How Restoration will come to the Church
Lloyd Gardner
This ministry promotes restoration in the church of Jesus Christ. Often times I am asked how this restoration will come given the condition of today’s church. I believe that the Lord has shown me with certainty how His church will be restored and how it will not be restored. This conclusion is based on what the Lord has said to me as well as what I have witnessed in 50 years of experience with the organized church. All of this is clearly shown in God's word, the Bible.
First of all, let me define some terms. By the term “church” I mean the people of God—those who are followers of Jesus. The church is a corporate spiritual structure being built by the Lord by joining us together. I never use the term by itself to refer to the organized religion called "church" by many who lack understanding. By “restoration” I mean a sweeping movement that brings the church back to where Christ intends it to be. This first involves an inward transformation through the presence of the Lord but will also express itself in outward change that affects the shape of the corporate church.
I am hesitant to use the word “revival” because I am concerned that revival tends to be partial and temporary. Revival stirs up the church and brings it out of its stupor but restoration brings the church completely back to its spiritual place in God. I welcome revival that leads to complete abandonment to God’s word and His life-changing presence.
Restoration begins in the hearts of individuals
True restoration begins in the hearts of individuals. No historical revival has occurred that was not prompted by individual people becoming dissatisfied with their present lives and seeking for more. Jesus said, “"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matt. 7:7). The asking, seeking and knocking come from a desire in the heart of hungry people. If there is no hunger or thirst for righteousness, the hand of God will not move.
Jesus also said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:37, 38). “Whoever believes,” is the condition for restoration. Faith is the condition of our heart that opens up to what Christ has to give. When we truly believe, not only do we receive spiritual water to quench our thirst, but we become artesian wells out of which the Spirit flows. That is revival that leads to restoration.
This individual thirst for God will result in seeking prayer on the part of the believer. No revival of history has taken place without prayer that seeks the will of God. I could refer to any great revival of the past but let me use the First Great Awakening of the early 18th century as an example. The beginning of this awakening can be traced to the Moravian community under the leadership of Count Zinzendorf which prayed 24 hours a day for 100 years. Radical missionaries were sent out from this community to start a worldwide revival. Every genuine revival was preceded by similar prayer.
Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:9, 10). Prayer that brings restoration begins with seeking the will of the Father. It seeks the hallowing of His name, the coming of His kingdom and the performance of His heaven-birthed will on earth. Prayer that brings revival is not prayer that asks God to come join our nonsense but prayer that abandons personal desires and seeks to glorify Him and see His desires met.
In other words we must heed the admonition of our God to Solomon in 2 Chronicles 7:14: “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” Humility precedes everything else because if we are not humble our heart will seek our own way and ignore the will of heaven. When we are humbled our prayers will be prayers that seek the face of God, His divine presence. Only when He is allowed entrance into our lives will we be able to turn from our wicked ways and begin to hear God so that He can forgive and heal us.
Brokenness precedes restoration
We must be broken before revival can come to our hearts and bring restoration to the church. We must submit ourselves to God so that He can break our selfish, soulish nature that wants to do its own thing. As revival begins, all who seek to be part of it will have to experience this brokenness to enter in. After his sin with Bathsheba, David cried out, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” (Ps. 51:10). In the same passage the king declares, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (v. 17). We must recognize our need of restoration before God can begin the restoration.
David knew that he would never have a clean heart and a renewed inner man unless he was broken by the gentle hand of God. This is the kind of sacrifice God desires—the sacrifice of a heart broken from its sin and selfish ways, contrite before God and ready to receive from Him. Such sacrifice in David produced the golden age of Israel and many of the Psalms of worship and praise that bless us today. Brokenness brings prayer that produces restoration. This is what Paul means when he wrote, “Present your bodies a living sacrifice…” (Rom. 12:1).
