The great principles of restoration have evidently been placed in mothballs-something to keep in a box and be brought out again occasionally as a curiosity, to support a certain position, or to ridicule. The real concept and vitality of true restoration are lost upon the current generation. When one quotes, “Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths . . .”(Jer. 6:16), too often he is thought of as some mossy backed old codger who is on the edge of senility. Modern approaches, on the other hand, have little to offer to any serious student of the word of God. The grab-bag approach to study, to hermeneutics, and to application of scripture gives us a present scene of confusion, error, and outright apostasy.
Restoration is a must and is of immediate need, but we must not make the mistake of trying to “restore the restoration.” In other words, we should hold in deep respect those who pioneered efforts to get back to the Bible; we should appreciate the great strides made to “speak where the scriptures speak, and be silent where the scriptures are silent;” and we should hold fast to the great truths restored in the worship and organization of the church.
On the other hand, we must not be wedded to the traditions built up over the years to the neglect of re-examining them in the light of the scriptures. We must not be bound by some of the erroneous-and conflicting-views of some of the great men in our heritage.
Above all, we must not continue in the misconception that since the worship and organization of the church have been properly restored to first century standards, that there is no longer need of continued effort to restore other aspects of New Testament Christianity.
We have on one side those who are willing to listen to and to do just about anything, while on the other side we have folk who would “rather fight than switch,” even when shown their error. In the middle is a large number of people so unlearned in the Word, that they are unsure of which way to jump. Brethren, the situation is not hopeless, but it is CRITICAL. We desperately need to revive the interest in and understanding of restoration and make sure we go all the way back to Jerusalem instead of stopping at Cane Ridge or Bethany.
The gospel has been so watered down that even those gospel preachers, who are strong and sound, sometimes fear the brethren might choke on a full dose of the gospel. How frightening! A diluted gospel will produce a diluted Christian and thus an unhealthy church. Preachers must not shun to “declare all the counsel of God” (Acts 20:27), and those who heed it will be the only ones who please God anyway. Purity of doctrine will be the only thing that will produce purity of practice and purity of life. Those who have tricked themselves into thinking otherwise are described by Paul in 2Thessalonians 2:10-12: “And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”
Until we restore in our own people proper attitudes toward the authority of the scriptures, toward the earnestness and zealousness of real Christian living, and toward one another as brethren, there is little hope for growth or purity. A large portion of the Restoration Movement has departed from any claim on its former moorings. Many even now among us have virtually made the same departure. Unless we get serious about this and quit talking among ourselves and start speaking out and crying out for a return all the way back to the principles of the New Testament, APOSTASY will be our brother!
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