The Restoration Movement Fulfilled In Jesus Christ
1 / How It Started by Edward Fudge
January - February, 2010"This tract was first printed in 1981. A few years later, several friends of the author contributed money for expenses and copies were mailed to 13,000 Churches of Christ in America, with another 3,000 copies sent to churches that requested bundles."
I am happy to show that not a word of it is true. If the church fell into apostasy--and no one can deny it--the restoration means to practice "church" the way it is defined beginning in the wilderness and by the historic Church of Christ before the apostasy. In fact, two of the apostacies involved music and performance preaching after the time of Constantine..
See Alexander Campbell and the Second Coming in Christ
Discovering our Roots: The Ancestry of the Churches of Christ
Richard T. Hughes and C. Leonard Allen.
Kingdom Come, Embracing the Spiritual Legacy of David Lipscomb and James Harding,Alexander Campbell: The Coming Of The Kingdom. The Kingdom was established when Christ said it was: no millennial can have the soming of the kingdom without denying Christ.
Edward Fudge: Go with me to the early 19th century, to a devout Presbyterian minister and his godly, scholarly son, lately come separately to America. Disenchanted with the sectarianism which choked their church, they determined by God's grace to do better.
As a matter of truth, Thomas Campbell had the Declaration and Address when he got off the Ship. He had benefited from Calvin's Necessity of Revorming the Church Presented to the Dietat Spires, AD 1544.Number One SERIOUSLY TO UNDERTAKE THE TASK OF RESTORING THE CHURCH OF CHRIST
Number Two
Number Three
Number FourJohn Calvin: For where can I exert myself to better purpose or more honestly, where, too, in a matter at this time more necessary, than in attempting, according to my ability, to aid the Church of Christ, whose claims it is unlawful in any instance to deny, and which is now in grievous distress, and in extreme danger?No one tried to restore any first century church: the point was to REMOVE everything not necessary to conduct what the campbells called Church as "a school of Christ." Worship was "reading and musing the Word of God." That was defined for the church in the wilderness.
But there is no occasion for a long preface concerning myself. Receive what I say as you would do if it were pronounced by the united voiceof all those who either have already taken care to restore the Church,I come now to ceremonies, which, while they ought to be grave attestations of divine worship, are rather a mere mockery of God. A new Judaism, as a substitute for that which God had distinctly abrogated, has again been reared up by means of numerous puerile extravagancies, collected from different quarters; and with these have been mixed up certain impious rites, partly borrowed from the heathen, and more adapted to some theatrical show than to the dignity of our religion.
or are desirous that it should be restored to true order.
Groups known as The Church of Christ existed long before especially in England. Now notice mocking of very bright and honorable men in many groups:
Edward Fudge mockingly and disparagingly:
This country became their Promised Land -
a territory ruled by sectarian giants
who lived in churches with great walls,
but ripe nonetheless for the vengeance of the Lord,
and ready to yield their spoils to the simple People of God.
The fact is, this country gave people the right to teach the Word of God as it had been taught. This was contrary to most denominational preaching which inculcated the rituals and beliefs of their particular Sect. Edward would mock everyone by the many who failed and tried.
Does that sound wicked?Extract from the Minutes of the Baptist Missionary Association of Kentucky, began and held at the Town-Fork Meeting House, in Fayette county, on Saturday, the 11th September, 1824.
"THE next meeting of this association will be in the first Baptist meeting house in Lexington, [126] on the 30th of July next, which will be on the fifth Saturday of that month, at eleven o'clock, A M.
"It is proposed also to have a meeting of all the Baptist preachers who can attend, on Friday, the day preceding the meeting of the association, at eleven o'clock, A. M. at the same place, for the purpose of a general conference on the state of religion, and on the subject of reform. All the ministers of the gospel in the Baptist denomination favorable to these objects, are invited to attend, and, in the spirit of Christian love, by mutual counsel, influence, and exertion, according to the gospel, to aid in advancing the cause of piety in our state.
"It is obvious to the most superficial observer, who is at all acquainted with the state of Christianity and of the church of the New Testament, that much, very much is wanting, to bring the Christianity and the church of the present day up to that standard--In what this deficiency consists, and how it is to be remedied, or whether it can be remedied at all, are the points to be discovered and determined.In the deliberations intended,
Most often when people attack the Restoration Movement they are really attacking what they call the ANTI-instrumental groups just because NOT using instruments needed no restoration in groups called The Church of Christ for 2,000 years. Therefore, the attack is mocking that is not under the control of the mocker:
Jude 17 But, beloved, remember ye the words
Jude 18 How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time,
who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.
Jude 19 These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.Jude and others liberally quote the Book of Enoch which defines the FOR WHOM God will come in judgment are those Satan seduced using mixed-sex choirs, instrumental music and sexy apparel. This was used to seduce the faithful away from the Living Word and nothing has changed.
Enoch 7: 10 Then they took wives, each choosing for himself; whom they began to approach, and with whom they cohabited; teaching them sorcery, incantations, and the dividing of roots and trees.
Epaeidô, contr. Att.
epaidô , fut. A. -aisomai Ar.Ec.1153 , etc.; -aisô Ach.Tat.2.7 :--sing to or in accompaniment, Magos 2.sing as an incantation, charms or incantations, Pl.Tht.157c; epaeidôn by means of charms, Euripides, Electra. Set your step to the dance, my dear,
[860] like a fawn leaping high up to heaven with joy. Your brother is victorious and has accomplished the wearing of a crown . . . beside the streams of Alpheus. Come sing[865] a glorious victory ode, to my dance.Magos 3.enchanter, wizard, esp. in bad sense, impostor, charlatan, Heraclit.14, S.OT387, E.Or.1498 (lyr.), Pl.R.572e, Act.Ap.13.6, Vett. Val.74.17
Kali nikon καλλί-νι_κος Gloriously triumphant over one's enemies epithet of Helios, the glory of victory, An air for the flute, Helios, the sun-god. 2. Hêliou astêr, of the planet Saturn,Soon the trumpets sounded,
The actual name, "Lucifer," goes back to the Greeks, before the Romans. Socrates and Plato talk about this "god of light"; surprisingly, not in the context of Eos (god of Dawn), but -- as a morning star -- juxtaposed with the sun (Helios) and Hermes. This information can be found in Plato's Timaeus (38e) and in Edith Hamilton's Mythology." (Hebrew helel; Septuagint heosphoros, Vulgate lucifer)Incantations and cutting of roots points to the sorcery word in Revelation 18: Circe the mother of harlots used magical songs along with drugs (induced by music) to seduce people and then turn them into swine.
the foes were thrown into confusion and turmoil,
and the breezes hummed with the arrows of the invaders.
Any adversary who waved his ordination papers or theological diplomas
soon found that Alexander Campbell favored them as targets for his sharpest darts.
Thomas Campbell was shot because he served open communion to those not of his sect. Alexander was defacto disfellowshipped from the Baptists because of his teaching from the Bible. I think it would be honorable to list some proof texts. The enthroned clergy of the Scribes and Pharisees got a sharp prick from Jesus when He identified them as hypocrites (Scribes or writers and Pharisees songs/prayers for pay) by naming rhetoricians, singers and instrument players. Campbell confronted little of the choir or musical worship team singers and none of instrumental music. Therfore, because the SECTS were virtually pure from such music, the point is meaningless since the ANTI-restorations have a instrumental music fetish.
The Virginia (now West Virginia) planter-scholar was sufficiently endowed financially to spend much time doing the things he enjoyed most. From his analytical mind and immense vocabulary flowed an impressive volume of teaching. Campbell published two papers, The Christian Baptist and The Millennial Harbinger. His public debates were impressive and always well-attended. He was in constant demand as a speaker throughout the bustling and ever-expanding land.
The Campbells and their comrades-in-arms made their own contribution to American Christianity (and to posterity worldwide). But they were by no means alone. More than a dozen such "restoration movements" began during these same years in America. Churches springing from this native stock dot the land today. And although each considers itself unique, if the worshippers ever bother to investigate one another they usually discover a number of their "distinctive" beliefs and practices to be held in common.
The First Great American Awakening which fed off witchcraft and Whitefield's theatrical preaching led to 4 new Quaker sects and 321 new congregational sects most of which were Baptists. They still count 146 named Baptist denominations. Therefore, secting out is not uncommon. The Second Awakening which would have been seen as witchcraft in earlier days, led to many of the people being scooped up by the Baptist and Methodists who united to steal sheep: something like the NACC unity movements.
God had indeed prepared the soil for the movement these men led, just as he prepares hearts and times throughout history. A spirit of expectancy prevailed throughout the land. Health-movements sprang up, back-to-nature advocates flourished. There were social utopian dreamers and planners of communes.
Edward Fudge: Campbell named his major journal The Millennial Harbinger, and he published it for nearly 40 years. The same expectant atmosphere breathed life into America's own "prophetic" movements, three of which grew up to become the Seventh-day Adventists, the Jehovah's Witnesses, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons).
The Millerites were Baptists and were the target of Alexander's repudiating of all millenniel views. Nor, is it ethical to compare the Church of Christ which always existed under that name with either of these sects. The Mormons built on the charismatic witchery and not on the restoration principle.
Spiritual revival swept the land, wielding an influence so great it is remembered as the Second Great Awakening. When historians write of that revival, they nearly always speak of Cane Ridge, Kentucky. There the magnetism of fervent preaching drew people from many walks of life. With conviction of sin came strange physical demonstrations. Men and women jumped and jerked, "barked," shouted, and fell to the ground.
Those called the REFORMERS did not participate at Cane Ridge. Alexander Campbell repudiated it.
The primary preacher at Cane Ridge was a young Presbyterian minister named Barton Warren Stone. Charged with evangelistic fervor, Stone denounced denominational divisions and called for a return to primitive Christianity. He taught his converts to call themselves simply "Christians."
Armed with an outstanding intellect, Alexander Campbell was pursuing similar goals, identifying his people as "disciples of Christ." Later the two groups joined forces, fusing Stone's passion for religious revival with Campbell's for rational reform.