We must be ready for a new wineskin
Our hearts must be open to a new wineskin before God can pour forth new wine. The disciples of John the baptist came to Jesus with a question: “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" (Matt. 9:14). These sincere disciples of John did not realize that Jesus was preparing a new wineskin, a new paradigm of spiritual expression. Their question implied, “Why aren’t you doing what we are doing?” They represent the believers of any old paradigm that is about to be replaced with a new one. Make no mistake about it—every historical revival demanded a new wineskin, a new expression of the corporate church. The problem is that people become satisfied and comfortable with the old way and resist the coming change. Such resistance blocks the coming of restoration. True restoration awaits the readiness of peoples’ hearts to the new wineskin God is forming.
Jesus answered them in part, “Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved” (Matt. 9:17). The wineskin represents the old paradigm, the old container of God’s spiritual wine. God wants to pour out new wine to His people. New, unfermented wine poured into old wineskins would expand and burst the old wineskins and be wasted. God’s new wine is always expanding with His life and power and it cannot be contained by the old church forms. The wineskin is the container of the life of God—the corporate structure expressed by the body of Christ. So, restoration awaits our readiness to receive a new corporate expression of the church.
What will that new wineskin look like?
Now here is the truth that is resisted by most Christians today. What will that new wineskin look like? First let me say that I will not be so presumptuous as to tell you precisely what it will look like because that is the prerogative of the Holy Spirit. I can, however, tell you based on God's word what the basic form of this wineskin will be.
The new wineskin will have these qualities: 1) leadership that abandons control of the church to the Holy Spirit, 2) understanding that the church is the Spirit-led people of God not a human organization, 3) a willingness to return to a sincere approach to the word of God in regard to individual as well as corporate life, 4) permission for individual Christians to fully participate in the gatherings of the saints, 5) recognition of the equipping ministries that spiritually train the saints for ministry (Eph. 4:11), and 6) growing progress from the unity of the Spirit to the unity of the faith that produces mature believers and a mature expression of the body of Christ (Eph. 4:3, 13-16). These are the qualities of the new wineskin.
What will not bring restoration?
Now we must ask what will not bring restoration. I am sorry to say that the present wineskin that emphasizes a one-pastor centered form of leadership where one person sets the tone for the church will not allow for restoration. It can only go as far as this one person is willing to go. Generally the one person will be influenced by economic and political concerns that restrict revival. Many resist this because of their insistence that the one-man pastoral form of leadership is taught in the word. It is not. Check out these passages for clarity: (3 John 9-11; Acts 11:30; 14:23; 20:17-28; Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1;5; James 5:14; 1 Peter 5:1).
The one-man form of leadership stifles restoration
Churches led by one person will never be able to allow for the other qualities of restoration. One person will always deliver a sermon while the saints remain passive and uninvolved. The saints will never be fully equipped for ministry and so the church will never grow corporately toward its mature expression. The passage in Ephesians 4 makes the process clear: the equipping ministries are given (v. 11), they equip the saints for their service (v. 12), the church grows toward its full maturity in unity and knowing Christ (v.13), the body of Christ is built up in love and truth (v. 14-16). When we deny this God-ordained process we deny the coming of restoration.
Many people have responded to me concerning this that their church provides opportunities for the saints to be equipped. Even if this is so, as long as one man is in control the glory due the Lord will always be directed toward this one man. I know because I was there. I was the one allowing the glory of God to be reflected to me. When two Christians meet one will ask where the other goes to church. The next question is almost always, “Who’s your pastor?” When a church is not characterized by one man and Christ is given the place of honor each time it gathers, Christ will be the one people notice, not a trained minister. When people ask me who the pastor of my church is I respond, “Jesus is our Shepherd.” If they come among us I believe they will see Jesus in the people and no one will care who the leaders are.
