Well, it is kind of hard to believe that we come now to the
final service of our meeting. I hope it's been at a fine for
you. I've enjoyed it immensely and
even though perhaps it's been tiring for all of us, I hope
that something been said or we study something together that
would encourage you or at least give you some knowledge to go
forth and maybe apply in some way to your life.
You know we began a little series on church history and I'm
going to have to really not only talk fast.
Tonight to get through the material but also to keep us
away because after that meal, you know, I have something.
I have something I need to say to this congregation.
You've got a problem and that is its your to hospital.
In fact, I think death by Hospitality might be a good.
A good book to write about this congregation and because I've
been fed, man, I've been fed so much by everyone in homes and
restaurants and I got to go home and fast a wild prey and, and
maybe become one of these ascetics.
It was About because wow, even though I've been walking every
morning, it's just not cut it, so but thank you so much.
But anyway, tonight we have a lot to cover and I promise I
won't talk quite as long. Hopefully Lord willing as last
night or the night before, but we've been discussing church
history and even though it's a little bit punny, I mentioned
this the other day. But you know, when we look at
the church, who's in the middle of the church, well, you are,
you're in the middle of the church.
But really in reality, when we look at history, it's his story
isn't it? It's the story about God and
about house, Providence makes things work.
And of course, as we've noted over the last couple of nights
you know the church was established.
But then very quickly began to apostasy Begin to Fall away and
so really the whole history of the church and I'm going to use
that term again tonight in an accommodating since because
obviously the Lord's Church retains, you know, the identity
that is found in the New Testament but the church Begin
to Fall Away from the very Beginning really and still
continues to this day, to maintain those scriptural
principles that we read about in the New Testament.
And, of course, the plea of the churches of price has always
been to go back to the Bible to speak where the Bible speaks to
be silent. When the Bible is silent to do
Bible things. In Bible ways, to call Bible
things by Bible names, and, of course, that should indeed be
our motto. Now, as we've looked over the
last few nights, we have look basically at these facts.
And after I go through these four, five, Five Points very
briefly. You might say, well, why
couldn't you just said that the last couple nights we could have
been done with it? Well, the church was established
in 80 30 or 33, the apostles were living at that period of
time and of course the church continued.
Steadfastly in the apostles Doctrine very quickly after the
church was established and congregations were established
people began to depart from the faith, the Apostle, Paul warned
over and over. For example, in Acts 22, the
Ephesian Elders, that there would be men who would arise
even Their own ranks and would be as wolves among the flock.
And, of course, the Apostle Paul warned Timothy that there would
be a man of sin and that there would be an apostasy from the
truth. Well, that true, that happened.
And then, of course, along that same period of time, there was
persecution. First of all, by the Jewish
Nation, who obviously did not like being, you know, the
Christians. And then as the church began to
spread into the entire Known World of the day, the Roman
government began to persecute eat the Christians as well.
And we noted various Emperor's Diocletian, DCS and others who
tried to wipe out Christianity. Well, in about 300, a man, by
the name of Constantine comes to power, emperor, Constantine, and
he espouses Christianity. At least as a religion that can
be useful to his political aspirations, and so he makes
Christianity legal, and we might think that's a good thing.
But the Edict of Milan, which he gave and 313, which made
Christianity, They legal also was a very bad thing because
from that point on what we see is that the church and again I
use that term, broadly, the church began to be United with
politics. And so the church and the state
married, one another, and from that Unholy Union, came all
kinds of false doctrines last night.
We talked a little bit about some of the doctrines that have
been introduced into Christendom.
That cannot be found in the scriptures such as infant
baptism. ISM such as a special
priesthood, such has such as rather, the clergy laity system
and such as transubstantiation and other major doctrines that
were introduced at the Christians of the first century
knew nothing about. And of course, with time as the
politics and the Christianity of that day began to be more and
more coving gold, you have more and more corruption entering
into religion to Chris Dumb during the next several
centuries. Of course we talked about
Charlemagne just for a moment last night and the Holy Roman
Empire and how that was Pope Leo, the third, who crowned
Charlemagne. But it was with the caveat that
the pope really would control the Roman Empire and so it
became known as the Holy Roman Empire.
Well over the next several centuries from about 300 to
about 1700 ad. Those 1,400 years sometimes
called even the Dark Ages, there was an intervening.
