Jump Start # 1309

2 Chronicles 24:4 “Now it came about after this that Joash decided to restore the house of the Lord.”

  We have been marching through the kings of Judah. The last king we looked at was Ahaziah, who was influenced by his mother and others to continue the wicked, godless spiral that his father had started. Ahaziah reigned one year. At his death, his mother took over. She put to death other royal males who may have been a threat to her reign. She reigned six years. Nothing is said about what she did. One child of her son was hidden. He was the next in line to be king. A revolt took place and Athaliah was murdered. The child in hiding, Joash, becomes the rightful heir to the throne.

Joash was a fairly good king. He reigned forty years. One of the great things that he accomplished was restoring the temple. It had fallen in near ruins and he set about to restore it.

Restoration is something God’s people ought to be interested in. We understand the concept. If a person has an old car and he wants to restore it, he will try to get parts similar to the originals. He will work long and hard at making the old car look like it did originally. Today, people restore furniture, art work, old historic houses and relationships. The concept of “reconciliation” involves restoration. Two parties have a falling out. They may not even talk to one another. One “defriends” the other. Someone comes and brings the two parties together. They talk. Tears are shed. Issues are discussed. Restoration takes place when they forgive each other, shake hands or hug and the relationship returns to the healthy way it once was. This happens in marriage. It happens among friends. It happens among brethren. And it is exactly what happens between us and God. Our sins have caused a separation. Things are not the same any more. Jesus came. He paid the price or cost to redeem us. He was the bridge that allowed a relationship to be restored. God forgives through His grace. We become reconciled to God. Our relationship has been restored.

One thing about restoration is that it takes times. If you are restoring an old car, it takes time. If you are restoring a relationship, it takes time. There is no fast track here. Those in a hurry will be disappointed. People need time to think, process, get over the hurt and then come together. Restoration is an important aspect of our wellbeing in a church family.

We hate to admit it but we do bump and bruise each other’s feelings. We say things in the wrong way and they are taken in the wrong way. People feel slighted and neglected. Sometimes we even get mad at one another. This is the time for restoration. This is the time for bridge building. Forgiving each other. Loving each other. Trusting each other. Restoring things.

There is also another type of restoration that takes place in our spiritual lives. It is the restoration of God’s pattern and order for things. God has left us a blueprint to follow. The Bible is a pattern. Paul told the Philippians to practice the things that they have seen, learned and heard from him. It’s follow the leader. It’s looking backward as we move forward. The church is not to be progressive, evolving, changing with the times, developing new doctrine, new thoughts. If it does, then it no longer sticks to the ancient ways. The Thessalonians were praised for imitating the churches in Judea. We must understand the authority of Christ and see the examples left by the apostles and imitate those. There was a certain way the church raised and used money. We need to get back to that. There was a certain way the church worshipped God. We need to get back to that. There was a certain way the church was organized and functioned. We need to get back to that. This is restoration. This is the greatest restoration.

Nearly two hundred years ago, right here in my area, various people, with differing reasons started looking at the Bible in a fresh and new way from what they had been taught. They dropped all the names and doctrines that they could not find in the Bible. They started worshipping each Sunday with the Lord’s Supper. Preachers dropped titles that made them stand out. Immersion for baptism was practiced. Across the Ohio Valley and eventually sweeping the country was this spirit of simply going by the Bible and the Bible alone. This movement became known as The Restoration Movement. What they were restoring was the way things were first done as taught in the Bible. Some of these folks did a pretty good job getting back to the original. Others started and then they seemed to stop.

Before us and each generation, is the choice of doing things God’s way or our way. God’s way never changes. God’s way is set forth in the New Testament. Man’s way is influenced by society. This is why some religious groups have accepted homosexuality because society has. The modern church has soften and changed the way it feels about modesty, divorce, church discipline, and church organization. Models from the business world and government have been used to shape the modern church. Social agendas and the wellness and wholeness of man has become the main message for the modern churches. They will march against racism. They will speak out about police brutality. They become a shelter for the homeless, the hungry and a haven for teenagers to hang out and play games. The modern church has become less and less spiritual and more and more social. Sermons about sin have been tossed out. One would never hear the word “Hell” in a sermon. Preachers look more like sit-com comedians. Hawaiian shirts have replaced suits and ties. Flip flops have replaced wing tipped shoes. The modern preacher stands before an audience, with no Bible in hand, giving his monolog. The audience laughs. They applaud. They have such a great time. The music is loud and competes with rock and roll. The church serves food. During the week, it becomes a school. There are all kinds of fun activities in the modern church. And sadly, if one was to dare open his Bible, he wouldn’t find any similarities between what the modern church is doing and what the original church did. The modern church has come a long way and in the process it has cut it’s ties to being like the original church.

Restoration—that’s the key. Get the Bible out and see what was done and then get about doing that. Toss out the things that do not help us fulfill God’s pattern. Get the church back to being what it was supposed to be—a community of saved people who walked, talked and praised the Lord. Restoration is not a thing of the past, it must be repeated with every generation. But in the process of restoring, the church must not become a museum that houses old stuff. The church is not to be stuffy, stale and old. It is alive. It is fresh. It is growing. It is moving. It does these things God’s way. It is constantly looking to the book, God’s book.

A person could have an old car. He has a choice in how he will fix it. He can restore it to look like it did originally, or he can make it look like a hot rod. A hot rod is cool. It’s fast. It will grab the attention of others. But a hot rod is not the way the car looked originally.

Restoration or change…

Roger