The mandate for the apostles today is the same add the mandate was for the apostles in the days of Christ – that is to take the gospel into all the world.
During the early days of the Church, in the meridian of time, the gospel was taken to the house of Israel only; then revelation came to Peter, the senior Apostle, that the time had come to take the gospel beyond Israel and unto the Gentiles. The 10th and 11th chapters of Acts help us understand the process and pattern whereby this needed expansion of the Church to more of God’s children was made known to its presiding officers and the general membership.
Using Cornelius, who was a Gentile, a centurion, and a good man, the Lord impressed upon Peter that the gospel would go to the Gentiles, a concept new and foreign to the Saints of that day. The revelation making that change in the affairs of the Church came to Peter, the senior Apostle. We know that the gospel then went rapidly to the nations of the Gentiles.
This pattern is important to recognize today because of all the changes that are being promoted for the church. Any change authorized by the Lord will come through the presiding authorities of the church. They will not come because of pressure from members within the church.
In 1978, following the established pattern of revelation through the senior Apostle, President Spencer W. Kimball, came a revelation, this time on extending priesthood blessings to all worthy males across the world. This means that in our day all of Heavenly Father’s children worldwide can partake of all of the blessings of the restored gospel. How appropriate to the kingdom of God on earth in the days approaching Christ’s Second Coming.
… it is very fitting that our wonderful African brothers and sisters would be an important part of the fulfillment of {Daniel’s} prophecy and that the revelations making it so would follow the Lord’s established patterns.
Leave a Reply