Alexander Campbell ridicules the notion that the "two groups joined forces" in 1831 because a few men shook hands. This represented ONLY those who met, was rejected by most churches of Christ and delivered a thesis for just "working" or "meeting" together. The Disciples violated these "understandings" before the ink was dry. H. Leo boles record his grandfather's summary. These principles continued to guide those who became the Church of Christ and were rejected by the Disciples.
John Smith: "I have the more cheerfully resolved on this course, because the gospel is a system of facts, commands, and promises, and no deduction or inference from them, however logical or true, forms any part of the gospel of Jesus Christ. No heaven is promised to those who hold them, and no hell is threatened to those who deny them. They do not constitute, singly or together, an item of the ancient and apostolic gospel. While there is but one faith, there may be ten thousand opinions; and, hence, if Christians are ever to be one, they must be one in faith, and not in opinion. When certain subjects arise, even in conversation or social discussion, about which there is a contrariety of opinion and sensitiveness of feeling, speak of them in the words of the Scripture, and no offense will be given and no pride of doctrine will be encouraged. We may even come, in the end, by thus speaking the same things, to think the same things.At the time Alexander Campbell was converting many of the Baptists in Kentucky. In 1831 a small group of people gathered to discuss their respective congregations meeting together in the same building. This was based on a set of principles recorded by John Smith which those who became the Christian Church failed to live up to. Alexander Campbell ridiculed the notion that a few handshakes meant that what became The Church of Christ had "joined" the Christian church. Maybe Stone should not have crowed. To see that the groups were based on different views of Scripture and were never "joined" Click
J. F. Burnett denying any unity
The so Called Stone Campbell Movement
Edward Fudge: Today three groups of churches stand as descendants of the work of these men. One of these, the Disciples of Christ, is a fully-organized denomination.
Two others, the independent Christian Churches and the Churches of Christ, have no formal denominational organization and are fundamentally alike except for the use of instrumental music in worship.
There are vast differences between the Christian Churches and the Church of Christ: even the use of instruments is based on a different view of Scripture. The High Church principle permeates many Church of Christ preachers who have been duped. For instance, Edward Fudge wants us to build on and credit the historical movements.
While speaking for the Disiples, the following tests have been used by those Fudge has helped entice into the use of instruments.
Richard L. Hamm: The first is Scripture, which for Christians means, of course, the Holy Bible (which is to say the whole Bible: the Hebrew and Christian testaments).
The second is reason and the third is experience. We Disciples are quite appreciative of these sources. Our movement was born within the philosophical context of
John Locke who said that truth can be known through reason tempered with experience.
In this secular age in which we live, I'm afraid that many of us have increasingly depended on these two sources alone, but reason and experience are two valuable sources for understanding God.No, John Locke never said that. What he said was that Christianity was reasonable once it was revealed but the best of human reasoning could never discover or aid the discover of truth.
In The Reasonableness of Christianity, John Locke put the focus on revealed truth and not on any other thing. Anything which we can EXPERIENCE or our HUMAN REASON are the products of a fallible human which is USUALLY WRONG. If human reason suggests something like the trinity or pagan music as worship do we trust the Bible or do we trust our own feelings.
The fourth is tradition. The Church has learned some things in the past two thousand years (that's right, the Church learned some things even before Alexander Campbell!). By looking to the Church's tradition (its history, its declarations, its collective wisdom) one can learn much about the nature of God and the nature of humankind. As the sage has said, one who does not learn history is doomed to repeat it. Studying the church's tradition is a way for us to learn some things the easy way!2 / An Idealized StoryThe Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Living God,
uses these four sources of revelation to teach us who God is and who we are.
Edward Fudge: We humans seem to have a natural tendency to glamorize our past, reinterpret our miscalculations, rationalize our mistakes and develop an idealistic "history" in retrospect. The official chronicles of nearly every king of antiquity provide sufficient evidence for such a judgment. Religious movements generally do the same.
There is reason to think the popular account of the Restoration Movement of Campbell and Stone has also enjoyed cosmetic touches here and there. Literature and filmstrips used in outreach efforts often include an integral section on the movement's history.It tells a fascinating story of the one, true church - its glorious beginning, its early defection, and its marvelous restoration. The high points of the story are usually something as follows.There originally was but one, true church. It was established by Jesus Christ in Jerusalem, on the Day of Pentecost about A.D. 33. At the first, the church enjoyed universal harmony and unity, teaching everywhere the same doctrine and maintaining identical practices. Pristine purity prevailed, and the gospel spread worldwide. Before the New Testament Scriptures were completed, however, another trend set in. Over the years the original church changed into something Jesus never envisioned and did not approve.
No one ever taught that: the Epistles are especially devoted to pointing out error in congregations and correcting them. Paul never gave any reason to go beyond being a synagogue which simply meant to teach that which had been taught.
This corruption touched almost every aspect of church life and work, the story says, but especially its name, form of worship, organization, government, and terms of admission or "plan of salvation." The Roman Catholic Church was the formal result of apostasy, in this account. Although there might have been some true Christians from the second or third centuries until the nineteenth in this view, their identity is practically unknown today.
The Protestant Reformation made an effort to turn things around, the story goes, but since it only sought to "reform" rather than to "restore," it did not go nearly far enough. It was therefore by and large a failure, its primary result being a multiplicity of denominations, each with its own peculiar set of errors.
Edward Fudge mockingly: In the nineteenth century, however, God was ready to restore his true church. Men such as Thomas and Alexander Campbell, Barton W. Stone, Elias Smith and Abner Jones were used by him in the effort.And their work, combined with that of others, "restored" the desired product - the New Testament Church, as pure and sweet as the day it was born!The listening prospect is awed by the grandeur of this tale - as are those to whom Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses and others go with the identical outline but different details. But such a presentation raises several important if troublesome questions.
How, in light of Jesus' promise in Matthew 16:18-19, could his church have vanished from the face of the earth for most of the Christian era? Of what does the church's purity and unity consist in the New Testament - in every external form, or in its essential gospel and life? If the first, how does one account for the believers being called different "names" from the very first - "disciples" in Jerusalem, but "Christians" at Antioch?
I believe that Jesus and the apostles PROMISED defection. In fact Paul in 2 Thessalonians warns about people who do not love the truth (as written) will be sent strong delusions so that they BELIEVE a lie to be damned. If that happened in one congregation then that one needed restoring. Lying Wonders is what Fudge and friends want to impose.
Teratourg-eô, A. WORK wonders, pseudôsti Sch.Pi.I.7(6).13.Pindar Isthmian 7 Odes: [1] In which of the local glories of the past, divinely blessed Thebe, did you most delight your spirit? Was it when you raised to eminence the one seated beside Demeter of the clashing bronze cymbals, flowing-haired [5] Dionysus? Or when you received, as a snow-shower of gold in the middle of the night, the greatest of the gods[20] then begin the victory [Nike: TRIUMPH OVER] procession with a sweet-singing hymn for Strepsiades; for he is the victor in the pancratium at the Isthmus, both awesome in his strength and handsome to look at; and he treats excellence as no worse a possession than beauty. [23] He is made radiant by the violet-haired Muses, and he has given a share in his flowering garland to his uncle and namesake
The-ama , Ion. theêma , atos, to, ( [theaomai] )John Calvin who called for a Restoraton of the Church of Christ understood that Christ ordained the Church in the wilderness both inclusively and exclusively.
A. sight, spectacle, Opposite mathêma, [Learning the SOLE role of the Church]
of a sight which gives pleasure, theamata kai akroamata hêdista parecheis X.Smp.2.2 , cf. 7.5; orchêseis kai theamata
X.Smp.2.2 Xenophon, Symposium II. When the tables had been removed and the guests had poured a libation and sung a hymn, there entered a man from Syracuse, to give them an evening's merriment. He had with him a fine flute-girl, a dancing-girl--one of those skilled in acrobatic tricks,--and a very handsome boy, who was expert at playing the cither and at dancing; the Syracusan made money by exhibiting their performances as a spectacle.
AND FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO ENGAGE IN EXTERNAL LEGALISTIC WORSHIP:But when the congregation is to be gathered together, ye shall blow, but ye shall not sound an alarm. Numbers 10:7
"For this office, to which they were appointed, was no servile one, as that they should blow the trumpets at the command of others; but rather did God thus set them over public affairs,
that the people might not tumultuously call their assemblies in the blindness and precipitation of passion, but rather that modesty, gravity, and moderation should be observed in them.
"We know how often in earthly affairs God is not regarded, but counsels are confidently discussed without reference to His word. He testified, therefore, by this employment of the priests,
that all assemblies, except those in which He should preside, were accursed.
"Profane nations also had their ceremonies, such as auguries, supplications, soothsayings, victims, because natural reason dictated that nothing could be engaged in successfully without Divine assistance;
The door of the Tabernacle was to them, as if they placed themselves in the sight; of God.but God would have His people bound to Him in another way, so that, when called by the sound of the sacred trumpets as by a voice from heaven, they should assemble to holy and pious deliberations. The circumstance of the place also has the same object.
We will speak of the word dewm, mogned (synagogue) elsewhere. Although it signifies an appointed time, or place, and also an assembly of the people, I prefer translating it convention, because God there in a solemn manner, as if before His sacred tribunal, called the people to witness, or, according to appointment, proceeded to make a covenant with them.
Edward Fudge: Did not the Jerusalem church from the first show a willingness to modify externals to meet the needs,For even now, if believers choose to cheer themselves with musical instruments, they should, I think, make it their object not to dissever their cheerfulness from the praises of God.
But when they frequent their sacred assemblies, musical instruments in celebrating the praises of God would be no more suitable than the burning of incense, the lighting up of lamps, and the restoration of the other shadows of the law.
The Papists, therefore, have foolishly borrowed this, as well as many other things, from the Jews.
Men who are fond of outward pomp may delight in that noise;
but the simplicity which God recommends to us by the apostle is far more pleasing to him. Paul allows us to bless God in the public assembly of the saints only in a known tongue, (1 Corinthians 14:16.)
The voice of man, although not understood by the generality,
assuredly excels all inanimate instruments of music; and yet we see what St Paul determines concerning speaking in an unknown tongue. [Paul uses the terms lifeless instruments or carnal weapons]What shall we then say of chanting, which fills the ears with nothing but an empty sound?
first practicing a communal style which was later dropped?
