Joseph Smith defines and explains Apostasy in these words:
Do Not Betray the Brethren:
O ye Twelve! and all Saints! profit by this important Key-that in all your trials, troubles, temptations, afflictions, bonds, imprisonments and death, see to it, that you do not betray heaven; that you do not betray Jesus Christ; that you do not betray the brethren; that you do not betray the revelations of God, whether in Bible, Book of Mormon, or Doctrine and Covenants, or any other that ever was or ever will be given and revealed unto man in this world or that which is to come. Yea, in all your kicking and flounderings, see to it that you do not this thing, lest innocent blood be found upon your skirts, and you go down to hell. All other sins are not to be compared to sinning against the Holy Ghost, and proving a traitor to the brethren.
(Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, selected and arranged by Joseph Fielding Smith, p.156.)
A Key to Mysteries:
I will give you one of the Keys of the mysteries of the Kingdom. It is an eternal principle, that has existed with God from all eternity: That man who rises up to condemn others, finding fault with the Church, saying that they are out of the way, while he himself is righteous, then know assuredly, that that man is in the high road to apostasy; and if he does not repent, will apostatize, as God lives. The principle is as correct as the one that Jesus put forth in saying that he who seeketh a sign is an adulterous person; and that principle is eternal, undeviating, and firm as the pillars of heaven; for whenever you see a man seeking after a sign, you may set it down that he is an adulterous man.
(Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, selected and arranged by Joseph Fielding Smith, p.156.)
Effects of Disobeying Counsel:
I showed them that it was generally in consequence of the brethren disregarding or disobeying counsel that they became dissatisfied and murmured; and many when they arrived here, were dissatisfied with the conduct of some of the Saints, because everything was not done perfectly right, and they get angry, and thus the devil gets advantage over them to destroy them. I told them I was but a man, and they must not expect me to be perfect; if they expected perfection from me, I should expect it from them; but if they would bear with my infirmities and the infirmities of the brethren, I would likewise bear with their infirmities.
(Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, selected and arranged by Joseph Fielding Smith, p.268.)
Pick any Gospel Dispensation, and then notice that people are in Apostasy whenever they have chosen to reject and chosen to fight against the Church of Jesus Christ that has been established in that Gospel Dispensation. Apostasy is a deliberate rejection of the true Church of Jesus Christ, wherever and whenever it might be found. Apostasy is a rejection of the Apostles of Jesus Christ and the Prophets of Christ Jehovah, no matter what time period these men are found. Apostasy is a rejection of the Priesthood Holders and the Key Holders of God. Apostasy is a rejection of the Lord’s Anointed and evil-speaking of the Lord’s Anointed, no matter what Gospel Dispensation we are talking about.
If you deliberately reject the current Gospel Dispensation, then know that you would have been one of those who would also have rejected the leaders of the previous Gospel Dispensations; and, you are not going to like any future Gospel Dispensations any better than the current one either. Apostasy is when you deliberately choose to sink the Good Ship Zion in your life. Apostasy is the deliberate rejection of the True Church of Jesus Christ, the current Gospel Dispensation.
Faith in Jesus Christ and Repentance, joining the true Church of Jesus Christ with all your heart might mind and soul, baptism and the reception of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, is the way out of Apostasy. Deliberately embracing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Church of Jesus Christ is the opposite of Apostasy. Sustaining and following Christ’s living Apostles and Prophets in your time period is the opposite of Apostasy.
The truth is that God stops speaking to men whenever they are in apostasy and in rebellion against Christ, His Apostles, and Christ’s Own Church.
When a man loses his testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and stops sustaining Christ’s Apostles, then that man is in Apostasy. Apostasy leads to the separation of a man from the Church of Jesus Christ, no matter which Gospel Dispensation we might be talking about. Whenever a man turns against Christ’s anointed Apostles and Prophets here on this earth, then that man is in Apostasy whether his name remains on the records of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or not.
By their fruits and actions and choices, ye shall know them.
I’m not going to stick my head in the sand and pretend that Apostasy does not exist, but I also have no desire to make Apostasy the central feature of this website. I hope that the material that we choose to link to regarding this subject will prove to be edifying and uplifting rather than simply downgrading and disgusting.
Enoch
Fighting Against Apostates Can Be a Waste of Precious Time.
A Link to the “Apostasy” forum discussion and sub-forums:
APOSTASY.