You know, problem in darkness that crept into religion and it
was purely and holy corrupt, well, in 1517, Martin Luther and
others began to rise up in what we call the Reformation period.
Now, that were just simply comes from the term reform.
They were trying to reform religion of that day.
They were trying to reform the Catholic Church.
They were not trying to restore New Testament Christianity.
That movement would come a bit later, but they were trying to
Reform, the Christianity of that day which was again Catholicism.
That's the period that I want to speak very briefly about tonight
and I want to notice some of the main points that lead up to and
include the Reformation. Now the Reformation was a very
pivotal Point even for us important for us even today
because it was during the Reformation period and
thereafter that even the New Testament began to be translated
into common tongue, such as German.
English and so on and so forth. It was during that period of
time, broadly speaking that men like William Tyndale would
translate For the First Time The Bible into English or at least
the New Testament and then Coverdale would come along and
finish the job as well as others throughout the centuries who
eventually leads us up to the King James version.
So there's a lot of formative events during this period of
time and it's also a period of time when the world is changing.
For example, in about 1455, we know that Verb popularized, he
really didn't invent movable type, but he popularized, the
movable-type printing press. And the first Bible that was
printed. The first thing was printed was
a Bible and it was lat. And so with the ability to print
literature and the ability to get the word out more quickly,
there came about really a Rene has on, it's a change, a world
changing, the atmosphere in which people were no longer as
ignorant and I use that in a classical sense as they once
were. Well, by the 15th century, we
have such corruption in the Catholic church that there began
to be again. Some people who spoke out.
Now, one of those individuals, as I mentioned, was Martin
Luther. And one of the things that
precipitated Martin Luther's anger at the Catholic church was
the fact that there was a man by the name of John tessin now,
John tetzel was quite a Salesman and John tetzel realized at the
church, confers needed money. And so, John tetzel begin to
circulate Around Europe and he began to sales what was known as
indulgences now indulgences are really, I think, kind of hard to
explain and many think that it's really the payment for sin, not
yet committed and that's kind of right?
But in reality indulgences or the payment of physical money,
so that the results of sin in purgatory could be diminished
and so you could prepay or pay for others for their sins.
So that the timing and Purgatory that hot Place.
If you will, where you supposedly went to sort of pay
for your sins before, later on, you are absolved of those sins
the, your time there could be reduced.
Well, of course, Martin Luther had a fit about that, Martin
Luther felt like that was an abuse of the church's power.
And by the way, ten Souls Ernie's, which were apparently
were substantial went into the building and the making of st.
Peter's Basilica, in Rome now, the st.
Peter's Basilica. Today, in Rome is the second
Basilica, the first I believe, burned way back in the early
days of this period of time, but nonetheless, it went into the
great coppers of the Catholic church.
And tetzel is credited with having a little bit of a phrase
that he would go around. Now, remember, by the way,
people at this time were superstitious the church, the
Catholic Church holds all power and let me throw this in because
I'm throwing in things from previous studies.
Remember the first I said that, the first draft I did was seven
parts. But nonetheless, you know, let's
think about this. You're a your of poor individual
in the English Countryside. You look over there are maybe in
your Italian Countryside, you look over there.
And here's this institution that has these great Cathedrals.
That has gold and silver and paintings that are Priceless on
their walls. You're going to be awed by that.
And so also the church was teaching that you needed to do
what they said to do in order to be saved and they held great
sway over the people. And so if a You should comes
along or some Emissary, from the Roman Pope, and he says, here's
what you must do. People are going to try to do
that. And that particular era of time,
well, tetzel came along selling these indulgences and he had
this phrase where he says, as soon as the coin in the Coffer
Rings, a soul from purgatory Springs.
Now, you know, Traditions kind of interesting because it's
really hard to say. Whether you really said that,
but it catches the drift he was selling these these the It's if
you will, we're by your time in purgatory or in punishment could
be reduced. We, you know, at this period of
time to people being superstitious would venerate
relics the Catholic Church would go about and get various items
skulls of supposed States pieces of wood supposedly coming from
the cross, and they would put them in the cathedrals of that
day. And people would venerate our
worship, those particular items because it was held that those
items had spiritual significance, Forget, and even
religious power. And so, then the sacramental
idea that if you worship or you venerated, are you did so many
things you could earn your salvation and these things could
help you. So, relics were sacred items,
venerated. And every Church, of course,
wanted either a saint or sacred item attached to it.