The saints must be allowed to function
The new wineskin must provide a way for the saints to function. John wrote that each believer has the anointing of God (1 John 2:20, 27). Paul said that the gifts of the Spirit are given for the common good of the church (1 Cor. 12:7). He told us not to despise prophecies but to put everything to the test so we can hold fast to what is good (1 Thess. 5:20, 21). Paul advised us to allow two or three prophets to speak and the others are to weigh what is said (1 Cor. 14:29). In the same passage he says that each believer should bring a hymn, a lesson, a revelation or something else to share in the gathering that helps build up the saints (1 Cor. 14:26). Nowhere in Scripture do we have one man preaching or teaching every time the saints meet. The sermons were saved for unbelievers (Acts 2:14; 4:8f., 7:2). The early believers continually devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, breaking bread together, and prayer (Acts 2:42). They met in homes in small groups and sometimes in the temple and shared their common experiences of Christ and their growing knowledge of truth (Acts 2:46, 5:42).
Denominations are walls obstructing restoration
Denominations quench restoration. A denomination is a manmade wall with its parameters permanently set. If you go to a church in a denomination it will be fully understood which doctrines and practices are acceptable. People who venture beyond those parameters will not be welcome. Restoration requires a new wineskin and denominations have a prescribed wineskin that is not open to discussion. Even if every doctrine and practice of the organization is correct, by the very nature of its walls, it has quenched the Holy Spirit.
Jesus went outside of the walls of the city to die. The walls and the city represent old, dead religion. If we are to truly know Jesus we must “…go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come” (Heb. 13:13, 14). When we go to Him outside the camp of religion, we face the reproach he endured because the keepers of the old paradigm will not accept us and will do everything to keep our voice from being heard. Throughout history, the men who wanted to move to the new paradigm of God were always persecuted and often killed for their faith. It is the same today in many ways.
So, you say you seek the restoration of the church. Are you willing to deny yourself and your desires? Are you willing to die to your selfish soul with its old stale ways? Are you willing to humble yourself before God so that you can pray prayers that unleash His will in the earth? Are you willing to repent from sins and old dead religion and turn to face the living God? Are you willing to bear the reproach of the keepers of the old church form? Then, and only then, will God forgive us, cleanse us and bring restoration. After 50 years of waiting, I’m ready. Are you?
Lloyd Gardner
This ministry promotes restoration in the church of Jesus Christ. Often times I am asked how this restoration will come given the condition of today’s church. I believe that the Lord has shown me with certainty how His church will be restored and how it will not be restored. This conclusion is based on what the Lord has said to me as well as what I have witnessed in 50 years of experience with the organized church. All of this is clearly shown in God's word, the Bible.
First of all, let me define some terms. By the term “church” I mean the people of God—those who are followers of Jesus. The church is a corporate spiritual structure being built by the Lord by joining us together. I never use the term by itself to refer to the organized religion called "church" by many who lack understanding. By “restoration” I mean a sweeping movement that brings the church back to where Christ intends it to be. This first involves an inward transformation through the presence of the Lord but will also express itself in outward change that affects the shape of the corporate church.
I am hesitant to use the word “revival” because I am concerned that revival tends to be partial and temporary. Revival stirs up the church and brings it out of its stupor but restoration brings the church completely back to its spiritual place in God. I welcome revival that leads to complete abandonment to God’s word and His life-changing presence.
Restoration begins in the hearts of individuals
True restoration begins in the hearts of individuals. No historical revival has occurred that was not prompted by individual people becoming dissatisfied with their present lives and seeking for more. Jesus said, “"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matt. 7:7). The asking, seeking and knocking come from a desire in the heart of hungry people. If there is no hunger or thirst for righteousness, the hand of God will not move.
Jesus also said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:37, 38). “Whoever believes,” is the condition for restoration. Faith is the condition of our heart that opens up to what Christ has to give. When we truly believe, not only do we receive spiritual water to quench our thirst, but we become artesian wells out of which the Spirit flows. That is revival that leads to restoration.
This individual thirst for God will result in seeking prayer on the part of the believer. No revival of history has taken place without prayer that seeks the will of God. I could refer to any great revival of the past but let me use the First Great Awakening of the early 18th century as an example. The beginning of this awakening can be traced to the Moravian community under the leadership of Count Zinzendorf which prayed 24 hours a day for 100 years. Radical missionaries were sent out from this community to start a worldwide revival. Every genuine revival was preceded by similar prayer.
Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:9, 10). Prayer that brings restoration begins with seeking the will of the Father. It seeks the hallowing of His name, the coming of His kingdom and the performance of His heaven-birthed will on earth. Prayer that brings revival is not prayer that asks God to come join our nonsense but prayer that abandons personal desires and seeks to glorify Him and see His desires met.
In other words we must heed the admonition of our God to Solomon in 2 Chronicles 7:14: “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” Humility precedes everything else because if we are not humble our heart will seek our own way and ignore the will of heaven. When we are humbled our prayers will be prayers that seek the face of God, His divine presence. Only when He is allowed entrance into our lives will we be able to turn from our wicked ways and begin to hear God so that He can forgive and heal us.
Brokenness precedes restoration
We must be broken before revival can come to our hearts and bring restoration to the church. We must submit ourselves to God so that He can break our selfish, soulish nature that wants to do its own thing. As revival begins, all who seek to be part of it will have to experience this brokenness to enter in. After his sin with Bathsheba, David cried out, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” (Ps. 51:10). In the same passage the king declares, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (v. 17). We must recognize our need of restoration before God can begin the restoration.
David knew that he would never have a clean heart and a renewed inner man unless he was broken by the gentle hand of God. This is the kind of sacrifice God desires—the sacrifice of a heart broken from its sin and selfish ways, contrite before God and ready to receive from Him. Such sacrifice in David produced the golden age of Israel and many of the Psalms of worship and praise that bless us today. Brokenness brings prayer that produces restoration. This is what Paul means when he wrote, “Present your bodies a living sacrifice…” (Rom. 12:1).
We must be ready for a new wineskin
Our hearts must be open to a new wineskin before God can pour forth new wine. The disciples of John the baptist came to Jesus with a question: “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" (Matt. 9:14). These sincere disciples of John did not realize that Jesus was preparing a new wineskin, a new paradigm of spiritual expression. Their question implied, “Why aren’t you doing what we are doing?” They represent the believers of any old paradigm that is about to be replaced with a new one. Make no mistake about it—every historical revival demanded a new wineskin, a new expression of the corporate church. The problem is that people become satisfied and comfortable with the old way and resist the coming change. Such resistance blocks the coming of restoration. True restoration awaits the readiness of peoples’ hearts to the new wineskin God is forming.
Jesus answered them in part, “Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved” (Matt. 9:17). The wineskin represents the old paradigm, the old container of God’s spiritual wine. God wants to pour out new wine to His people. New, unfermented wine poured into old wineskins would expand and burst the old wineskins and be wasted. God’s new wine is always expanding with His life and power and it cannot be contained by the old church forms. The wineskin is the container of the life of God—the corporate structure expressed by the body of Christ. So, restoration awaits our readiness to receive a new corporate expression of the church.
What will that new wineskin look like?
Now here is the truth that is resisted by most Christians today. What will that new wineskin look like? First let me say that I will not be so presumptuous as to tell you precisely what it will look like because that is the prerogative of the Holy Spirit. I can, however, tell you based on God's word what the basic form of this wineskin will be.
The new wineskin will have these qualities: 1) leadership that abandons control of the church to the Holy Spirit, 2) understanding that the church is the Spirit-led people of God not a human organization, 3) a willingness to return to a sincere approach to the word of God in regard to individual as well as corporate life, 4) permission for individual Christians to fully participate in the gatherings of the saints, 5) recognition of the equipping ministries that spiritually train the saints for ministry (Eph. 4:11), and 6) growing progress from the unity of the Spirit to the unity of the faith that produces mature believers and a mature expression of the body of Christ (Eph. 4:3, 13-16). These are the qualities of the new wineskin.
What will not bring restoration?