Edward misses the fact that most of the new disciples were pilgrims and still under the direction of the Apostles: they assembled at the temple court yard "because that's whre the people were" needed to be converted.
Acts 2:40 And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying,The crooked race or generation are defined in the Greek literature as Jesus defined the Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites by naming speakers, singers and instrument players. John identified them as "fruits" working for the Babylon mother of Harlots (identified as Jerusalem also calle Socom). The Crooked Generation use wine, women and instruments in their assemblies.
Save yourselves from this untoward [crooked] generation.
Acts 2:41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized:The church of Christ is never COMMUNAL in any church history: those who prospered for the week might give to the destitute but only of they were willing.
and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
Acts 2:42 And they continued stedfastly
in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
Acts 2:43 And fear came upon every soul:
and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.
When the pilgrims stayed too long, their money ran out. Godly men were selected to make sure that especially the Grecian widows did not go hungry.
Acts 2:44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common;Edward Fudge: Were they not governed by the apostles in the beginning, later adding deacons in fact if not in name when the occasion demanded? Did not Jewish believers (especially in Palestine) continue their Hebrew heritage of Mosaic customs, synagogue worship and structure something never imposed on Gentile churches as such?
Acts 2:45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
Well, we just don't know do we. We do know that on the first day of the week when Jesus appeared to the "synagogue" of Christian. And He showed up again on the next first day of the week when the believers "synagogued." They did not meet in the Jewish synagogues and if they did all they would be EXPOSED to would be the reading of a portion of the Word of God. No singing, no women leaders, no collection plate, no music.
And does not the New Testament show a diversity among Gentile churches, some functioning along a charismatic model (Corinth) while others had more formal structure (Ephesus, see I Timothy).
The epistles are not POSITIVE patterns but NEGATIVE correctives. Paul correct what Edward wants to impose based on the imaginaiton of MEN OF INSIGHT. Paul warned about the Mad Women in Corinth who were notorious and after warning about the uncovered prophesiers said in 11:17 that "your assemblies (synagogues) do more harm than good." No. They were not charismatic. Because most of them were transients they spoke many of the MINOR DIALECTS which are called "tongues." Paul outlawed speaking in say "French" in an American church unless someone TRANSLATED. He specificially outlawed the women speaking because they and effeminate males would break out in what Paul called wrath or "orge."
How does one account for the numerous divisions within the Restoration Movement, divisions which can in nearly every case be traced to disagreements over which external "marks" must be "restored"?
We have noted that the Church of Christ is congregational, has no headquarters and therefore is never larger than an individual congregation. All diversities came as a result of ignoring the restoration principle that a church is a school of Christ and worship is reading and musing the Word of God: that never changed from the Church in the wilderness. Divisions are person driven and as long as you have two people left you will have two opinions. However, Paul outlawed doubtful disputations in Romans 14 before he defined the assembly in terms of the synagogue. It is only when people begin to add or impose their personal opinions that division occurs and personal opinions is called Dogma and not Doctrine. Dogma, for instance includes adding music to enhance or AID Christ.
The Church of Christ is probably different in each congregation. However, NONE of them are denominations with a headquarter. Edward Fudge and friends have worked very hart to create ANOTHER divison based on views which Bible-literate congregations will not accept. Therefore, I can and have attended any congregation without being EXCLUDED as long as I am not vocally divisive. All of them will be Bible-centered, all with practice baptism, none of them will be instrumental and none of them will be led by women.
Because historically church used "one cup" or chalice, those who added G.C.Brewer's little shot glasses were the ones who sowed discord. However, one can attend a one cup congregation without thinking that he is in a SECT. How can you account for the several divisions? The same way you can account for the few congregations adding instrumental music under the tuturoing of Edward Fudge: he simply does not the Bible or church history.
Edward Fudge: In a larger context, why have the different "restoration" groups
come up with different sets of New Testament distinctives,
along with other areas in which they overlap?
And how is it that these differences generally reflect either firm similarity to their respective backgrounds,
or else reactions against them?
Edward Fudge: Death of a Distinctive?
While claiming that the Campbells refused to understand Church history, The Restoration Movement restored or solidified:
Dispensational distinctions: you cannot go to the curse of the law to import musicWhy, regardless of background, do such groups almost always concern themselves with external, visible matters? Does anyone's "pattern," for example, include the "marks" Paul specifically lists in Philippians 3:3, all of which concern the heart? Might this be because visible externals are either to achieve, easier to check, and easier to use for self-justification?
Non-instrumental assembly defended by all historic scholars.
The final name The Church of Christ which is historically almost universal
The right of God in Christ to Command, Example and infer: another almost universal view of history.
The demand that baptism (immersion) was necessary for the remission of Sins.
That Christ adds only those saved at baptism to His Church.
On the other hand, those who deny that anyone considered church history are wrong.
Diversity of practice of the "externals" does not destroy the INTERNALS. You are automatically EXCLUDED from any congregation following the Fudge recipe.Phil. 3:1 Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you,Those condemned as "summer fruits" were male prostitutes always implicated in religious music. These are the same ones used by the Babylon Mother of Harlots who uses skilled speakers, singers and instrument players John called sorcerers.
to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.
Phil. 3:2 Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.
Phil. 3:3 For we are the circumcision,
which worship God IN the spirit, [a place]
and rejoice IN Christ Jesus, [a person not replaceable by clergy]
and have no confidence IN THE flesh. [Singing, clapping, playing instruments or exposing women]
Phil. 3:4 Though I might also have confidence in the flesh.
If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more
THUS hath the Lord God shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit. Amos 8:1
And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the Lord unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more. Amos 8:2
Keluwb (h3619) kel-oob'; from the same as 3611; a bird-trap (as furnished with a clap-stick or treadle to spring it); hence a basket (as resembling a wicker cage): - basket, cage.
As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich. Je.5:27
Keleb (h3611) keh'leb; from an unused root mean. to yelp, or else to attack; a dog; hence (by euphemism) a male prostitute: - dog.
For dogs have compassed me: the assembly [multitude, swarm] of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. Ps.22:16
Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter. Is.56:11
And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the Lord: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy. Je.15:3
And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all. Rev 18:14
The Horae
Yet another version of Aphrodite as Triple Goddess,
Agape 'love feast,'
Irene 'peace,' and
Chione 'snow queen.'
Irene was also a Goddess in her own right, and she had an attendant named Opora 'autumn.' The Horae who 'greeted' Aphrodite on the shores of Kyprus were her three high priestesses who carried her statue through the shallows, clothing it on the beach during her bathing and purification festival.Irene was the Crone, bringer of the peace of death,
Agape the ruler of sacred sexual rites, and
Chione was the new year, born at Winter Solstice, unapproachable and serene.
Regarding the cultic associations and the Love-Feast, Rudolph comments:
...the ceremony only superficially resembles the Christian eucharist,
but rather continues older Greek and Hellenistic secret cults (like that of Eleusis and that of the god Sabazios,in which the snake was worshipped as a symbol of the chthonic deity and fertility). For the Ophites or Nassene gnostics the snake was a medium of revelation and mouthpiece of the most sublime... Resource GNOSIS: The Nature & History of Gnosticism by Kurt Rudolf p. 242
Opôr-a belonging to bakcheios III. metaph., life's summer, the time of youthful ripeness, Pi.I.2.5 ;
Bakch-eios or Bakcheios, A. of or belonging to Bacchus and his rites, botrus S.Fr.255.2 ; nomos E.Hec.686 (lyr.); rhuthmos X.Smp.9.3 , etc.: hence, frenzied, rapt
Now, the New Winskinny worship is PRETTY external and there is no historical exception which does not implicate women performing religious or male religioous musicians as real or virtual adulterers.
Christ defined the PATTERN for the Church of Christ in the Wilderness. I find it amazing that people want to define a NEW PATTERN when Christ made it both inclusive and exclusive which it is impossible to misunderstand.
This is the ONLY pattern for the synagogue or the rest Jesus brought to us.And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. Isa 58:12
If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him,
- not doing thine own ways,
- nor finding thine own pleasure,
- nor speaking thine own words: Isa 58:13
Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord;
and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth,
and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father:
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. Isa 58:14
Jer. 7:22 For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:
Jer. 7:23 But ths thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.Is. 1:13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting Amos 5:21 I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.
JFB. So Isa 1:14, "They are a trouble unto Me (literally, 'a burden upon Me'): I am weary to bear them. 1
Luke 20:46 Beware of the scribes...
Which devour widows’ houses, and for a shew make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation.
JFB. I will not hear--Isaiah substitutes "prayers" (Isa 1:15) for the "songs" and "melody" here; but, like Amos, closes with "I will not hear 2
for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.
1 JFB. Take away, from upon Me"; the idea being that of a burden pressing upon the bearer.
Is. 1:16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
Is. 1:17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Amos 5:24 But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
Edward Fudge: This "history" is questionable also because of the way it underplays every other work of God through the centuries of the Christian church. What of great gospel preachers like Augustine and Chrysostom? What of the great company of martyrs who gave testimony to Christ with their own blood, but who are remembered today only by the Roman, Orthodox or Anglican communions? And the sixteenth century reformers, were they nothing more than amateurs who made a few minor contributions but finally missed the boat?
You can click here to grasp that NO church father ever endorsed instrumental music.
Psalm 106 Augustine Etc.More fundamental, were none of these people true Christians at all, because they supposedly "missed the boat"? Were Thomas and Alexander Campbell themselves true Christians - before they "restored the true church"? If so, when? While they were Presbyterians?
Augustine Psalm 22 "My God Did Not Forsake Jesus"
Augustine Psalm 41 Judas Will Not Triumph Over Jesus With Music
Augustine Psalm 92 Sabbath keeping is in the heart. NEW 12/9/2K
Augustine Psalm 149 Literal Musical Warfare Replaced
John Chrysostom Acts 7 Stephen Against Law, Temple and Ritual
John Chrysostom the MARK of the Law imposed because of musical Idolatry.