And so, there were pieces of the True Cross.
There were bones of the Apostles on display now, again, not
surely, the real Apostles are the real Ross because there's no
indication that we know where they are, but nonetheless, these
things were displayed as if they were.
In fact, John Calvin, very interesting reformer as well.
Said that there were 15, sculls of John the Baptist and he says,
there was enough wood from the crosses of Jesus to build across
so tall that you couldn't see the top.
Now, he's also been reported to have said there was so much wood
for the crosses of Jesus little splinters that you could build
Noah's Ark. Now, whatever the point is, you
know, tradition, sometimes gives you A lot of stories that the
point is, is that you have all of these artifacts out there
which may or may not mean anything, but people are
venerating them and worshipping them as if they are real because
they believe it gives them some spiritual connection to God.
Now, I'm going to throw this in as just an aside but under st.
Peter's, Basilica in Rome, today is an area called the
necropolis. Now the crop of us the word and
simply means the city of the dead necropolis, and the
necropolis is where supposedly Lee st.
Peter is buried now a few years ago.
But difference when, you know, the Clinton France, cleanse, it
cleanse is everywhere. Glenn is everywhere.
You want to be Clinton perhaps were and I were in Rome and we
were able to get a tour under st.
Peter's, Basilica up to the necropolis.
Now, I have friends that are Catholic.
There are sincere, wonderful people and I would never
besmirch, their religion, or I would never besmirch this in
Syria. But as we stood among the faith,
as we journey through the catacomb like Isles, Under st.
Peter's Basilica, the bones and the priests and the Pope's that
have been buried and then we came to the niche where bag
Peter if you look back through supposed it was buried, it
became very quiet. There was an honest, you know
that began to sort of circulate through the crowd and Clinton I
just stood there and thought you know really is this really what
Christianity is all about. But this was a holy place and
there was supposedly I think some Holiness that people
thought they might gather you see?
Things haven't changed that much superstitious.
Haven't changed so much, even from this period in the 15th
century. Well, the society though is
changing, people were becoming more educated.
The power of the church was beginning to fail a little bit
and byte church. I mean Catholicism because it
was V, dominant religion of the day because they need for sure.
No one else had a presence. And two things happened that
brought about really a great change.
And brought about the Reformation, One.
As I mentioned, a moment ago was the printing press by Gutenberg
Gutenberg printed the Bible for the first time, in about 1450 5,
there are some Gutenberg Bibles around today.
In various museums, if you have 30 or 40 million dollars, you
might be able to pick one up, nonetheless, they're very rare
and it is again a watershed for the change.
Really? The flood that would begin to
occur in printing, Martin Luther who will notice in a moment was
a prolific printer and he printed More literature in
Germany than any other person in Germany, religious tracts
servants and so on and so far. But about this time there was
another change in religion that brought about a great amount of
fervor and that was a man by the name of Erasmus now.
Rasmus, he as it were went and he got the Greek manuscripts
that were available at the time. There were only a couple of
handful and he put together a new Greek texts called the
Texas. Receptus the TR And it is from
the textus receptus that, then you start having the English
Bibles printed. But now that was a change.
Because up until this point they had used the Latin Vulgate.
The Latin had grown corrupt and then change over the years.
People no longer read or spoke Latin the priest, spoke it.
But some of them didn't even know what they were saying.
They were just rattling off that which they had memorized.
And so Rasmus and others felt like there needs to be a new
base text on which The base, the Bible translation and then of
course others, like William tyndale's Coverdale Matthews and
others thought that it needed to be in the language of the
people. So as these things begin to
happen, they all kind of come together.
At about the same time, you have a change in culture, you have a
changing Society, you have corruption in the church, the
Catholic church and you have men like Martin Luther who are
finally willing to stand up and say enough already.
Now, Martin Luther was like Julian Mark, he did not want to
throw away. The Catholic church has missed,
his purpose, was not to create Lutheranism, now that's what
happened. But his purpose was not to
create a new religion. His purpose was to reform that
which he saw as being corrupt. And so he began to teach and
preach and he began to question the various doctrines of the
Bible, he entered a monastery at a very young age.
