Matthew 16:18

“And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”

Ephesians 1:22,23

(22) “And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church,

(23) which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”

What is a ‘Restoration’ Church

n The current state of the religious world and the current state of the church in our world, necessitates that we study again the scriptures concerning the nature of the church.

n It is because we have not done enough teaching on these matters, that we find ourselves where we are.

n The matters we shall study today, and for the next 3 Sundays, have to do with, not only the unity and peace of congregations; but their VERY IDENTITY.

n I am approaching each lesson from a “RESTORATION PERSPECTIVE

or VIEWPOINT.”

- By restoration perspective or viewpoint, I mean that

it is the ongoing obligation of every generation to

continually restore the TEACHING and

PRACTICES of the inspired, Apostle led, First

Century Church.

n It is true that Churches of Christ, this

congregation and thousands of others, trace

our identity to the early and mid-nineteenth

century RESTORATION MOVEMENT

in America, but to understand our identity, we

must understand, the principle of

RESTORATION.

n The very concept of the need for restoring the teaching and practices of the inspired, apostle led, first century church; NEGATES THE ESTABLISHING OF A NEW RELIGION OR CHURCH; this pre-supposes the fact that a totally sufficient body of teaching exists to enable the ‘RESTORATION’ of the church which Christ established through his apostles, beginning on the First Pentecost after his resurrection, approximately in A.D. 30

n The restoration plea is fundamentally an appeal to go back to the Bible, and to abandon all human names, creeds and practices in order to be the one BODY OF CHRIST.

I. AT STAKE IN RESTORATION, IS

CONFIDENCE IN THE SUFFICIENCY

OF THE SCRIPTURES TO PROVIDE

ALL THAT’S NEEDED TO TRULY

RESTORE THE TEACHINGS AND

PRACTICES OF THE FIRST CENTURY

CHURCH.

n I stress what is at stake because I fear so many are terribly naïve and un-informed about what is really at stake!

1. Many sincere religious people ; in denominations believe the Bible to be the WORD OF GOD; but the approach to division issues (lack of unity), contradictory doctrines, and clearly human names and inventions, has NOT been to go back to the BIBLE and honor God by seeking to restore whatever has been changed or lost through the CENTURIES.

n The approach has instead been to allow distinct and different religious traditions and teachings; to develop into established religious institutions/churches that often bear little resemblance to the church we read about in the Bible

n These institutions and traditions; in time have become the philosophical base of a ‘CHRISTIAN’ religious community that ACCEPTS glaring contradictions of doctrine in the name of unity, grace and tolerance. All the while, many proclaim their trust in the scriptures; but the religious system which has developed really undercuts in serious ways , their ability to convince unbelievers of the

RELIABILITY OF THE SCRIPTURES.

n When we tell unbelievers that it is o.k. to teach and believe contradictory teachings, all purporting to be found solidly in scriptures – we in EFFECT deny the very nature and intent of scripture that we should know and understand ‘Truth.’

(John 8:32)

n If this were true; divinely revealed truth would of necessity be reduced to nothing more than generalizations open to individual opinions and interpretations – nothing more

II. LET US SEE HOW ALL THIS COMPARES TO

WHAT THE SCRIPTURES DECLARE.

DIVINELY GIVEN

2 Peter 1:20,21

(20) “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation.

(21) For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

ALL SUFFICIENT

2 Timothy 3:16,17

(16) “All Scripture is God-breathed and is

useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting

and training in righteousness,

(17) so that the man of God may be

thoroughly equipped for every good

work.”

n No other supernatural manifestation can supplant the written word of God

Galatians 1:8

“ But even if we or an angel from heaven

should preach a gospel other than the one

we preached to you, let him be eternally

condemned!”

BELIEF OF THE TRUTH ESSENTIAL

2 Thessalonians 2: 13-15

(13) “But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.

(14) He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

(15) “So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.”

PAUL WARNS AGAINST DEPARTING FROM THE TRUTH

2 Timothy 4:1-4

(1) “In the presence of God and of Christ

Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead,

and in view of his appearing and his

kingdom, I give you this charge:

(2) Preach the Word; be prepared in season

and out of season; correct, rebuke and

encourage--with great patience and careful

instruction.”

(3) “For the time will come when men

will not put up with sound doctrine.

Instead, to suit their own desires, they

will gather around them a great number

of teachers to say what their itching

ears want to hear.

(4) They will turn their ears away from

the truth and turn aside to myths.”

III. To answer, “What is a RESTORATION CHURCH”, we must look at that church which needs to be restored; the NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH.

1. THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH IS ETERNALLY

PURPOSED IN ITS EXCISTENCE

Ephesians 3:10,11

(10) “His intent was that now, through the

church, the manifold wisdom of God

should be made known to the rulers and

authorities in the heavenly realms,

(11) according to his eternal purpose

which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our

Lord.”

n THE CHURCH HAS ALWAYS EXISTED IN PURPOSE, PROPHECY, PREPARATION, AND PERFECTION.

2. THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH IS FIRST

CENTURY IN ESTABLISHMENT.

KINGDOM, POWER, HOLY

SPIRIT, PENTECOST.

The Kingdom/Church (Matthew 16:18), was to come when the power came (Mark 9:1), the power was to come when the Holy Spirit came (Acts 1:8)

n The Holy Spirit came on the First Pentecost after the Resurrection of Christ

Acts 2: 1-4

(1) “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one

place.

(2)Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from

heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.

(3) They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that

separated and came to rest on each of them.

(4) All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began

to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”

--Thus the church was established on that

day.

3. THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH IS

UNDENOMINATIONAL IN CHARACTER

Denominations have distinct characteristics and doctrines, separating them from one another; and thus promote and cause division among believers.

John 17:20,21

(20) "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,

(21) that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

n The very concept of a plurality of ‘churches’ – together claiming to be the New Testament Church, but holding different fundamental beliefs; UTTERLY REFLECTS THE CONCEPT OF ‘ONENESS’!

Ephesians 4: 3-6

(3) “ Make every effort to keep the unity

of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

(4) There is one body and one Spirit–

just as you were called to one hope

when you were called–

(5) one Lord, one faith, one baptism;

(6) one God and Father of all, who is

over all and through all and in all.”

n The restoration plea is to return to God’s original plan revealed in scripture.

n Everything deemed necessary by our Heavenly Father, for our eternal salvation and our faithful service and worship here, is clearly revealed in the WORD OF GOD.

THE RESTORATION PLEA

v The Restoration Plea is a plea for Christ.

v It is a plea for the authority of Christ.

v It is a plea for the church of Christ.

v It is a plea for people to be biblical, to walk in the

old paths.

v It is a plea for the restoration of New Testament

Christianity in this present age.

v It is a plea to speak where the Bible speaks and be

silent where the Bible is silent.

v It is a plea to be what God wants us to be, as

revealed in the pattern of His Word.