Restoration
Introduction. As things age, they slowly lose their appearance and function. Colors fade, engines wear, plastic becomes brittle, paint scratches, and upholstery cracks. Everything we own requires periodic inspection and maintenance. Over time, we restore anything wearing out, to keep things working properly. Restoring a car or home is a profitable and enjoyable hobby for many. There is something highly satisfying about making something old look new again.
Restoring a Soul. Hearts and souls can also need restoration. “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness” (Gal. 6:1). Jesus urged the church at Ephesus to “remember from where you have fallen,” then “repent and do the first works” (Rev. 2:4-5). A warm heart can grow cold, weary, or calloused. No one is exempt from slowly moving from zeal to discouragement, sincerity to hypocrisy, or commitment to unfaithfulness. Paul warned Corinth, “a little leaven leavens the whole lump, therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump” (1Cor. 5:6-7). When enough leavening occurs, the time comes that a church can “no longer endure sound doctrine.” It is time to “reprove, rebuke and exhort’ as Jesus did to the seven churches in Asia (Rev. 2-3; 1Tim. 4:1-5), hoping for a restoration and renewal.
Any church can “fall away.” Paul warned the elders at Ephesus, “from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves” (Acts 20:30). When enough churches fall away, a division can occur and a new faction is born. After enough time passes these new "traditions" become the norm. “The Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods.” (1Tim. 4:1-3). When Martin Luther and John Calvin read these words in the middle of the sixteenth century, they “protested” against the church that practiced them. It was obvious to them the church needed to be restored to its original condition of purity and holiness. Yet over time these new “protestant” churches also settled into their own traditions.
A Restoration Movement. Not long after the birth of our nation, a restoration movement swept the young country. People sought to remove the creed books of the Protestant Reformation along with the centuries of Catholic tradition and simply follow Scripture. Some doubted the wisdom of this attempt and held to tradition, but multitudes moved ahead with this plan. Everything was questioned and many things were restored. When they read Paul saying, “all the churches of Christ salute you,” they restored that name. When they heard Jesus say, “he who believes and is baptized shall be saved” (Rom. 16:16; Mk. 16:15-16), they removed infant baptism. After they read, “speaking one to another in Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing” (Eph. 5:19), they removed the organ. After they read that Corinth came “together as the church to take the Lord’s supper,” and “came together on the first day of the week to break bread,” (Acts 20:7; 1Cor 11:17-25), they did exactly the same thing.
Yet in making these changes many were offended and battles began. Their efforts were opposed and they were slandered. Men do not easily give up the traditions they have lived with their entire life. Yet how does God, who inhabits eternity, view these attempts? Is the attempt to bring things back to the original teachings in His word commendable or folly to Him?
Josiah. Judah’s last good king came to the throne facing terrible corruption and idolatry in the people. Their evil practices had been done so long with so little opposition, that they had forgotten they ever had a Bible! It was not until the 18th year of Josiah’s reign that they “found the book of the Law.” As he heard the words, his tender heart was humbled, and he wept (2Kng. 22:8, 19). He then sought to restore the customs and practices in Israel that God had commanded. God highly praised him for these efforts. “Now before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor after him did any arise like him.” (2Kings 23:25). The detailed account of his life revealed how meticulous he was in seeking to do things exactly as God had revealed them many centuries past.
Conclusion. Nothing changed when Jesus built His church. It was part of “the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 3:10-12) and “the manifold wisdom of God.” The traditions men have added since then only tarnish God’s wisdom (Mk 7:6-13). As Josiah before us, all who seek to restore the church to its original pristine beauty and function will be pleasing to God.
Restoring a Soul. Hearts and souls can also need restoration. “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness” (Gal. 6:1). Jesus urged the church at Ephesus to “remember from where you have fallen,” then “repent and do the first works” (Rev. 2:4-5). A warm heart can grow cold, weary, or calloused. No one is exempt from slowly moving from zeal to discouragement, sincerity to hypocrisy, or commitment to unfaithfulness. Paul warned Corinth, “a little leaven leavens the whole lump, therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump” (1Cor. 5:6-7). When enough leavening occurs, the time comes that a church can “no longer endure sound doctrine.” It is time to “reprove, rebuke and exhort’ as Jesus did to the seven churches in Asia (Rev. 2-3; 1Tim. 4:1-5), hoping for a restoration and renewal.
Any church can “fall away.” Paul warned the elders at Ephesus, “from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves” (Acts 20:30). When enough churches fall away, a division can occur and a new faction is born. After enough time passes these new "traditions" become the norm. “The Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods.” (1Tim. 4:1-3). When Martin Luther and John Calvin read these words in the middle of the sixteenth century, they “protested” against the church that practiced them. It was obvious to them the church needed to be restored to its original condition of purity and holiness. Yet over time these new “protestant” churches also settled into their own traditions.
A Restoration Movement. Not long after the birth of our nation, a restoration movement swept the young country. People sought to remove the creed books of the Protestant Reformation along with the centuries of Catholic tradition and simply follow Scripture. Some doubted the wisdom of this attempt and held to tradition, but multitudes moved ahead with this plan. Everything was questioned and many things were restored. When they read Paul saying, “all the churches of Christ salute you,” they restored that name. When they heard Jesus say, “he who believes and is baptized shall be saved” (Rom. 16:16; Mk. 16:15-16), they removed infant baptism. After they read, “speaking one to another in Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing” (Eph. 5:19), they removed the organ. After they read that Corinth came “together as the church to take the Lord’s supper,” and “came together on the first day of the week to break bread,” (Acts 20:7; 1Cor 11:17-25), they did exactly the same thing.
Yet in making these changes many were offended and battles began. Their efforts were opposed and they were slandered. Men do not easily give up the traditions they have lived with their entire life. Yet how does God, who inhabits eternity, view these attempts? Is the attempt to bring things back to the original teachings in His word commendable or folly to Him?
Josiah. Judah’s last good king came to the throne facing terrible corruption and idolatry in the people. Their evil practices had been done so long with so little opposition, that they had forgotten they ever had a Bible! It was not until the 18th year of Josiah’s reign that they “found the book of the Law.” As he heard the words, his tender heart was humbled, and he wept (2Kng. 22:8, 19). He then sought to restore the customs and practices in Israel that God had commanded. God highly praised him for these efforts. “Now before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor after him did any arise like him.” (2Kings 23:25). The detailed account of his life revealed how meticulous he was in seeking to do things exactly as God had revealed them many centuries past.
Conclusion. Nothing changed when Jesus built His church. It was part of “the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 3:10-12) and “the manifold wisdom of God.” The traditions men have added since then only tarnish God’s wisdom (Mk 7:6-13). As Josiah before us, all who seek to restore the church to its original pristine beauty and function will be pleasing to God.