RENEWAL THROUGH RECOVERY (3)
W. Carl Ketcherside

You will note that genuine renewal begins with proper respect for the apostles. It is renewal through recovery of the apostolic proclamation, purpose and power. This is the renewal for which we plead. No other will do for very obvious reasons. I hold no brief for the kind of teaching which assumes that the apostles were a group of antiquated fuddy-duddies whose teaching can be disregarded with impunity. The world has been led down a road of falsity by the infiltration of humanism and it stands a good chance of ending up in a bog or swamp where any attempt to extricate itself will only result in its sinking.

The one who was destined to be the king, called’ his disciples to him, and out of their number chose twelve. He gave them authority, not only over the forces of nature, but over the forces of the supernatural. He specified their mission, gave them their marching orders and sent them forth against an alien and hostile world. Later, he recognized that they had first belonged to the Father who had given them to him out of the world. He gave them the words which God had given him and they received them. He had kept them in the Father’s name. They were not of the world even as he was not of the world.

I deplore four notions about the apostles which I consider to be flaky. One is that they were simply products of their age, and subject to all of the mistaken ideas which are associated with any period. It is true they were in the world but they were not of it. They were not subject to the experiments, research and probing of their era, to test and arrive at truth. they were guided into all truth by the Spirit which was given them. All things that the Father had belonged to Jesus. And the Father took what was his and showed it to the envoys. Pay no attention to those who would try to sell you on the childish notion that the apostles did not know what they were talking about. No group of men could have produced the things they wrote without the inspiration of God. Any renewal worth the name begins and ends with the apostles.

Number two is the screwy idea that a special group of men, who like to dress like mother, and be called father, are successors of the apostles. This fabrication was dreamed up and developed in early times when men were simpler, to make it possible for the hierarchy to manipulate men by making pontifical pronouncements which hold about as much water as an old-fashioned sieve. The apostles had no successors because they finished their work. They were like Jesus. He finished his work and sat down upon his throne. The apostles finished theirs and also sat down upon twelve thrones. They are still there. Some of the “bulls” which have been delivered in recent years are aptly named.

Number three is the proliferation of apostles by various cults. The worst offenders consist of those who are followers of the deluded imposter of the last century, Joseph Smith. He claimed to have found some golden plates hidden under a tree near where he lived. His informer was the angel Moroni, a clever invention. The plates were accompanied by two “peep stones” which he called the Urim and the Thummim. His mother, Emma Smith, said that he translated the book of Mormon by putting the stones in his hat and looking into them. Thus, Mormonism has the distinct honor of being the only system which came into existence by someone talking through his hat.

There are several divisions in the Mormon Church. One is in Utah, two are in Independence, Missouri, another in Lamoni, Iowa. The one in Salt Lake City is the Church of the Latter Day Saints. One in Independence is known as the Reorganized Church of the Latter Day Saints. The Temple Lot group in Independence might be designated the Disorganized Church of the Latter Day Saints. I could tell you things about all three of them which would cause you to die laughing, but since we do not have too many readers anyhow, I will desist. But one thing they all have is their own twelve apostles. Periodically these issue solemn pronouncements, geared to the developing climate of our society, as if God suddenly learned what was going on and moved to correct some of his mistakes in the Book of Doctrines and Covenants. In Utah they think the twelve apostles in Independence are false apostles. In Independence they think the twelve in Utah are false apostles. I think it is about the only thing on which all of them are correct!

The fourth thing that bugs me is the idea some groups have that one result of “the great falling away” is the absence of the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. They are the only ones left who understand the will of God. All others see through a glass darkly. So they are to hold on by the skin of their teeth as the last great hope of mankind. They are but another example of the spiritual elite who have found the key of knowledge lost by the fumble-fingers of past generations. One of these days God will restore all of these functionaries and the faithful few will be vindicated and will go marching by the remainder of us, cackling in glee because we thought we knew God’s word, when we did not. But I hold there will be no more apostles. The twelve were unique. They will never have another group to take their place.

The twelve apostles are in authority now. This very minute! To receive them is to receive Jesus. To hear them is the equivalent of hearing Jesus. To reject them is to reject our Lord. There is no question but what we have lost the burden of their message. They were geared to the unity of all who believed in Jesus through their testimony. We have made a mockery and a farce out of that aim and ideal. Worse yet, we have given up on it. We do not believe it can happen. We must now revive it, or in this Space Age with its rampant and spreading unbelief, we will become so utterly pagan as to defy description. We must recapture their attitude, their motivation, and their spirit. Without these we will be powerless to weather the storm and withstand the gale which threatens us all.

Somehow, regardless of cost, or of suffering, tragedy and persecution, we must get the army of God marching again, and it must be against the foe and not in league with him. The twelve apostles knew that their primary relationship was with the unfailing Jesus and not with the fading word. They could distinguish between the wisdom from above and the wisdom of this passing age. And we must also learn this vital, stimulating, energizing truth. The apostles had one theme. They emphasized one person. He was the only one who could pardon from sin. He was the only one who could give purpose to life. He was the only one who could bring peace to a troubled soul. He was the only one who could provide power to conquer.

I suggest that all of my readers who have been troubled by fear of the lack of forgiveness, or by the drag of a purposeless life, or by a turbulent and riot-torn heart, or by a powerless existence, make a firm inner covenant right now to sit down and read carefully, deliberately and meditatively what the apostles wrote about Jesus. As his wish for your life becomes manifest, begin to implement the kind of life he would have you live. Your habits will change, your relationships will improve, your very life will take on new and deeper meaning. You can become a powerful force for transforming the world about you, God’s nuclear bomb in the midst of a decadent social order.

God needs dedicated persons. He needs committed persons. He needs those who have experienced the power of the purged life, who have been put through the eternal washer of the blood of Jesus, and cleansed by the only detergent which can do away with the black stain of transgression. That was what the apostles wrote about. These one-time fishermen, tax-collectors, and tentmakers, caught up in the Holy Spirit of God, penned for us the divine prescription for our condition. It came straight from the Great Physician who knows us better than we know ourselves. This is not only for the down-and-outers but also for the up-and-outers. It is for those in the poor ghetto but it is for the rich ghetto as well. It is for the one who never had a full meal and for the one who never missed one. It is for everyone. And it is for you. --- 139 Signal Hill Dr., St. Louis 63121