His father wanted him to be a lawyer, by the way, but he
decided to become a preacher. ER, and I'm sure that was just a
pointing for his father. But nonetheless, he began to
dedicate himself intensely to prayer, and to fasting.
And he was really almost a radical when it came to his
lifestyle, he was also a colorful individual because it
said that you can hear him at times jousting as it were
verbally with the devil using all kinds of expletives and all
kinds of terrible language. But nonetheless he was a priest.
He was a individual who wanted to reform the Catholic Church.
Well Rome Cam automation, he went to Rome.
He went to this place called. Well, I don't remember the name
of the church, but nonetheless, he comes to Rome and he sees
Christians, so-called at a place called the scale of sanctum.
Now, few weeks ago, when I was there with Ronnie, Wade visited,
this for the umpteenth time and what this is is supposedly,
these are the steps that were brought from Palestine by
Constantine's mother. Other hellena.
Supposedly, the very steps in front of Pilots Hall that Jesus
stood up on when Jesus was being tried and convicted.
Now, of course we don't know about that, but nonetheless,
these steps were hauled from Palestine to Rome.
And people, even to this very day will pay Penance upon the
steps. They will get down on their
knees and they will walk up one by one, but you cannot walk up
these steps except on your knees that Ronnie.
Wait and wait outside becomes. Of them on their feet and the
guards got them right away. But nonetheless, you can go up
these steps on your knees. Praying all the way and again
demonstrate your Penance and get spiritual Merit from doing this.
Well Martin Luther saw this going on.
These are the same steps that were there in 1400 and Martin
Luther. Finally said, this is crazy.
The just should live by faith. Now let me say this real quick
and I don't have time to get into the darkness side of this.
But, you know, Sometimes such reformers or even religious
leaders such as Martin Luther, and John Calvin, and so on and
so forth. We give them sort of a bad rap
now. I don't believe their theology,
don't get me wrong, but considering their environment
Martin Luther. Yes, he did Focus way too much
on faith alone. In fact, he changed the biblical
definition of faith, and the purpose of faith and how Faith
Works to Faith, the low, but consider the environment.
He was in, he was in an Where the Catholic Church of the day
said you had to work such as this.
You had to bleed on your knees so to speak so that you could be
safe. So he reacts but he reacts too
far and I think that's something we need to keep in mind when
there are Trends and Winds of Change.
Sometimes we need to be careful that we don't over react to.
The change that is going on. Round about us, well, over time
Luther comes up with a list of grievances.
They're called the 95 Theses. Now by this time Luther is a
priest up in a town called Vinton Berg Germany.
And he takes this paper of 95 complaints and he Nails it to
the door of the Catholic church in that City.
Now he wasn't vandalizing. That was where people pin things
to make public announcements. And of course, the pope got word
of this. Others got word of this and he
was criticized, he was called before a court called the diet
of worms. Then it left a bad taste in his
mouth was the diet of worms would with died of arms, is
pretty nasty I.U snakes Court. It doesn't mean something you
eat, but nonetheless on April in April 1521, Luther was brought
before the diet of worms and Lutheran was tried as a heretic
or what he was preaching and they asked him to recant.
They say just in, I what you've printed, you're not what you're
saying and that's where if you read the story of Luther, it
gets really kind of a hair-raising because he says,
unless idea. Convinced by the testimonies of
scripture or by clear reason, I neither can or will make any
retraction since it is neither safe nor honorable to act
against conscience. And then there's that famous
phrase where he says, here I stand, I can do.
No other help me God. In other words, even though he
might have been mistaken. Some of the theology, he was not
going to give it up. He was going to go to the death.
If that was what it was necessary.
Even mean What you was if indeed he had to and is Wellness rather
to stand for his sake. Well, the movement begins to
sprout, and there are many others across Europe.
Martin Luther, of course, in Germany between Glee up there.
You'll represent singly in Switzerland.
All of these men had different nuances of teaching but they all
recognize that the Church of that day was corrupt.
John Knox down in Scotland, John Calvin in France from which we
get the calvinist. Take doctor's today and will
notice him just in just a few moments.
But the goal again, I've always been was not to establish or
return to the New Testament Church.
