Restoration vs. Remnant

The great challenge to society has always been the Church of the living God. A group of pilgrims and vagabonds who travel in a land that is foreign to themselves, looking to a city whose builder and maker is God. To the wise who are seated high and lofty in the ivory towers of the world, they are the foolish. To the mighty who rule and reign the nations of the world, they are the weak. We find their beginnings not in the 21st or 20th centuries, but from the very generations of the first man.

Genesis 4:25-26

And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.

Shortly after the first murder in history Cain, the murderer, flees from the presence of God; Scripture tells us that God gives another son unto the first parents, and through this lineage, we find the faithful.

From Seth, we eventually find Noah, who found grace in the eyes of the LORD and only through him would there be hope of a tomorrow for the world. Shortly after Noah, we find a man named Abram given a promise from the Almighty of a son to come. Through this man, his seed would numbered as great as the grains of sand upon the earth and as the stars within the sky. Soon he is renamed Abraham and from him comes Isaac the son of promise. From Isaac to Jacob, from Jacob unto twelve sons. From a large family, God multiples and crafts a nation. From this nation, we find the covenant people of God in the Old Testament to whom the prophets, priests, and kings were born. This nation provided the stock from which Christ, the Savior would come.

Jesus, the Lord and Christ, would have twelve disciples unto which He would state:

Matthew 16:18

"Upon this rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

Not much longer after this moment in history, the Lamb of God is led to the slaughter for the sins of the world. He is betrayed, forsaken, and given to be scourged and die by crucifixion. Once He has given up the ghost, His followers manage to get His broken body released into their care for the sake of a proper burial. Three days and three nights He lie in a borrowed tomb until the early morning on the first day of the week, the disciples come to find His body gone.

From the time of His resurrection unto His ascension, He spends forty days with His same disciples teaching them those things that pertain to the Kingdom of God. Upon the fortieth day, He gives the charge to "tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high". From which one hundred and twenty gather in prayer to wait for the Promise.

Acts 2:1,4

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Upon this day, the Church, congregation, assembly, the New Testament people of God were born. Shortly after this outpouring of the Spirit of God, we find the apostle Peter preaching to those who are caught in wonder and amazement. He proclaims from the prophet Joel, the fulfilling of prophecy and goes to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. From this, the people are gripped in their hearts, and ask what is there to be done. Peter gives the beautiful response, the only response to the Gospel, the New Birth message.

From this moment, the church is built daily. The apostles being sent unto the uttermost part of the earth carrying the message of God, the hope of salvation by Jesus Christ. From the day of Pentecost unto this day, the Church of God has been alive and taught the doctrine of the apostles of Jesus Christ.

This is not a history lesson, nor an attempt to track and place every individual throughout history. However, to generate thought, is the church up to us? Is it by our ambition and motive that make way for the people of God to survive into the next generation?

After the apostles and leaders of the early church had finished their course, was the Truth of God lost? Was the magnificent outpouring of God's Spirit for naught, just to be disregarded and lost for thousands of years to come? Was the Truth of the baptism in the name of Jesus and the baptism of the Holy Ghost evidence by speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gives the utterance lost to time and chance? Did the apostles' doctrine die with the apostles? To these questions, I advocate and answer a thorough no.

Do we live in a day of restoration, trying to get back to what the early church had, or do we live in it already? Do we have less than what the early church did in their day, or do we have the same Spirit, the same Doctrine, the same Commission that they did?

These are the things to ask ourselves as we strive to obey and do the work of God. If the true church was lost and we are attempting to restore to that same-day pattern, what is the standard that we need to reach in order to meet the same pattern?

Or is there another way? Could it be that it was never up to mankind, but that Jesus is the One to build and keep His people all throughout the years? Could it be that it is not a work of our ideas or enterprise, but a sovereign work of the Spirit to "whomsoever will"; that truthfully, in every age there has only be one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one Gospel, one Message, one response and one church of Jesus Christ?

History does not give us the fine details, but just glimpses of the lives of all the saints of Jesus throughout the years who have faithfully served Him and kept His Word. However, we do have the promise,

Matthew 16:18

"Upon this rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

and never has hell prevailed against the will and work of God.

Unto His Glory,

Nicholas A. Gilbert