So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and there were added that day about three thousand souls. And they were continually devoting themselves (first) to the apostles’ teaching and (then) to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. And everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together, and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions, and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. And day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. Acts 2:41–47. This passage gives a picture of what the early Church was like at the outset. It is a picture of the Church in its purity; however, history reveals that from this time on, there was a gradual distortion of that purity.
Much of Peter’s preaching recorded in the second chapter of Acts was quoted from the book of Joel. In fact, in verse 16 Peter said, But this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel; then he brought in Joel 2:28–32a. Although Peter’s sermon was filled with allusions to Joel’s prophecy, prior to that day no one who read the book of Joel ever would have realized that his prophecy foretold what was going to happen. Likewise, when it did happen no one thought, “This is a fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy.” The anointing of the Holy Spirit upon an apostolic ministry was necessary to interpret the Word and to bring it forth in a way that illuminated the Word for them in their day. The Holy Spirit had hidden the true meaning in the Old Testament all those years. While it is true that the basic foundation of our faith must be in the Scriptures, it is also true, according to the apostles’ doctrine, that revelation teaching from the Scriptures is necessary. The early Church continued in that doctrine of revelation teaching from the Scriptures for some time.
What happened to the Church later? During the year 325 A.D., the Council of Nicaea was held. Those in authority gathered to determine what should be considered the sacred canon, and what they should include in the New Testament teaching. By this time the Church had already claimed to be the authority, rather than the Scriptures. Actually, that was a distortion of the original apostles’ doctrine of revelation teaching of the Scriptures.
After the first divine order, the Church went immediately into a false order. The Roman Catholic church then claimed to be the authority. They claimed that the Bible was the Word of God because they said it was so. They determined what would be included in the New Testament and what would not be included. That was false order, where hierarchy ruled, placing the Scriptures secondary to the infallibility of the pope in all areas of religion and morals. False order, a distortion of divine order, continued down through the years. The Roman Catholic church did not want the people to read the Bible because it became a source of heresy to them when a man would read and interpret the Scriptures for himself.
Then came the Protestant Reformation, and the Protestants immediately decided, “The authority is in the Scriptures, and we do not want anything in the Church that is not in the Scriptures. Therefore, we will discard everything that is traditional in the Roman Catholic church.” Of course, it is obvious that they did not discard everything. They held onto much more than they should have, but they did plan on building according to the Scriptures. Their concept was, “Now we are free! We no longer have to believe exactly as the Pope says; we can believe as the Scriptures say!”
That sounded just fine, but they only went from false order to disorder, because every Protestant church that came along interpreted the Word for itself. Because of this, each believer shopped around until he found a church that believed his way. Their authority was their own human reasoning and interpretation of the Scriptures. Actually, their doctrine was not even based upon the Scriptures, because the Scriptures are not truly the foundation without an apostolic revelation of what the Scriptures teach.
Now God is bringing forth another phase of restoration. People are coming into the end-time walk with God from all types of churches where they were unhappy with the teachings of man’s interpretations of the Scriptures. The power of Christ is found in a living word which comes with a foundation of apostles and prophets who expound the Word of God by revelation. It has to be on that basis. Once that concept is established, it is easy to understand what restoration and divine order really mean.
With the restoration of the divine order, we do not try to figure things out for ourselves. Neither do we have to go back to a pope. Instead, the Lord reveals His will when we come under the anointing of the Holy Spirit as the early Church did. What made them all speak the same thing? It was the apostolic doctrine of revelation teaching. What is going to make us all see eye to eye, understanding exactly together and speaking the same thing when the Lord brings again Zion (Isaiah 52:8)? What will cause us not to break ranks or thrust one another through (Joel 2:7, 8)? How can that happen?
It will not happen the Protestant way, with everyone figuring it out in his own mind. It will not happen the Roman Catholic way of bowing down to what the pope says. It will happen because divine revelation illuminates apostles and prophets, and the Scripture is revealed again as the Kingdom comes forth. We will all rejoice and bear witness to that which God reveals in this hour. It is far better to submit to the revelation God gives to apostles and prophets in divine order than to lean upon our own understanding. We can trust God to open up the Word and reveal it to them. This is the only safe way.
The religious world goes from one extreme to another. Either someone dictates exactly what the people are to think, or else everyone thinks whatever he wants. The latter has been the error of Protestantism. But now the Protestants do not want hundreds of different denominations anymore; they want unity.
What is the Protestant concept of spiritual unity? “You chop off what you believe in doctrine there, and I will chop off what I believe here. We will try to get together on some common ground of one truth we both believe.” The common ground generally is the fact that they believe in the Holy Bible. Then they proceed to cut out various teachings, leaving only those that everyone agrees on. After a while, instead of believing in the Holy Bible, they believe in a Bible full of holes!
Fundamentalists say they are Bible oriented. Are they? Do they look for divine revelation in its interpretation, or do they just interpret it to suit themselves, thinking that thereby they are being scriptural? The Pharisees did that in Jesus’ day. They were so busy defending their mess of interpretations that they did not recognize the truth when it came.
What are we going to do? Let us return to the apostles’ doctrine! This is the day of restoration. It is the day of divine order.