That was not on the horizon that was not in their mind.
Their goal was to reform the Catholic church.
Now, the problem with that is sometimes you can't reform
something, sometimes you have to tear it down and start over, but
there were differences even among the reformers on theology,
for example, Martin Luther believed that side.
Let's allows now we still have that controversy going on in our
Brotherhood today. It's amazing that after 1500
years or so or whatnot. 15, I can just say 500 years.
We haven't solved it, but nonetheless blue thought that if
the Bible didn't specifically forbid, something that it was
allowed. Now, on the other hand, swingley
said, no silence forbids. If the Bible doesn't
specifically authorize something, then it is forbidden.
Now, there's a big difference between those two because you
see Luther would say well you can add what you Want as long as
it doesn't violate some positive command of scripture is legally.
Would say no you can't have it. Unless it's authorized we still
fight over that preacher studies today.
You see these issues do affect us and our theology.
Even today, John Calvin do in my view.
Made the most dire inroads into Christendom because of his
theology. Now the other evening I noted
with you that John Calvin was a student of st.
Augustine Augustine. One of the early church fathers,
so called in about 400 ad Augustine had become a Christian
having been converted by a man by the name of Ambrose and he
had come out of a false dualistic.
Gnostic Doctrine called medic is.
MM, the flesh was evil, the spirit was good, but the flesh
was evil and so then John Calvin, as he then begins to
study Augustine. He begins to incorporate, I
don't know, knowingly or unknowingly these ideas in Into
his own Theology. And so, he comes up with this
idea of God's sovereignty, which God is Sovereign, but to the
point that he believed that God had control of everything even
against Free Will. And so he came up with What's
called the Tulip doctor. Now, this is not for jority,
this is not making fun, they will acknowledge that they
believe in tulip. In fact, have you ever heard of
the point that the idea of a five-point calvinist?
You have five-point calvinist, some will say no, I'm a
three-point calvinist. Well, the Five Points, RT ulap,
Depravity total heredity proud of you.
In other words, we are born in sin, we can't even believe
unless God does a special miraculous work on our life.
Number two unconditional option because we're born in sin when
we then come to God. We are unconditionally elected.
In other words. God chooses, who's going to be
saved? Who's going to be lost?
We are predetermined and those that are predetermined to be
saved. Then have had Christ died for
them and them alone. That's called limited atonement.
Now we Believe that Jesus died for the whole world, we believe
that God is not willing that any should perish, but that all
should come to repentance. Calvin said, no, Christ, only
died for the elect. The rest are damned to hell no
matter what they want to do, and so there's a limited atonement.
Now, if you're part of the limited atonement group and
you're part of the saved, then since God saved you, and decreed
that, there's nothing you can do be lost and of course, in order
to be saved, God's going to give his grace to you.
That Grace is not going to Able to be resisted, that's
irresistible Grace. And when God does that, then
you're going to persevere forever.
You're going to be saved, once saved, always saved.
So, this doctrine of tulip becomes, really the basis for
most of the reformed and the churches that came from the
Reformation that are around us today.
In fact, one of the things of the two doctrines that separate
I believe the Churches of Christ from other groups, one is the
idea of the Calvinism. And the other is
premillennialism those two doctrines again are not spouse
by the Churches of Christ, but almost everyone in the
denominational world today will believe in once saved, always
saved for some form of Calvinism and pre millennialism.
Well, that's another subject for another time.
But, you know, again, from the Reformation, it didn't solve
anything. It just began to Splinter and,
you know, some things, as I mentioned, you just can't fix.
You can't make us. Purse out of a sow's ear.
You just can't do it. You've got to start over.
And so then these men miss the point, they were trying to take
something that was inherently corrupt, that had a structure of
leadership as we noted last evening.
That was inherently sinful and wrong, and we're trying to
reform it that will not work. Well, go buy them a few hundred
more years. We get now to the 1800s 1700s
1800s, and we begin to see them people.
In the denomination's. Now by this time, many
denominations have split give the Baptists Presbyterians and
methodists. You have all these demon
domination Lutheran's that had begun to split and Splinter and
their begin to arise a few men, A Few Good Men, Who said, you
know what, the Reformation didn't work.
So what we need to do is we need to restore Christianity.
