THE END OF RESTORATION
LESSON 5
The
meeting at Sand Creek in 1889 clearly spelled the end of the Restoration
Movement. To be sure the action taken that Lord's Day was motivated by a
sincere desire to stand for the truths of the Bible. Of this I have no doubt.
These brethren firmly believed that things were being added to the work and
worship of the church that were not authorized in God's Word and must be
opposed. Their attitude toward being "New Testament Christians and New Testament
Christians Only" should also be that of every child of God today. But while I
believe that some of the positions taken by these brethren were extreme and not
supported by Holy Writ it is not what
they believed that is the issue. It is the way they chose to prove their faithfulness that forever
changed the way brethren from the Restoration Movement would handle
disagreements.
Before
Sand Creek brethren could disagree and even debate without making the
disputed issues grounds for fellowship. They knew that to restore the
non-sectarian church of the 1st century theymust agree on matters
of faith and determined that they
would make only these the conditions of brotherhood. "In matters of faith, unity. In matters of opinion,
liberty. In all things, charity."
These matters of faith became
quite clear from their study of the scriptures. (1) What the Bible teaches
about the Godhead could not be compromised in any way. Divine revelation
concerning God, Christ and the Holy Spirit were the basis of faith and of
course a condition of salvation. As the Hebrew writer said in the great chapter
of faith (11),"Without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that
cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him." John made it
clear in his first letter that the same is true concerning faith in Jesus as
the resurrected Savior. (2) What the Bible teaches about the plan of salvation
could not be compromised in any way. Only those whom God has made his children
could be their brothers and sisters in Christ. The Restoration Movement became
known for its preaching of Peter's command on the day of Pentecost, "Repent,
and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission
of sins." (Acts 2: 38) These two
subjects, and only these two, were conditions of salvation, membership in the
kingdom and brotherhood. All other conditions are man made and therefore
unscriptural.
Other subjects were to be handled on the local level.
Why? Because the local congregation, under the oversight of its own elders, was
the only organization or institution that God had established. They understood,
as should we, that after the death of the Apostles nothing tied these
congregations together. The actions of one did not affect any of the others.
There were many differences in belief and practice but until the time of Daniel
Sommer it was understood that these issues could only divide a local assembly
of God's people. This was the only organization that scripturally existed! The sins
of Ephesus, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis and Laodicea (Rev. 2-3) were between
them and God and not the concern of the others. If there is a passage which
authorizes one congregation to "withdraw fellowship" from another congregation
it must be in your creed book because it's not in the Bible.
The apostle Paul is a perfect example that honest and
sincere people can sin. The sincerity of the signers of the "Address and
Declaration" does not excuse the terrible sins they committed that day. The
document they signed destroyed congregational autonomy, the search for
non-sectarianism and the plea for non-denominationalism. In short, it destroyed the Restoration
Movement! Equating a stand for the truth with separation from those who
disagree ended the effort to unite all of God's children under the banner of
the cross. When they felt they had to give their sect a name they started a
denomination that continues to this day to divide over every issue of
contention. Can you imagine what Barton W. Stone, Thomas and Alexander
Campbell, Rice Haggard or Raccoon John Smith would have said if they had been
alive in 1889? But just when you think things can't get worse, they do!
The Bible teaches that believers who repented and were
immersed "the Lord added" to the
number of the saved. (Acts 2: 38, 41 & 47) Now a group of preachers and
elders believed that God had not only given them right to remove these saints
from the kingdom but also the responsibility to do so. "We state that we are
impelled from a sense of duty to say that ... if they do not turn away from such
abominations, we can not and will not regard them as brethren."
What ignorance! What stupidity! What arrogance! What
godlessness! Wasn't it enough to separate themselves into a sect over
congregational issues like a located preacher or instrumental music?
Wasn't it
enough to start a new denomination and call it the Church of Christ
just to show that they were non-instumental? But to put them on the
throne of God and believe they
could remove His children from the Lamb's Book of Life is more sinful
than any "innovation" they opposed!
As this is being written the television is reporting
on the death of the Pope. My wife turned to me and said; "I wonder what Peter
will say to him when they meet?" Well, I have often wondered the same about my
brethren meeting Jesus. Will they say "Lord, Lord, didn't we stand for the
truth and cast out of the church those who had a piano?" Will he just say, "Depart from me ye that work
iniquity" or will he take the time to
explain that brotherhood is established by the Father and was none of their
business?
I sincerely hope and pray that no child of God misses
heaven because of church recreation, a located preacher, a Bible college, the
number of cups used in the Lord's Supper and yes, even instrumental music. Why?
Because if issues like these determine our eternal destiny there is not a
preacher or elder in the last 50 years that has a chance of seeing the pearly
gates! The worship they approve and practice violates the plain commands,
approved apostolic examples and the necessary inference of the Scriptures even
more so than does a piano. In short, today's Lord's Day worship violates not
just the principle of the silence of the scriptures but the very commands of
God, so none of us may make it. This I will prove in our next series of
lessons.