Chrystom, John Homily I, Worship Drama, Music, Dance or Christ?
After they joined the Baptists? After they left the Baptists? What of others who now occupy the same ground from which they began their quest? Are they God's people, even though they have not yet "arrived"? Has any of us "arrived"? Has God run out of Presbyterians (or Baptists, or Anglicans, or Catholics, or members of Churches of Christ) through whom he can do his work?
Aside from these biblical and theological questions, there is the simple matter of historical accuracy. Does this popularized history reflect what actually happened in those years of the 1800's? Would the restoration pioneers recognize themselves in our story? How would they tell what they were about and what they hoped to accomplish, if they were to tell the story?
The CORE of the Campbell's teaching had nothing to do with history: the point was that church was a school of Chrsit and worship was reading and musing the Word of God. The Bible should be the creed and unique textbook. You didn't need to fabricate dogma nor with the authority of Romans 14 did you have to tolerate "doubtful disputations" which would be any IMPROVEMENT which came of of the human imagination. We know what they wrote and reading Alexander is apparently above the pay grade of those who have declared warn on those who will not sing and dance when they pipe.
3 / Campbell's 4-Point Plan
Edward Fudge: The Campbells and their associates were not alone in pursuing simple Christianity. Although their restoration movement now seems easy to identify, it sprang from many different currents which sometimes mingled and sometimes crossed. Yet today's Churches of Christ represent the heritage of Alexander Campbell above that of his fellows, and his own early progression of thought is easy to summarize. His plan went something like this.1. The millennium is surely coming soon. Alexander Campbell was a post-millennialist. He would be almost an oddity today but his view had enjoyed great popularity for 1500 years when he came along. Campbell believed that the millennium was at hand, and that Jesus would return at its conclusion. But this utopia could result only from the success of the gospel, and this meant that
- The millennium is surely coming soon. [false]
- The world must be converted first. [false]
- Christians must unite if the world is to convert. [false]
- The way to this unity is restoration of the ancient order. [false]
Being a reader of Revelation and the rest of the Bible Campbell identified the first resurrection now reigning with Christ as those who were beheaded while defending Christ AND His Word. They were given white garments and told to rest until the rest of the martyrs were raised: he defines this as a spiritual resurrection.
Alexander Campbell goes to the extreme to show why there could be NO literal millenium according to "the protestant view" because there were many events which had not and must transpire.If the coming of the Lord be soon--within the present century, for example--then there will be no Millennium or triumph of Christianity over its various rivals now in the field. They will rather have triumphed over it.
However much real Christians desire the return of their Master, there are few of them,
I think, who would not desire his gospel to have a freer circulation and a more triumphant career in the world than it has ever yet had, before the last act of the drama of human existence on this present earth is finished.
The ANTI-churches of Christ people go to the extreme to make him a liar.
2. The world must be converted first. Such an understanding of God's victory necessarily required that the world be converted. All nations would soon accept Jesus Christ, Campbell believed, and the United States of America would probably lead the way. But division among Christians hindered the world's conversion, Campbell observed. He therefore reasoned that
Campbell continued:There are some, indeed, who look for the almost immediate return of the Messiah,3. Christians must unite if the world is to believe. Jesus' words rang heavy in Campbell's ears: " . . . that all of them may be one . . . so that the world may believe" (John 17:21). Neither Campbell nor any of the first generation pioneers seemed to have thought that the true church had vanished from the earth, or that all those rightly related to God would be found in special association with their own preaching or work. God's people were scattered over the mountains, Campbell affirmed, and were divided by many denominational walls. How could the world believe in face of such shameful division? Victory, Campbell said, depended on unity among Christians. And, he concluded,
and yet calculate on the conversion of the Jews and of many Gentile nations:
but they will have them converted by sight rather than by faith,
and upon that principle all the world will be converted to the belief
that Jesus is the Christ when they see him coming from heaven in power and great glory.
But such a conversion will not be to salvation, but to condemnation.
They shall see him, and wail at his coming.
But still the question returns, Will the Lord come before or after the Millennium?
It is decided that if he come so soon as 1843, 1847, or 1866,
there can be no thousand years' triumph of Christianity,
because the events that are to follow in instant succession upon his coming
preclude the possibility of any further conflict between truth and error;
nay, preclude the increase of the human family, and forever separate the righteous and the wicked.
The structure of the earth is changed--new heavens and earth occupy its place--and instead of being with the Lord a thousand years on this earth, his people will be with him in a new earth to all eternity! This, then, is a summary way of settling the whole controversy about the literal or figurative return of the Lord before the Millennium.
It is hard to understand why people fail to understand and do not handle honorable men with integrity!
The Lunenberg Letters: Alexander CampbellFOR WE FIND IN ALL PROTESTANT PARTIES CHRISTIANS as exemplary as ourselves according to their and our relative knowledge and opportunities;
but we cannot form a confederacy with the troops of Satan, or tax his subjects to sustain the Christian cause; and, therefore, so long as all these associations openly and avowedly form a community on any one of these bonds of union,
irrespective of citizenship in the kingdom of heaven; I say, so long as they hold communion with profane and ungodly persons, or with Gentiles of no creed and every creed, because of a single point of coincidence,
whatever that point may be,
we cannot unite with them, or sail under such a flag. Besides, if such schemes are really necessary, then has the church failed--then the Divine institution must yield the palm to institutions merely human. (pp. 271-273)2. And in the second place, why should we so often have quoted and applied to apostate Christendom what the Spirit saith to saints in Babylon--"Come out of her, my people, that you partake not of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues"--had we imagined that the Lord had no people beyond the pale of our communion!This has been the false view of Campbell but it is false: the failure to read with discernment leads to failed scholarship. Alexander ridiculed the notion of uniting with the Sects: he nots how stupid he would be if he thought that the sects were already "C"hristians in the baptized sense. Since he had been in several sects, he said that if there were "Christians among the sects they should come out of Babylon." We all progress. You might progress to read the lunenberg material upon which MOST of the present deliberate sowing of discord is based.3. But let him that yet doubts, read the following passages from the Christian Baptist, April, 1825:--
"I have no idea of seeing, nor wish to see, the sects unite in one grand army.
This would be dangerous to our liberties and laws. For this the Saviour did not pray.
It is only the disciples dispersed among them that reason and benevolence would call out of them, "&c. &c. This looks very like our present opinion of Christians among the sects!!! 2d ed. Bethany, p. 85.
ALEXANDER CAMPBELL TAUGHT JUST THE OPPOSITE
Alexander Campbell: The Second coming of ChristIV. In the Scriptures the reigning of the saints with Christ, is not referred to merely as a state of future prosperity which the church in the latter days was to expect,4. The way to this unity is "restoration." Thomas Campbell's seminal Declaration and address set forth the principles, and Alexander Campbell pressed them hard upon a fragmented Christendom. The way to come together, he insisted, is through a restoration of New Testament Christianity, a pristine state he like to refer to as "the ancient order."but as the comfort and encouragement of the people of Christ in every age; as something in which they were personally interested, and as intimately connected with the;' resurrection from the dead.Extract 5: If the coming of the Lord be soon--within the present century, for example--then there will be no Millennium or triumph of Christianity over its various rivals now in the field.
The truth is, this is the glory to which the suffering church (a character which exclusively belongs to it under the dispensation previous to the Millennium) is elected, being predestinated not only to be partakers of Christ's mercies, but to be partakers of the throne of his glory.
The converted nation of the Jews, and the remaining inhabitants of the world, will enjoy a state [66] of eminent blessedness; but it will fall far short of that glorious height of dignity to which the once suffering church will be elevated. As kings and priests, it is implied that there are others over whom they are to reign, and for whom they are to interpose.
They will rather have triumphed over it. However much real Christians desire the return of their Master, there are few of them, I think, who would not desire his gospel to have a freer circulation and a more triumphant career in the world than it has ever yet had, before the last act of the drama of human existence on this present earth is finished. ..
.
But still the question returns, Will the Lord come before or after the Millennium? It is decided that if he come so soon as 1843, 1847, or 1866, there can be no thousand years' triumph of Christianity, because the events that are to follow in instant succession upon his coming preclude the possibility of any further conflict between truth and error; nay, preclude the increase of the human family, and forever separate the righteous and the wicked.
The structure of the earth is changed--new heavens and earth occupy its place--and instead of being with the Lord a thousand years on this earth, his people will be with him in a new earth to all eternity! This, then, is a summary way of settling the whole controversy about the literal or figurative return of the Lord before the Millennium.
The lunenburg lettersCampbell was consumed with passion for what he imagined as the primitive purity of the church. He gazed fondly at a distant past and dreamed of an imminent future. For him, restoration was the path to that future.8. The views of the Millennial Harbinger on this subject are condensed in a work called "Christianity Restored," or, as we have designated it, "A Connected View of the Principles," &c. "of the Foundation on which all Christians may form one communion." (See its title-page!!)
9. In that volume there is a long article on the foundation of Christian union,
showing how the Christians among the sects may be united.
We refer to the whole of this article from page 101 to 128,
as the most unequivocal proof of our views of Christians among the sects.Indeed we say (page 102) of our own community,
that it is a nucleus around which may one day congregate all the children of God. In that article we wax bolder and bolder, and ask, (page 121,)
"Will sects ever cease? Will a time ever come when all disciples will
unite under one Lord, in one faith, in one immersion?
Will divisions ever be healed? Will strife ever cease among the saints on earth?"10. But in the last place in the first Extra on Baptism for Remission of Sins, we exclude from the pale of Christianity of the Pedobaptists,
none but such of them as "wilfully neglect this salvation, and who, having the opportunity to be immersed for the remission of sins, wilfully neglect or refuse"--"of such," indeed,
but of none others, we say, "We have as little hope for them as they have for all who refuse salvation on their own terms of the gospel." 1st Extra, 1st ed. p. 53.
With these ten evidences or arguments, I now put it to the candor of those who accuse us of inconsistency or change of views, whether they have not most evidently misrepresented us. Were it necessary we could easily swell these ten into a hundred.