Now, I use the term restoration with a bit of a caveat and that
is this. I don't believe personally that
the church ever disappear. I don't believe that the church
had to be totally restored in the sense that it, you know, was
never around. I believe that somewhere.
Probably in those groups that Catholics called Heritage during
the Middle Ages. There were faithful.
Christians meeting now, I can't prove that but that's my own
belief. I base that upon even today
finding congregations once in a while but we know nothing of
that are virtually the same. As we are, they've taken the
Bible that done back to it and you know what?
When you plant seed you get the same crop.
If you plant corn, you're going to get corn, they had planted
the word of God and they got new testament Christians.
So I believe that probably every we're around the world.
There were already some places around the world.
There were no Jews and Christians but nonetheless man
began to say, we need to get back to the Bible.
We need to restore New Testament Christianity.
But this time of course there was a dearth of biblical
knowledge. There was a confusion and the
religious World there were again.
And as even today, we go on. We see world.
Jim circulating around you know, you should we said we needed to
go to the world. Now they've come to us and of
course, it does provide quite an opportunity.
I like the quote from CBS CS Lewis, but as Carol Lewis
Carroll was here, that's it. When he speaks of, you know,
Alice in Wonderland. She says I knew I was this
morning but I changed a few times since then, you know that
sort of is reflective of the religious world.
You know, denomination on, by the way, did I shoot
denominationalism? By the way, it's really Dead.
You know, today, methodists and Baptists.
They'll circulate with each other within each other's
pulpits. You know, you can hire one man
over here. This one to this Theological
Seminary, he may not even have the same nomenclature or
monikers, you do religiously, but that doesn't matter because
he is the local preacher. So denominationalism in many
ways is dead. And today, in many ways, we're
in it, it's just as much confusion as there ever was.
But back to the very idea here of going back to the beginning
newt. To make Christianity.
So the seed of the word of Jesus himself, spoke of sowing the
seed of the word. And so, there were men who began
to arise say, you know, if we get certified seed and we throw
out the weeds man, made doctrines the ologies Creeds,
and we simply go back to the Bible.
Then we're more liable to get new testament, Christians, and
that makes logical. Sense, does it?
We want to plant pure seed and we want to To plant that in
every generation. And when we do then we're going
to get Christians, pure New Testament Christians in every
generation. Well, you know, the restoration
movement restoring actually began in Europe with men like
Campbell and others, but along the Eastern Seaboard of the
United States. In very much the same time
period. Various men, begin to arise men
like Abner, Jones Elias myth, though, these were
denominational men, but they also realize that Other
denominations were not biblical and so they began to teach.
Let's go back to the Bible and even though the movement was
formative at this period of time, it was in its infancy.
These men began to blaze a trail for others who would follow and
preach. Let's go back to the Bible.
Now here's where I'm going to truncate a tremendous amount of
material and basically just say that as time rolled on a man,
first of all, by the name of Alexander Campbell came to this
world with his father. Thomas Campbell and they began
to came to this world came to the new world.
I should say. They came from Scotland and
Ireland, they came and they began to preach back to the
Bible. In fact, there's a very
interesting book, I would recommend it is written story
for him. It's by a man, I believe nothing
Cochran Cochran, the fool of God and it's a delightful account of
Thomas and Alexander Campbell's Coming to America and their plea
for Christian restoration. So delightful account I'd But
there was another man by the name of Barton Stone.
Barton stone is known as a frontier preacher.
He was preaching much of the same doctrines that Campbell was
they met, they began to compare notes.
There are movements joined and of course, from that, of course
we get. Then the movement that later
would become the Christian Church Disciples of Christ
Churches of Christ, and so on and so forth.
Now, that's another history. You can read West's book search
for the Ancient Order if you like this series.
There are many books that are out.
There that are very good. If they're interested in simply
reading about the restoration movement, or you can go back and
read the original documents such as Alexander.
Campbell's Millennial Harbinger, you know, Alexander Campbell was
quite the man, Bethany West Virginia was where he lived.
He had his own printing, press, he would get up in the morning,
early enough and stand. If you actually, if you go
there, you been there. Frank, if you go there, there's
a kind of a outdoor study that he is still exist and he would
stand in, he would get there. Early in the morning and he
would write standing up, they always wrote standing and he
would write enough that morning to keep his printers busy all
day long. Now, if I get anything written,
even an email in the morning, I'm doing pretty well but
Alexander Campbell would get up early.
