establish in this land, unto the fulfilling of the covenant which I made with your father Jacob; and it shall be a New Jerusalem. And the powers of heaven shall be in the midst of this people; yea, even I will be in the midst of you.” (3 Nephi 20:22)

This only comes from a restoration of the original ordinances kept perfect in the state they were in throughout all previous dispensations. To again have these on the earth unchanged would be a joy worthy of a shout!