II. We shall now attempt to defend this opinion from the sectarian application of it:
These, then, were Campbell's themes: the coming millennium, the world's conversion, the unity of Christians, and the restoration of the ancient order.
The first was his starting-point: the rest evolved one by one as means to that end.
By such an arrangement the pioneer father wove his threads into a coat of many colors.
[false]
NOT REMOTELY TRUE AS WE HAVE NOTED
But, where does Edward Fudge get all of that information?THE DISCIPLES OF CHRIST CONFESS THAT THEY DID NOT UNDERSTAND CAMPBELL EITHERThe millennial views are the DOMINANT CULTURAL views of most of the denominations. If the Restoration continued to believe that Jesus Christ FAILED the first time, did not establish His Kingdom, was defeated, high-tailed it back to heaven and is mustering strength in order to give it another try, then it WOULD NOT be counter cultural. However it is totally false that Alexander Campbell subscribed to any of the "theories" and explicitely rejected the near coming of Christ. True Jews have always detested Chriatian Zionism which seeks to restore Israel to Europeans with little to no Semitic connection.
Richard Hughes: "The destruction of the apocalyptic vision (includes premillennialism) severely weakened both the restoration vision and the counter cultural dimensions of Churches of Christ ..." (p. 116).If this is all Dispensationalism was about it could be easily ignored as the speculative fantasies of a fringe movement of American Protestantism. But a central part of Apocalyptic theology is the belief that the events signaling the End are inextricably bound up with the creation, expansion and continued existence of the modern state of Israel. This gives these beliefs a political focus, sometimes dangerously so.
4 / Chopping The RootsYou should understand that Alexander Campbell taught that the The Kingdom of God. came on the day of Pentecost. On the Second Coming of Christ Alexander Campbell wrote:
William J. Nottingham Global Ministries.
"My point here is that the first missionary society was the product of a long and intense process which generated considerable soul-searching. There were shared biblical principles and at the same time fundamental differences in theological opinion. Disagreement grew
concerning congregational ecclesiology,
commonality in mission with other Christians,
and also perhaps communion of the Holy Spirit.
This tension would eventuate in separate bodies and institutions of the 20th and 21st centuries. [Disciples and NACC] A full appreciation is probably hidden from us in the distance from ante-bellum times. But the nature of the Bible's authority,
the relatively new idea of the autonomy of the local congregation,
and the centrality of millennialist eschatology for these men and women,
with men doing most of the writing which is left to us, seem to me to be mysteries that can only be observed from different angles and rarely entered into existentially by later generations like our own.
This is evidenced in the decisions concerning missionaries growing out of this fervor leading up to the Cincinnati convention: Dr. and Mrs. James T. Barclay were the first. It was in their parlor in Washington, D.C., 1843, that the congregation had been organized which became the Vermont Avenue Church and in 1930 the National City Christian Church.
They went to Jerusalem, not because of Acts 1:8 "beginning with Jerusalem" as a popular Disciples legend has it,
but because it was taken for granted by Alexander Campbell and his followers that the Jews were to be converted before the return of Christ.That was a false assumption: the Millenial Harbinger's major thrust was not to SUPPORT Millerism but to defeat it. Campbell denies that Jesus will return to Canaan. Because the Church of Christ did not believe in William E. Miller [Ellen G. White]. You will notice that it was the Disciples who were tilted by Miller.
The title of Campbell's journal proclaimed clearly the eschatology of the pre-Civil War spirituality, so neglected in our denominational memory by scholars and theologians since then.
Notice that Campbell spoke of THE PROTESTANT THEORY: not his because he speaks where the Bible speaks and insists on a NEW HEAVEN and a NEW EARTH and that you could not convert people after the literal earth was burned up.
In the Millennial Harbinger of 1841,
we read in what is called The Protestant Theory:
"The Millennium, so far as the triumphs of Christianity is concerned, will be a state of greatly enlarged and continuous prosperity, in which the Lord will be exalted and his divine spirit enjoyed in an unprecedented measure. All the conditions of society will be vastly improved; wars shall cease, and peace and good will among men will generally abound. The Jews will be converted, and the fullness of the Gentiles will be brought into the kingdom of the Messiah."
In The Second Coming which repudiates all of Edward Fudges contentions and the DISCIPLES taking for granted goes to great pains to first:
This is what the Scripptures say and I believe
But, THIS is what the millennielists say in error.
"The founding of the American Christian Missionary Society cannot be separated from the millennialist eschatology of the period1st. The resurrection of the body is only a resurrection of the body;
Protestant Theory: whereas the premillennial resurrection is a resurrection of souls,
and not of bodies.4th. The participants of the resurrection of the saints will live and reign forever;
Protestant Theory: while the participants of the premillennial resurrection
are only to live and reign one thousand years.
The Disciples followed the Millerites: not Campbell.
"nor from the pragmatism which required a foreign dimension to keep pace with other denominations or to outgrow them! D.S. Burnet's book The Jerusalem Mission and Dr. Barclay's book The City of the Great King make this clear, along with speeches and articles by various leaders like Isaac Errett. Barclay wrote in a journal The Christian Age:
"The ACMS...resolved...
to make the first offer of salvation to Israel. . .
for the salvation of the Jews...
for upon the conversion and resumption of Israel
is unquestionably suspended the destruction of Antichrist
and the salvation of the world."
The rise of this heresy which insists that Jesus utterly failed in His First Advent but with a little help from His friends (unity meetings, Tulsa, Jubilee etal) they PLANNED to be ecumenical and following the Pope's call for Jubilee 2000 to MAKE IT POSSIBLE for Jesus to have His SECOND ADVENT without failing AGAIN.
Joel's Army was part of this and people enlisted to hand out rewards and destroy the non-converts. The Virgin of Guadalupe appeared to one priest and said that she would return and KILL all of the Masons and Pagans.
Campbell denied that there could be a millenium fitted in between Miller's prophecy (and the Disciples belief), the conversion of the Jews and the DATE SET by Miller.
But, bless their heart they tried to do Jesus' work for Him. Guess it was worth SECTING OFF the real Campbell.
Campbell was not a POST millennialist because He proves that the Kingdom was established on the day of Pentecost. If you read carefully and have read Revelation you will hear Campbell speak of a spiritual resurrection. In fact the SPIRITS who were beheaded to defend Christ AND His Word reigned with Him in white Robes. The Second advent will come at the same time the earth is burned up: there will be no literal kingdom.
Edward Fudge: Probably no one in the Churches of Christ today (or any other part of our restoration movement) shares Campbell's four basic views. The great disappointments of the nineteenth century burst many an optimistic bubble - particularly the bloody Civil War which divided most denominations as well as the country. Campbell's postmillennial hope was but one form of utopianism that dashed against the rocks of history.
The Restoration Movement has a small premillennial segment still, centering in strength around Louisville, Kentucky, but it derives from the later teaching of R. H. Boll, not from the original pioneers (some of whom, unlike Campbell, held pre-millennial expectations of the future). A recent book entitled Until, by Churches of Christ author Robert Shank, also argues for Christ's millennial reign on earth, but its author knows he is representing a minority view within this brotherhood. The movement has cut its root of millennialism, which may have been the mainspring of its inception.
The original dream of practical Christian unity also quickly tarnished, as the Restoration Movement itself fragmented in its disagreements over what to restore. Unity is still a key word in public relations and mass media outreach, although it is disassociated entirely today from Campbell's postmillennial hope.
The Declaration and Address and the teachings of the Campbell made it very simple. Consistent with all of the Bible and centuries of Church history the Campbells taught that:
Church was "A School of Christ."No Bible reader could miss the simple pattern. The Gentiles were ready to become Disciples because:
Worship was "reading and musing the Word of God."
Acts 15:21 For Moses of old time hath in every cityEdward Fudge: Those attracted by the unity ideal soon find that they must rationalize the iron bars and solid steel walls within the movement itself, which divide it first into three major divisions, then into sub-groups and sub-sub groups. Where Campbell felt called to "unite the Christians in all the sects," [false]
them that preach him,
being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.many of his modern successors deny that there are any true Christians in "the sects," which they define as all groups except their own.Campbell's restoration goal has also encountered hard times. The problem with restoration seems to have come in the way the ideal was implemented. Because the most obvious differences among professing Christian bodies are external - names, organization, liturgy, ordinances, etc. - these became the primary subjects for restoration efforts.
Not so: but as Alexander Campbell said "If there are Christians (baptized) in the sects they should come out of Babylon."
For these, "unity" means leaving the "sects" to identify with the "true church," once restored but in constant danger of apostasy. There are wonderful exceptions to this, of course, and an increasing number of preachers and other leaders now openly express views to the contrary. Still, "unity" as Campbell envisioned it, has long since been a lost ideal among most of his descendants.
No problem: As Campbell associated the "second coming" as more likely at his death, a disciple is connected with only one congregation which he joins with "freedom of association" which some would deny. The Church is alive and well today and it exists as a SCHOOL OF THE WORD with the Bible as it's TEXTBOOK. For an individual who does not have time or paid expenses to roam around looking for truth in all of the wrong places, the church is no bigger than his local congregation. It doesn't matter if all but one tiny congregation departs from the faith (as prophesied) the concept of restoration of the Word of God as the purpose for assembly will not face.
Out of 18000 congregations deliberately discorded, probably no more than two dozen congregations ahve added instruments which was the MOTIVE of the unity forums. That is such a miserable failure that the changelings should hang themselve in shame.
The attempt to restore the New Testament church was limited almost entirely to these externals, as the nineteenth and twentieth century restorationists read the Bible and tried to discern the proper "pattern."
It is pretty hard to do EKKLESIA or SYNAGOGUE without doing externals. When you attend church to "come learn of me" says Jesus, you take your body and take the Bible externally. You read and study and pray and MOST of us have to make use of God's gifts of eyes and ears because we don't Hear beyond the sacred page. The INTERNAL says all of the NOT musical passages is to "meletai" or MEDITATE on the word rather than make "melos" with a harp.
