When the time came for the Restoration of the Gospel it was necessary that this Priesthood be restored, Peter, James and John (the ancient Apostles) being sent to confer the authority they held upon the Prophet Joseph Smith.
Joseph Smith, the Prophet, conferred it upon others.
At the time of the death of the Prophet the church was thoroughly organized with twelve apostles, etc., who held the same authority the Twelve held in the days of Christ, and to whom the Lord said in the year 1837:
"For unto you (the TWELVE) and those (The First Presidency) who are appointed with you to be your counselors and your leaders, is the Power of this PRIESTHOOD given for the last days and for the time in the which is the dispensation of the fullness of times." D. & C., Section 112: 30.
And again:
"The Twelve traveling Counselors are called to be The Twelve Apostles or Special Witnesses of the name of Christ in all the world; thus differing from other officers in the church in the duties of their calling. And they form a quorum EQUAL IN AUTHORITY AND POWER to the three Presidents previously mentioned." D. & C., Section 107: 23-4.
Now, then, notwithstanding the church had such a commission and such power, we are told by some that the church fell away immediately after the death of the Prophet, and that the three men (Marks, Gurley and Briggs) whose record we have given above, and who were never even members of any general presiding quorum, were able to apostatize, join one man made church after another, be ordained to positions in those churches, and then possess AUTHORITY enough to ordain a man a Prophet, Seer and Revelator and earthly head of the Church of God.
In conclusion, we wish to say that there is but One at a time who holds the keys and the right to receive revelation for the church, and that man is the President of the Church. When the First Presidency is disorganised through the death of the President, then, according to revelation, the TWELVE APOSTLES become the presiding quorum of the church, and then if the Lord has any revelations to give to His people they will come through the proper channel—the President of the Twelve.
When we see this man, or that man, or perhaps that woman or child giving revelations as was the case with the "Reorganisation," when JASON W. BRIGGS, ZENOS H. GURLEY, HENRY H. DEAM, or the daughter of Zenos H. Gurley, received "revelations" bearing on the organization of their cult or the regulation of the Church, we will know assuredly that these things are not of God.
"The Constitution of the United States is a glorious standard; it is founded upon wisdom; it is a heavenly banner; it is like a great tree under whose branches men from every clime can be shielded from the burning rays of an inclement sun; and Mormons as well as Presbyterians, and every other denomination, have equal rights to partake of the fruits of this great tree of our national liberty."
—Joseph Smith, The Prophet.