As the first step in organizing His Church in the meridian of time, Jesus "went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.
"And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles" (Luke 6:12-13).
The Apostle Paul later taught that it was upon this foundation of apostles and prophets that the "household of God" (Church) would be built, "Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone" Ephesians 2:19-20).
Such a foundation, and such a relationship between Christ and His Apostles, would be required "till we all come in the unity of the faith, and . . . unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:12-13).
Even after Christ was crucified, resurrected, and ascended into heaven, "he through the Holy Ghost (gave) commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen" (Acts 1:2).
And so the pattern of divine revelation to the Apostles was established and perpetuated.
Given such an essential role for the Apostles in the structure of Christ's true Church and given the loss of such authorized officers who had the requisite keys of the priesthood, it is not surprising that one of the first matters to be dealt with in the process of the restoration of the gospel was to identify twelve men who could again hold this office. So, even before the Church was officially organized, Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer, two of the three witnesses of the Book of Mormon, were appointed by divine revelation to search out in due time the twelve men who would form the initial Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in modern times. (See Doctrine and Covenants 18:37.)
Six years later, on February 14, 1835, and acting under the direction of the First Presidency, the three witnesses chose and ordained the members of the Twelve, permanently establishing the second-ranking presiding quorum (after the First Presidency) in the government of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (Martin Harris joined his fellow witnesses in this assignment.) Members of the Church sustain these fifteen men as "prophets, seers, and revelators" for the Church with only the President of the Church, the Presiding High Priest, being sustained as the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator, he being the senior Apostle on the earth and the only one alone having the right to receive revelations for the Church "either new or amendatory," to use President J. Reuben Clark's language. (See Church News, July 31, 1954, pp. 9-10.)
Six weeks later, on March 28, 1835, the Twelve "met in council, confessing their individual weaknesses and shortcomings, expressing repentance, and seeking the further guidance of the Lord." (See introduction to Section 107 of the Doctrine and Covenants.)
They prayed that God would "grant unto us through His seer, a revelation of His mind and will concerning our duty." In response the Lord revealed one of the great revelations given on the priesthood — Section 107 of the Doctrine and Covenants — which outlines some of the primary duties of the Twelve Apostles.
"The Twelve . . . are called to be Twelve Apostles, or special witnesses of the name of Christ in all the world" (Doctrine and Covenants 107:23).
"The Twelve are . . . under the direction of the Presidency of the Church . . . to build up the church, and regulate all the affairs of the same in all nations" (Doctrine and Covenants 107:33).
"The Twelve being sent out, holding the keys, to open the door by the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and first unto the Gentiles and then unto the Jews" (Doctrine and Covenants 107:35).
The Twelve "call upon the Seventy, when they need assistance, to fill the several calls for preaching and administering the gospel" (Doctrine and Covenants 107:38).
The Twelve supervise the calling and service of "evangelical ministers," identified in the revelations as the stake patriarchs in the Church (Doctrine and Covenants 107:39).
"It is the duty of the Twelve, also, to ordain and set in order all the other officers of the church" (Doctrine and Covenants 107:58).
These duties are pursued in an orderly manner under the direction of the First Presidency with the binding authentication of the keys and powers the Savior gave to the Prophet Joseph Smith through the visit of Peter, James, and John. (See Doctrine and Covenants 27:12; see also Matthew 16:19.)
There are, of course, many other duties that have come to the Twelve from the First Presidency as the Church increases both in size and scope, but these constitute the fundamental responsibilities of the Apostles that were given in the beginning of the dispensation and which continue to the present day.
Knowing of the danger that always existed in his life, danger that would culminate in his martyrdom just three months later, the Prophet Joseph Smith in late March 1844, conferred on the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles all of the ordinances, keys, and authority that he possessed, completing and concluding the bestowal process that had begun nine years earlier.
Describing this event, Wilford Woodruff wrote that Joseph Smith "lived until every key, power and principle of the holy Priesthood was sealed on the Twelve and on President (Brigham) Young, as (the) President (of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles)." He then quoted the Prophet's explanation, charge, and sense of relief in such a transaction: "I have lived until I have seen this burden, which has rested on my shoulders, rolled on to the shoulders of other men . . . the keys of the kingdom are planted on the earth to be taken away no more for ever . . . . You have to round up your shoulders to bear up the kingdom. No matter what becomes of me" (Journal of Discourses 13:164).
Following the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Twelve under the direction of their quorum president, Brigham Young, governed the Church for three and one-half years until the First Presidency was again reconstituted in December 1847. That is still the pattern followed today, although with not so lengthy a time expended in the reorganization process. Upon the death of a president of the Church, the First Presidency is dissolved and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles becomes the presiding council of the Church. The President of the Quorum of the Twelve, who is at that time the senior Apostle on the earth, becomes the presiding officer of the Church until Apostolic action is taken to organize a new First Presidency.
A crowning view of the Apostolic mission was summarized by the Lord Himself in another revelation on the priesthood when He said of the great work that was to be done and all those who would do it: "Therefore, go ye into all the world; and unto whatsoever place ye cannot go ye shall send, that the testimony may go from you into all the world unto every creature.
"And as I said unto mine apostles, even so I say unto you, for you are mine apostles, even God's high priests; ye are they whom my Father hath given me; ye are my friends" (Doctrine and Covenants 84:62-63).