When that happened, the "restoration" goal almost inevitably became a source of friction and an occasion for division among those who professed to seek it.Most important of all, without a strong foundation stone of the Jesus-centered gospel of salvation by grace through faith, many people scattered throughout the movement came to view restoration itself as the means to salvation and the basis for fellowship with each other.If you devote yourself to being a Disciple which IS the meaning of being a Christian, you understand that GRACE is a proper name for Christ the Word Who came teaching us. Baptism is the way we SHOW how we are saved By grace Through faith:
5 / Assessing Our Treasures
Edward Fudge: Today the Restoration Movement resembles a venerable family that has occupied the same house for many generations. The rooms are comfortable, the furnishings are familiar,
and the attic is full of fascinating memorabilia.
But now the time has come for a thorough housecleaning.
I am reminded of Edwards Musical Discorders who use Hezekiah's House Cleaning ceremony because it was polluted with assyrian vessels and instruments of pagan worship. No Levite could enter into the Holy Places (type of church) even to clean out the garbage. Afterward they went through the city tearing down all of the "denominational" altars or places of worship. Christ in Isaiah, Jeremiah and all of the prophets that God had not COMMANDED these animal sacrifices Edward's friends are using as a patternism for worship. See 2 Chronicles 29
God has given the men and women of our Restoration Movement certain valid insights, as even those outside our churches are free to say.
But it would be foolish and naive indeed for us to suppose that no dust has settled, no broken antiques have been closeted, no trash has been mixed mistakenly with the treasures.In the spirit of preserving what is good, therefore, and in hopes of a cleaner, fresher house, we offer the following modest suggestions.Jesus gave us some rules for selecting:
Luke 11:52 Woe unto you, lawyers!Jesus called the Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites by naming speakers, singers and instrument players.
for ye have taken away the key of knowledge:
ye entered not in yourselves,
and them that were entering in ye hindered.
Luke 11:53 And as he said these things unto them,
the scribes and the Pharisees began to urge him vehemently,
and to provoke him to speak of many things:
God said that the imagination of we humans is only evil continueally
1. We can use "restoration" as a tool without regarding it as an end. Any individual or group of persons needs some basis for discerning God's will as revealed in Scripture. The ideal of restoration can be a useful tool for such a purpose. All will agree that biblical Christianity was quickly polluted by the influx of many sources: Greek philosophy, Jewish tradition, pagan life-styles, Roman structures of order and Catholic syncretism. The Protestant Reformation, for all its contributions, led to additional incrustations, as common opinions were codified into orthodoxy, then were transmitted without question to later generations. The Restoration Movement has accumulated its own traditions as well, in both teaching and practice.
The restoration ideal can serve a valuable purpose as a scraper, a handy tool for cleaning layers of dried and encrusted paint from the furniture in an attempt to make it shine as at the first. This can be done without glamorizing the first-century church beyond its true state as revealed in the New Testament. We must also remember that restoration is only a tool that can be helpful in serving God, not an end within itself. It is not the only tool, nor is it indispensable, for others may approach the Scriptures with a humble heart and learn what God ultimately desires, even if they never think in terms of "restoring" anything.
2. We can cherish the ideal of a pure church without making it an idol that competes with Jesus. Surely no one can quarrel with the desire for a pure church, especially if it is accompanied by Christ-honoring humility and a becoming manner. Yet the quest for a pure church has too often become a mere slogan, disconnected entirely from a vital personal knowledge of God in Christ. It is then easy for carnal people to twist this proper ideal into a cover for their own selfish ambition and pride. More than once, the goal of a pure church has been the excuse for mistreating others for whom Christ died, a warped mirror which always flatters the person who uses it.
2Cor. 3:12 Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech:Edward Fudge: Even worse, the ideal of a pure church can itself become the basis of one's confidence before God now and in the day of judgment. This finally leads either to deceit and conceit on the one hand, or to discouragement and despair on the other. In either case it serves Satan's ends, not God's. Either way, it comes very near perverting the true gospel, as it corrupts an ideal which could honor God into an idol that blasphemes him instead.
2Cor. 3:13 And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face,
that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:
2Cor. 3:14 But their minds were blinded:
for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away
in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.
2Cor. 3:15 But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.
2Cor. 3:16 Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, [turn, converted, be baptized]
the vail shall be taken away.
2Cor. 3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit:
and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
2Cor. 3:18 But we all,
with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord,
are changed into the same image from glory to glory,
even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
The Church is defined in very clear terms especially in Isaiah. In chapter 55 Christ tells us not to spend our money on what is not food because the Word is just as free and clear as water. In chapter 58 he tells us NOT to seek our own pleasure or even speak our own words.
The definition of PURE religion assumes IMPURE religion. Fortunately the Christian Assembly is neither: it is a school of the Word of God PURE and SIMPLE.
James 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth,
that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
James 1:19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren,
let every man be swift to hear,
slow to speak, slow to wrath:
James 1:20 For the wrath [orge] of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
James 1:21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness,
and receive with meekness the engrafted word,
which is able to save your souls.
But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty,
and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer,
but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. James 1:25
2Pet. 1:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy;
whereunto ye do well that ye take heed,
as unto a light that shineth in a dark place,
until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
2Pet. 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture
is of any private interpretation. [further expounding]
BUT there were false prophets also among the people,
even as there shall be false teachers among you,
who privily shall bring in damnable heresies,
even denying the Lord that bought them,
and bring upon themselves swift destruction. 2 pe 2:1
Denying the Lord is refusing to teach the WORDS of the Lord in the prophets and apostles.
Worship which is NOT pure is the Greek:
Threskeia (g2356) thrace-ki'-ah; from a der. of 2357; ceremonial observance: -
religion, worshipping
Thrêsk-eia, Ion. thrêsk-eiê , hê, ( [thrêskeuô] ) religious worship, cult, ritual,
Apollônos [Abaddon, Apollyon] (Delphi.) Worshiping of angels, (Ephesus,),
Formalism, vulgar superstition.
"Nor are these Thracian orgies, from which the word Worship (threskia)
is said to be derived; nor rites and
mysteries of Orpheus, whom the Greeks admired so much for his wisdom that
they devised for him a lyre which draws all things by its music. Nor the tortures of Mithras
Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the
wrath [ORGE] of God upon the children of disobedience. Ep.5:6
Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels,
intruding into those things which he hath not seen,
vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, Col.2:18
"Voluntary" (g2309) means determined, delightful, pleasurable. It is from:
Haireomai (g138) hahee-reh'-om-ahee; prob. akin to 142;
to take for oneself, i.e. to prefer: - choose.
God accepts teaching of the Word of Christ when we assemble in the NAME of Christ. The content of the never-musical passages are "that which is written, that which has been taught, the Spirit, the Word of Christ." Jesus said that the sons of the Devil SPEAK ON THEIR OWN.
However, we don't assemble to do pagan worship but to teach. We exercise our RELIGION in a PURE sense by:
Religion that God our father accepts as pure and faultless is this:
to look after orphans and widows in their distress
[please don't fleece them to support IMPURE religion]
and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1: 27
Christ must be our message, not a historical movement or an idealistic church. Paul said: "We do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord" (2 Cor. 4:5). There is a great tendency for any restoration movement to do the very thing Paul here renounces. It is very easy to preach the church (ourselves) instead of Jesus Christ. This has often taken at least three forms.
It is easy to forget that in prophecy and personal teaching the gospel was the GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM.2Cor. 4:2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness,First, one can preach an idealized church of the ancient past, directing men's attention to a hypothetical dream which never existed on earth in the first place.
nor handling the word of God deceitfully;
but by manifestation of the truth
commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
2Cor. 4:3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
2Cor. 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds
of them which believe not,
lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ,
who is the image of God,
should shine unto them.
2Cor. 4:5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord;
and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.
2Cor. 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness,
hath shined in our hearts,
to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
2Cor. 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
I am not aware of anyone who ever tried to restore a first century congregation: most of them are negative examples of what not to do. In all of this self-criticism Paul defined the ideals of the church as ekklesia, synagogue or school of the Bible. The Campbells tried to restore church as "A school of Christ" and worship as "reading and musing the Word of God." That was a pattern commanded by Christ for the church in the wilderness:It was inclusive of rest, reading and rehearsing the Word as away to learn the Word.Second, one can preach his own historical movement or fellowship within church history instead of preaching Jesus Christ. God's kingdom is far greater than any religious movement, in any country in any century. Third, one can preach the theory of a pure church rather than preaching Jesus Christ. Given the power of sin, this is an impossible dream, since, as Jesus himself said, there will always be tares among the wheat.
It was exclusive of vocal or instrumental rejoicing which would destroy the Bible class purpose.
One has only to read the Book of Acts to see the content of the earliest Christian preaching. That message concerned a Savior, not a competitive church system. Regardless of where they began, all roads for the earliest evangelists finally led to Jesus Christ. Today we must also preach the Son of God, not sinful men of the past or the present. Jesus must receive our primary attention, not merely passing reference. We must make Christ our central message if we intend to continue naming him on our signboards. Otherwise we will be guilty of false advertising, and in that we will fool no one but ourselves.
Edward Fudge: 3. We can relate to our historical heritage without losing our perspective. Although we like to say that the New Testament church was established on Pentecost in A.D. 33, and to say that is all we are, we simply cannot erase 1900 years of history as if it never transpired. What is known today as the "Churches of Christ," the "Christian Churches" or the "Disciples of Christ" had a historical beginning in nineteenth century America, under circumstances we have outlined above. That is unvarnished, historical fact. One may deny facts, or ignore them, but they will not go away.
We might say that we wish to be nothing more than simple Christians after the New Testament order - with all the risks and ambiguities that aspiration will involve. We might insist that "our" congregations are free under Christ alone - wondering whether the very pronoun "our" contradicts such a claim. We might scrupulously avoid linking local churches by any formal denominational structure - yet honestly acknowledging the informal interlocks, networks and influences that more or less control us all. Whatever we do, however, we must realize that we, like all others around us, are a part of history. Our movement did not fall out of the clear blue sky. It had roots, ancestors, environment, just as all movements among men do.
We can give thanks for every insight our forefathers gained into the Scriptures. But we dare neither stop where they did, nor to assume that they were right in all their own judgments and teaching.