I mean, really early by the Light of the pole, lamp, and
right. And not that morning to keep his
printers busy all day long. He was also the postmaster of
Bethany West Virginia, and, of course, that gave him the
ability to send things out. Posthaste nonetheless, these two
movements emerged, and they merged basically, on for timely
principles. In other words, the restoration
movement came down to basically these four things.
Number one Christ Reigns Christ is the head of the church.
Not Martin Luther, not John Calvin, not King Henry the 8th,
not all those guys back in the rest formation but Christ that
was the one of the non-negotiables.
To the Bible rules. It is God's word.
There is a pattern that is recognized and that's very
important. Because, you know, today we have
left in our postmodern world, pattern is mm, I don't mean in
the church necessarily although it has affected us.
But I mean, in the religious world, most folks in the
religious world at a dump believe, there's a pattern, they
do believe it really matters what you do and worship.
But the Reformation restoration period was based upon pattern,
the pattern being the New Testament and the rejection of
Reads. Now, as with anything again, not
only in the Reformation period where things begin to split and
began to Splinter. Even today in the post
restoration, period things are still beginning to Splinter or
naughty beginning. They are stutter, think about
just from the Churches of Christ that you know, how many
different groups there are? No exception Churches of Christ.
There are cup Churches of Christ.
There are cups. No class of Churches of Christ,
there are classes. No cups Churches of Christ,
there. Churches of Christ of leaving.
Premillennialism there are Churches of Christ that believe
in institutions it goes on and on and on and on and on you see
what's the solution? The Bible going back to the
Bible. And unfortunately even today
there are divisions. Paul said that shouldn't be a
zero to Corinth. He said, there are divisions
among you I hear that from the house of Chloe and he said, I
somewhat believe it. He said some say, I'm appalled
by the policy other sickness, I'm of Christ.
It says Christ. Divided was Paul crucified for
you. Well, certainly not.
And so Paul, even in the first century gave the initial plea
that Campbell and stone and others.
And even today we give and it is let us go back to the Bible.
Well, that leads us into our final point and that is what
should we do in the 21st century?
Now, we may have to adapt our approach but we never adapted.
Ali doctrines are pure but we may have to adapt our approach.
You know, there are people coming to this country who don't
know. Jesus.
You can't teach them about the Are folks until they know Jesus,
you can't teach them about one cup until they know what the
church is. Now that doesn't mean we have to
wait forever to teach them those things but we may have to adapt
our approach. But what we've got to do is go
back and teach the same things goth.
Roy speaking. That Jesus is the son of God
much like Paul did in Athens, you know, on Mars Hill.
That's an interesting study because Paul takes those folks,
we are, they were pagans worshipping an unknown God.
And he says he Him. I declare to you, we take where
people are and we begin to nurture and bring them along to.
Hopefully, we are Guardians. And of course, how do we do
that? Exactly.
Like they did in the first century.
They continued steadfastly in the apostles Doctrine.
Well, that's the study tonight. And there is again, no doubt
tons and tons of material that we could have included and.
But I wanted to go ahead and give you a kind of A
finalization of the end of the story, if you will, the rest of
the story because the Reformation started by Martin
Luther didn't work. And today arguably the Catholic
church is as corrupt As It Ever Was and unfortunately the
various denominations that split off from Martin Luther John
Calvin and zwingli others didn't work either.
And so the only thing we can do is continue day by day year by
year, Generation by generation to plead to go back to the
Bible. Now we have to be careful that
we don't allow even our view of the Church of Christ become
secular or denomination done denomination.
Because if we ever quit questioning and I don't mean
that in a negative way but if we net if we ever quit determining
that we need to go back to the Bible.
Then surely traditions of men will creep in and we'll begin to
hold those things as high as we do Doctrine and pretty soon.
We're no different than the pre-reformation church.
And so we have a great job ahead of us tonight but I think we can
do it. I think again that God has the
same power today that he had then you know, Paul said I'm not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of Salvation
to the Jew first and also to the Greek, except for therein is the
righteousness of God revealed from Faith to Faith for, as it
is written, the just shall live by faith.
We thank you for listening to our podcast, put on by the
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