Now we must ask what will not bring restoration. I am sorry to say that the present wineskin that emphasizes a one-pastor centered form of leadership where one person sets the tone for the church will not allow for restoration. It can only go as far as this one person is willing to go. Generally the one person will be influenced by economic and political concerns that restrict revival. Many resist this because of their insistence that the one-man pastoral form of leadership is taught in the word. It is not. Check out these passages for clarity: (3 John 9-11; Acts 11:30; 14:23; 20:17-28; Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1;5; James 5:14; 1 Peter 5:1).
The one-man form of leadership stifles restoration
Churches led by one person will never be able to allow for the other qualities of restoration. One person will always deliver a sermon while the saints remain passive and uninvolved. The saints will never be fully equipped for ministry and so the church will never grow corporately toward its mature expression. The passage in Ephesians 4 makes the process clear: the equipping ministries are given (v. 11), they equip the saints for their service (v. 12), the church grows toward its full maturity in unity and knowing Christ (v.13), the body of Christ is built up in love and truth (v. 14-16). When we deny this God-ordained process we deny the coming of restoration.
Many people have responded to me concerning this that their church provides opportunities for the saints to be equipped. Even if this is so, as long as one man is in control the glory due the Lord will always be directed toward this one man. I know because I was there. I was the one allowing the glory of God to be reflected to me. When two Christians meet one will ask where the other goes to church. The next question is almost always, “Who’s your pastor?” When a church is not characterized by one man and Christ is given the place of honor each time it gathers, Christ will be the one people notice, not a trained minister. When people ask me who the pastor of my church is I respond, “Jesus is our Shepherd.” If they come among us I believe they will see Jesus in the people and no one will care who the leaders are.
The saints must be allowed to function
The new wineskin must provide a way for the saints to function. John wrote that each believer has the anointing of God (1 John 2:20, 27). Paul said that the gifts of the Spirit are given for the common good of the church (1 Cor. 12:7). He told us not to despise prophecies but to put everything to the test so we can hold fast to what is good (1 Thess. 5:20, 21). Paul advised us to allow two or three prophets to speak and the others are to weigh what is said (1 Cor. 14:29). In the same passage he says that each believer should bring a hymn, a lesson, a revelation or something else to share in the gathering that helps build up the saints (1 Cor. 14:26). Nowhere in Scripture do we have one man preaching or teaching every time the saints meet. The sermons were saved for unbelievers (Acts 2:14; 4:8f., 7:2). The early believers continually devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, breaking bread together, and prayer (Acts 2:42). They met in homes in small groups and sometimes in the temple and shared their common experiences of Christ and their growing knowledge of truth (Acts 2:46, 5:42).
Denominations are walls obstructing restoration
Denominations quench restoration. A denomination is a manmade wall with its parameters permanently set. If you go to a church in a denomination it will be fully understood which doctrines and practices are acceptable. People who venture beyond those parameters will not be welcome. Restoration requires a new wineskin and denominations have a prescribed wineskin that is not open to discussion. Even if every doctrine and practice of the organization is correct, by the very nature of its walls, it has quenched the Holy Spirit.
Jesus went outside of the walls of the city to die. The walls and the city represent old, dead religion. If we are to truly know Jesus we must “…go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come” (Heb. 13:13, 14). When we go to Him outside the camp of religion, we face the reproach he endured because the keepers of the old paradigm will not accept us and will do everything to keep our voice from being heard. Throughout history, the men who wanted to move to the new paradigm of God were always persecuted and often killed for their faith. It is the same today in many ways.
So, you say you seek the restoration of the church. Are you willing to deny yourself and your desires? Are you willing to die to your selfish soul with its old stale ways? Are you willing to humble yourself before God so that you can pray prayers that unleash His will in the earth? Are you willing to repent from sins and old dead religion and turn to face the living God? Are you willing to bear the reproach of the keepers of the old church form? Then, and only then, will God forgive us, cleanse us and bring restoration. After 50 years of waiting, I’m ready. Are you?