We can recover the sense of being a "movement" in at least two respects. We can remember first that we belong to the church universal, and at best make a contribution within that larger picture. Second, we can remember that one never "restores" unless he keeps "moving." It is unmitigated hypocrisy for anyone to urge all his religious neighbors: "Just go by the Bible, regardless of what your parents, church, or anyone else has ever taught you to be," then respond to his own critics within by intoning "what faithful gospel preachers have always taught." Our children are neither blind nor deaf to such foolishness, and those we have taught to be honest will reject it outright. Still some will shake their heads and ask why so many are "leaving the old paths."
Jer. 6:16 Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.Edward Fudge: Our "identity" must finally be no more than that of any faithful Christian in any age of the world. Separated from trusting faith in Jesus Christ, "distinctives" are worse than worthless. Then they also instill self-righteousness and compete with the true gospel. In the day of judgment there will be no point in bringing God a package of tracts proving our "soundness," or dragging in a bundle of arguments that state our "identity" and distinguish our "distinctives." Nothing we can bring will see us through that Day. We can only point then to the sinless Son of God, slain for our sins and raised for our justification. Better to lighten our baggage now in preparation for what will then be inevitable! We can appreciate our history (everybody has one) while keeping it in perspective.
Is. 58:6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
Is. 58:7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
Is. 58:8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.
Is. 58:9 Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;
Is. 58:10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday:
Is. 58:11 And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
Is. 58:12 And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.
Is. 58:13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
4. We can remember that managing the church is God's work, not ours. The "glorious church" does not depend on man's efforts, hard work or mental agility. The "restoration of all things" (Acts 3:21) will be the work of God himself, in his own good time, and by his own power and might.
Jesus is building his own true church from living stones, drawn together by the Holy Spirit as the gospel goes out throughout the world. Mere man can never build that church, destroy it, restore it, or preserve it. Anything that we can erect or protect is fleshly in origin and not from God. The only "true tabernacle" is the one the Lord builds, not man (Heb. 8:2). Anyone who is so beguiled by ideals of "restoration" that he forgets this fundamental truth dooms himself to walk a dead-end street and guarantees his final disappointment.
6 / The 'History' That Counts
The theme of the Bible is Jesus Christ. It speaks of his church, but the church never competes with Jesus for attention.
God indwelled "a body prepared for Me" whose name was Jesus of Nazareth. God promised to send His ARM because there was no man to intercede. The purpose of God in Christ would be to set up His Kingdom or the Church of Christ. That would empower the Church in the wilderness and a major task was to tear down the Sacrificial system which had been added without His approval. When Christ resumed His full Majesty and Glory He gave Jesus of Nazareth a NAME through which we do all that we do. Without being able to say "thus saith Christ" either in the Prophets or Apostles you take the name of God in vain.
Jesus never preached the gospel of Jesus but the Gospel of the Kingdom. The Kingdom of Christ as the Church of Christ is defined in detail in the prophecies made by Christ. The church is the BODY OF CHRIST on earth and you cannot obey or relate to Jesus Christ other than being a part of that body still attached to the HEAD of that body.
The Old Testament anticipates and prefigures the coming of the Son of God (Lk. 24:44-45). Its (noral laws anticipate his sinless life. Its ceremonies and rituals prefigure his sacrificial death and priesthood (Matt. 5:18; Hebrews). The New Testament describes Christ's saving work as it transpired (the Gospels).
It relates his ongoing work by the Spirit as the gospel marched in triumph across the first-century world (Acts). It tells Christians how to live in view of what Jesus has done and will do (the Epistles). It assures them that he rules already and will come again in open victory (Revelation)
.
The church in the New Testament is simply the people of God. By God's grace, they can only receive salvation.
They are not its authors, guardians or dispensers (Eph. 5:23).
Rom. 15:16 That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.
Gal. 3:2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
HOW IS THE SPIRIT MINISTERED: Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. 2Co.3:6
THE LAW: But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: 2 Cor. 3:7
THE FAITH, THE GOSPEL, THE SPIRIT: How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? 2 Cor. 3:8
For if the ministration of condemnation be glory,
much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. 2 Cor. 3:9
For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect,
by reason of the glory that excelleth. 2 Cor. 3:10
For if that which is done away was glorious,
much more that which remaineth is glorious. 2 Cor. 3:11
Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech: 2 Cor. 3:12
And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face,
that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look
to the end of that which is abolished: 2 Cor. 3:13But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth
.........the same vail untaken away
.........in the reading of the old testament;
.........which vail is done away in Christ. 2 Cor. 3:14But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. 2 Cor. 3:15Until you are CONVERTED you will not be able to read WHOLE THOUGHT PATTERNS written in BLACK INK on BROWN paper.
Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. 2 Cor. 3:16
Epi-strephô , pf.If you refuse to CONFESS Christ by calling on His Name you will not be given A holy spirit which is your old spirit with its "sins washed away at baptism" Because God in Christ DETERMINED it to be the only way to receive forgiveness of sins. Therefore, an empty shell "Just Jesus" is a slick way to reject doing what Jesus thought the central issue is. There would be no connection with Jesus Christ without being baptized, saved and added to His church which is His arms and legs but NOT the brain or Spirit.
c. Philos., cause to return to the source of Being, tinas eis ta enantia kai ta prôta
Proteros and prôtos II. of Time, former, earlier, children by the first or a former marriage,
Prosthhen in front, before, formerly, of place and of time;
to gennêthen phusei pros to gennêsan
Genn-aô beget, bring forth, engender, call into existence
Phuo 1 Act.:--bring forth, produce, put forth, 2. beget, engender, get understanding,
Pros in the direction of
Genn-aô beget, bring forth, engender, call into existence
What is the NAME of the Holy Spirit?
Now the Lord IS that Spirit: and where the Spirit OF the Lord is, there is liberty. 2 Cor. 3:17Like John the Baptist, the church should always point to Jesus, never to itself (John 3:30). As a body, it depends on Christ its head for life and for direction (Col. 2:17-19). As citizenry of the kingdom, it owes allegiance to Jesus Christ (Col. 1:13-14; Phil. 2:10-11). If citizens ever create their own flag and write their own slogans, they become rebels and not loyal subjects (Luke 19:14, 27). The true church must never compete with Jesus Christ. Whenever it does so, it immediately ceases to be "true."
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2 Cor. 3:18
According to Jesus' promise in Matthew 16:18ff, the church will never be destroyed. In that sense, it can never need restoring, for Jesus guarantees its constant and perpetual existence in spite of all the forces of hell.
Jesus was probably standing at the Gates of Hell: the great God Pan, the Beast in revelation, the bisexual goat musician (capella) will never TRIUMPH over the Word of God which is entrusted to the Church. That is not to say that an individual church cannot become heretical and be spewed out of His Mouth.
When Jesus spoke He was probably on a great SLAB of Rock in front of the real Gates of Hell. This was the temple of Pan who is the mortal enemy of the Word of God. He is one form of the BEAST in Revelation along with "a new style of singing or drama." Jesus was saying that the musical, always pervers form of paganism cannot overpower the Church of Christ. It can and does destroy many individuals promoting music to silence the Word of Christ.
But that does not protect the church from problems or insulate it from ills. According to the entire New Testament from the Day of Pentecost onward, the first-century churches suffered from practically every problem, error and sin we can imagine today. The Book of Acts opens almost with major corruption and division in the Jerusalem church (Acts 5, 6). The Book of Revelation closes the story with several churches of Asia equally distraught and off the path (Rev. 1-3). The church's only hope is Jesus Christ - not its own "purity" or "knowledge." This was as true in the first century as it is in the twentieth, and it is certainly as true today as it was then.
Matt. 16:18 And I say also unto thee,
That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church;
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Proving that the Pope is the Pan more than the Christ is proven by Jesus:
Matt. 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me,
let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Matt. 16:25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it:
and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
Matt. 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world,
and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Matt. 16:27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels;
and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
rev 17, 18
God calls us to trust Jesus now for right standing with himself, the only way to real peace (Rom. 5:1: 8:1). He calls us to give ourselves to him in a holy life of thankful obedience and zealous service. He calls us to rise again one day - to be found in him, not having any righteousness of our own but that which comes only from God and only through trusting in Jesus (Phil. 3:8-9). Finally he will call us to enter judgment, but without fear - then to be presented forever to Christ the Lord with exceeding joy (I John 4:17-18; Jude 24-25).
This will cost us the pride of all our supposed "distinctives" - but it will enable us to rejoice in Jesus Christ (Phil. 3:3-11). It will mean sacrificing our own "identity" - but Jesus will confess us as belonging to him (Matt. 10:32). We must throw out forever all dependence on the flesh, whether it be intellectual achievement, moral attainment, doctrinal argument, or our successes at "restoration." But Jesus has promised never to leave us or forsake us until the end of the age (Matt. 28:20; Heb. 13:5-6).
In short, God calls us to forfeit ourselves, to love not our own lives even to death. But he has promised that all who lose their lives for his sake will find life indeed (Matt. 10:39).
History is an ever-moving stream. We were born into it at a particular point; we will leave it when God sees fit. Over it all, however, stands Jesus Christ, and he alone gives any of it meaning. In the entire history of our race, there is only one short period in the life of one man which God can ever accept. Those are the approximately 12,000 days of the bodily experience of Jesus of Nazareth.
There only can one find the perfect "doing" which can pass unsinged through the fires of judgment. There only can one see the perfect "dying" which exhausts all the curses of a broken covenant and drains the divine wrath to its dregs. No other life or death can stand before God's holy scrutiny. This alone is "holy history." This only can enter judgment and receive the acquital of Almighty God.
The gospel tells us that this is what happened in the person of Jesus our representative. It was his obedience, his blood, and his now-risen and glorified life which secured our right standing before God. Jesus obeyed, and we are made righteous (Rom. 5:19). He died and we are reconciled (Rom. 5: 10). He arose and we shall pass safely through the great judgment day (Rom. 5:10).
The work underlying our salvation is finished: the gospel proclaims that news. All we can do is believe it - trust God who is always faithful and who never lies! "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:1). Peace can be had in no other way.
When we grasp this, our "history of the true church" begins to sound like a childish tale. All human history becomes a passing smoke, its achievements vanity, its righteousness filthy rags. The everlasting gospel frees us to die to our own history in order to live to Christ's. And that history, accomplished outside us and for us, has already reached its goal -in glory at God's right hand!
7 / The 'End' of Our Efforts
The Jews of Paul's day were so busy trying to establish their own righteousness that they missed the righteousness God freely provided (Rom. 10:1-3). Their essential mistake was that they sought God's approval as if it were a matter of works. They were trying but they were not trusting.
Not true: they were trying with all of their might to write their own doctrines specificially so that they did not have to teach the Word of God. They were in fact ignorant of the Scriptures. Jesus identified the Scribes and Pharisees as hypocrites pointing to speakers, singers and instrument players;
Jesus never condemned anyone for obeying THE LAW.
The Pharisee is defined by Jesus along the following lines:And they were left out while the Gentiles were entering in (Rom. 9:30-33). Many in the Restoration Movement seem to have made the same mistake today, with equally tragic results.These were all Pharisees and ALL poetic or musical FURTHER EXPOUNDING is one or two removes from the truth. That is why they OUTLAWED poetes from being preachers or heralds to be trustred with a life or death message.
- They changed the Laws of God: by teaching THEIR doctrine instead of God's their worship was VAIN.
- They changed God's Word so that they COULD IGNORE the Words of God.
"seeking scriptural support for their actions through a ramified system of HERMENEUTICS. It was due to this PROGRESSIVE tendency of the Pharisees that their interpretation of the Torah CONTINUED to develop and has remained a living force in Judaism. Catholic Encyclopedia, Pharisees.- They make NEW RULES. One of them was MOUTH RELIGION which is attached to Ezekiel 33 and the singers and instrument players. While the Pharisees never stooped to bringing any form of music into the synagogue, Jesus used the performing musicians to describe them.
- They make long prayers which was for performance and not for instruction using the hymns.
- As Scribes they wrote books and peddled them workshop to workshop.
- They liked to SIT UP front in the Holy Place pew.
- They loved STANDING in the synagogue while they performed.
- They pretended to be Mediators The definition of a Pharisee in that world meant that they claimed some spiritual connection with the Spirit world.
- And they did this so that they could EAT UP or steal the houses of widows.
- They were EVANGELISTIC but made converts more evil than themselves
- They were HYPOCRITES also in that they were trained in DRAMATIC PRESENTATION. Hypocrites are still ACTORS.
Hupokrinomai 1 2 3 [later also aor1 and perf. pass. in mid. sense]In Hebrew, a hypocrite is:
I. to reply, make answer, answer, Hom., Hdt.
2. to expound, interpret, explain, Od., Ar.:--the attic word in this sense is apo-krinomai.
Peter OUTLAWED private interpretation or FURTHER EXPOUNDING
II. of actors, to answer on the stage: hence to play a part, tên Antigonên hupokekritai Dem.; hup. to basilikon to take the king's part, Arist.; hupokr. tragôidian, kômôidian to play a tragedy, a comedy, id=Arist.; absol. to play a part, be an actor, id=Arist.
2. to represent dramatically: hence to exaggerate, Dem.
3. metaph. to play a part, to feign,
Cantus as in singing "magical" songs had the same meaning because they used underhanded means to inclucate false doctrine.
Chaneph (h2611) khaw-nafe'; from 2610; soiled (i. e. with sin), impious: - hypocrite (-ical).
With hypocritical mockers in feasts, they gnashed upon me with their teeth. Ps.35:16Laeg (h3934) law-ayg'; from 3932; a buffoon; also a foreigner: - mocker, stammering.An hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbour:
For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. Is.28:11
but through knowledge shall the just be delivered. Pr.11:9
Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows:
..........for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer,
.......... and every mouth speaketh folly.
For all this his anger is not turned away,
.......... but his hand is stretched out still. Is.9:17
Matt 15:7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
Hypokrites (g5273) hoop-ok-ree-tace'; from 5271; an actor under an assumed character (stage-player), i.e. (fig.) a dissembler ("hypocrite"): - hypocrite.
Hupokrinô reply, make answer, of an oracle, 2. expound, interpret, explain [Peter outlawed this as private interpretation.] 2. deliver a speech, declaim, of orators and rhetoricians, represent dramatically,
Similar Words:
erôtikôn dramatôn 3. of an orator, use histrionic arts, exaggerate, ape, mimic, Mania or religious frenzy.
LATIN: canto I. Neutr., to produce melodious sounds (by the voice or an instrument), to sound, sing, play (class. in prose and poetry; to sing and play while the actor accompanies the song with gestures or dancing, C. Transf., of instruments, to sound, resound: 2. Of the singing pronunciation of an orator, to declaim in a singing tone, to sing, preach to deaf ears.
One body can participate in only one group at a time. Therefore, it should be noted that the Church of Christ in its roots excluded no one. The continuing faithfulness to seeing Church as a school of the Bible and of Christ includes anyone who wants to study the Bible. Because it does not use any of the hypocritic arts such as the use of instruments, it does not exclude those who may understand that the mark of the instrument intended to silence the Word of Christ.
On the other hand, a focus on any of the millenniel views will exclude many. Observing the Lord's Supper each First day of the Week does not exclude those the Presbyterians of the Campbell's background. People have a choice and therefore liberty.
Paul defended the Law, but he insisted that it had found its fulfillment in Jesus. He urged the Jews to see themselves standing in relation to the Law fulfilled (in Jesus), not try to find righteousness through fulfilling it themselves. Everything they tried to attain by keeping the Law, God offered freely through faith in Jesus. In this sense, Christ had become the end (goal - telos) of the Law, to all who believed in Jesus (Rom. 10:4).
But not by FAITH ONLY whereas Edward Fudge would sow massive discord among those who read and practice what the Bible clearly teaches: that there is no remission of sins for those who do not obey that form of doctrine.
Edward and all of those planning to sow discord appeal to the sacrificial system under the Law of Moses to justify the use of instrumental music (God called it noise). If God turned them over to worship the starry host then isn't it worse than legalism to promote the practices quarantined ONLY inside the camp for animal sacrifices which God had not commanded.
Rom. 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.I am not aware of anyone in the Restoration Movement other than those who base instrumental music on the curse of the sacrificial system who base their worship patternism on the Law as twisted by the kings. Paul was repudiating the Jews who believed being under the Law of Moses made them righteousness. Paul never rejects obeying the commands of Jesus Christ.
Acts 10:34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:There would certainly be no "open fellowship" with those who worketh unrighteousness.
Acts 10:35 But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.
Probably beginning with Zwingli people have confused justification or righteousness with regeneration or the remission of sins. Paul cycles through the STEPS which naturally bring one to the point of salvation.CYCLE THREE:May we close by making the same statement about the work begun by Thomas and Alexander Campbell and Barton W. Stone. Their best goals are fulfilled in Jesus Christ. All they ever promised, hoped for or sought after are found only through saving trust in him. As Paul said then to those who pointed with great pleasure to their "identity" as the People of God, so we believe he would say today to Churches of Christ, Christian Churches and the Disciples of Christ:
Rom 10:14 How then shall they call on him
............in whom they have not believed?
........... and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?
........... and how shall they hear without a preacher?
........... And how shall they preach, except they be sent?
Rom 10:15 as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them
............ that preach the gospel of peace,
............ and bring glad tidings of good thingsEuaggelizo (g2097) yoo-ang-ghel-id'-zo; from 2095 and 32; to announce good news ("evangelize") espec. the gospel: - declare, bring (declare, show) glad (good) tidings, preach (the gospel).CYCLE FOUR: those who HAVE believed HAVE obeyed the gospel
Rom 10:16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel.
............ For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
Rom 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Rom 10:15 as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them
............ that preach the gospel of peace,
............ and bring glad tidings of good thingsMark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world,
............ and preach the gospel to every creature.Rom 10:16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel
Mark 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved
For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
but he that believeth not shall be damned.
Rom 10:18 But I say, Have they not heard?
............ Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth,
............ and their words unto the ends of the world.
Rom 10:19 But I say, Did not Israel know?
............ First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy
............ by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.
Rom 10:20 But Esaias is very bold, and saith,
............ I was found of them that sought me not;
............ I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.
Rom 10:21 But to Israel he saith,
............ All day long I have stretched forth my hands
............ unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.
CHRIST is the end (goal - telos)
of the Restoration Movement,
to all who believe
in Jesus.
But, that would be silly when people BELIEVE in Jesus and refused to obey him.Rom. 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.However, being righteous by THE FAITH of Jesus Christ rejects the Law as giving righteousness. If you believe then you have the power to become the child of God. However, Cornelius was a righteousl man but he needed someone to tell him words whereby he might be saved. Peter commanded that he be baptized.1Pet. 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again
unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1Pet. 1:4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled,
and that fadeth not away,
reserved in heaven for you,
1Pet. 1:5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith
unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1Pet. 1:6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
1Pet. 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
1Pet. 1:8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
1Pet. 1:9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
1Pet. 1:10 Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
1Pet. 1:11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ
which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ,
and the glory that should follow.
1Pet. 1:12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves,
but unto us they did minister the things,
which are now reported unto you by them
that have preached the gospel unto you [you preach with WORDS]
with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; [Jesus said My WORDS are spirit and life]
which things the angels desire to look into.
1Pet. 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind,
be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you
at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
1Pet. 1:14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:
1Pet. 1:15 But as he which hath called you is holy,
so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
1Pet. 1:16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
1Pet. 1:17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:
1Pet. 1:21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory;
that your faith and hope might be in God.
1Pet. 1:22 Seeing
ye have purified your souls
in http://www.wineskins.org/filter.asp?SID=2&fi_key=236&co_key=1878
unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
1Pet. 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed,
but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
1Pet. 1:24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
1Pet. 1:25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever.
And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
Mat 21:31 Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. Luke 7:29 And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John. Mat 21:32 For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not; justified God, but the publicans and the harlots believed him being baptized with the baptism of John. and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, Luke 7:30 But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, that ye might believe him. Believeth means Complieth
being not baptized of him.
2.09.10
