The Restitution of All Things

The Restitution of All Things!Just as the prophets of old foretold the Great Apostasy, prophets also promised a restitution of all things lost in the Great Apostasy, as a preparation for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. But first; let’s recap the meaning of the Great Apostasy:

After the great apostasy, where all authority from God was revoked from what remained of the Church set up by Jesus, the world was thrown into utter darkness. Never before in the history of the world had there been a longer period of time when God did not have a living Prophet upon the earth. There was no-one to call people to repentance, no-one to warn them, no-one who would receive revelation from on high on how to manage the affairs if His Church.

The Apostasy led to the most wicked events and times in history of mankind. Those religionists, popes cardinals, priests, etc, who claimed to have received the keys of authority from Peter himself, were little else than murderers! They killed and banished people who did not believe the doctrines decided by the Nicene Council, and the council itself was so confused as to the doctrines of Jesus that they could not come to any agreement, except by the use of force.

Century upon century of spiritual darkness followed. Wickedness, ignorance and terrible suffering abounded. Sure, there were good people around, and; I am sure, priests too. But the living water was not available. There was no real hope for a better future. But God had foretold the end of the spiritual famine, many hundred years before it even began. He had, through his prophets guaranteed that this terrible state would not go on forever.

In the Last Days God will have a people and a Temple! This could never happen unless the spiritual famine is broken first!

2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.

3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. (Isaiah 2:2-3)

Let me explain the words of Isaiah: And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; In the last days there will once again be a Temple built (the Mountain of the Lord’s House). This Temple of God, or “the Mountain of the Lord’s House” would be built high up in the mountains. …and all nations shall flow unto it. People from every nation, kindred, tongue and people would come to that Temple in great multitudes.

And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; This Temple of God would be a place dedicated to be the House of the God of Israel (which is another name of Jacob).  …and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: It is clear that this House of God will be a place of higher religious learning, which will cause people to repent and live purer lives. …for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. There shall be two sources of knowledge of God; one source being a book which contains the words of – and about – Jesus. That book which was to come from Jerusalem, is, of course, the Bible! But there was going to be a second source of understanding, coming from a place called Zion. That source was going to be a book which contains “the Law”. It is quite logical to think that this Zion is the very place up in the mountains where the Temple of God - or the Mountain of the House of the Lord – will stand. From such a place, Zion – or the New Jerusalem - would flow the laws of the kingdom of God; the laws that will govern the restored Church of Jesus Christ.

God will call a Prophet and establish His Covenant. This is not a continuation of the spiritual famine, but the end of it!

1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:

3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.

4 Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years. (Malachi 3:1-4)

Let me explain the words of Malachi: Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: You might say: “Surely he is talking about John the Baptist”! We shall soon see… and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. Perhaps you will now confirm: “There you are! It was John the Baptist, and he is followed by Jesus coming to his Temple”! But is it so?

But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? Surely, at the time of Jesus’ mortal ministry, he did not come with fear and trembling! for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: And surely; Jesus did not come to judge in his earthly duration! 3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness. Now it must be clear! The Levites (the priestly class) did not repent, and did not offer their hearts to be made pure as silver! Quite the contrary, actually! It was the priests who forced the hand of Rome to crucify Him! It must now be obvious that this passage talks about the Last Days, and what will happen in conjunction with the second coming of Jesus! Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years. So, there will be a time when a prophet shall appear in a capacity to prepare the way of Jesus. That day, when Jesus will appear at his Temple, he will be feared by the wicked, and he will be followed by the sons of the priests who killed him! He will have a righteous people who have erected a Temple to His name. Clearly it is not talking about the first appearance of Jesus, but the second! The servant who would “prepare His ways” is the prophet who will be called to break the spiritual famine!

Apostasy and Restoration foretold by Peter.

19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;

20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:

21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

22 For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.

23 And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.

24 Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days. (Acts 3:19-24)

Let us reason around the words of Peter: when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; Refreshing is only possible to something that has lost is freshness; hence the "re" in the words "refreshing". And from where would this refreshing come? From the presence of the Lord! What comes from "the presence of the Lord"? One might argue that prophets comes fro the presence of the Lord, and angels. And if "the presence of the Lord" is concidered a place, we might have to include even God and Jesus as coming from the "presence of the Lord". So; prophets,and/or angels, and/or God himself would commence this refreshing! And this is to precede the second coming of Jesus.
This was written after the resurrection of Jesus, in the times of the Apostles. Perhaps you might say that this refreshing talks about the resurrection! Let us keep this as an option for the time being.

And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: This “sending of Jesus” quite clearly antecedes the “refreshing” spoken of. And the resurrection is not going to happen before the second coming, but at the second coming! This means that the “refreshing” is a preparatory thing to the second coming of Jesus! Let us consider the fact that there had been a famine in the land for the word of God. Would “refreshing” be a good word to describe what takes place after a famine? Let’s see if it fits… Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, And now we learn that at the time of the second coming of Jesus Christ, there will be a “restitution of all things”. This must mean that there had been a corruption of all things first! Without corruption of all things there would be no need for a restitution of all things! This means that sometime between the day that Peter wrote this text, and the coming of Jesus in glory, there was going to be a corruption of all things. This is the Great Apostasy that I keep referring to. … which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. All the holy prophets have spoken about the restitution of all things! So, they must have known about the great apostasy, too! For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.

Some people would say that Moses talked about Jesus. But do you really think Moses would liken the Son of God to himself? He thought himself to be an inadequate man, not fit for the ministry! Would he then compare himself to his own God made flesh? And when we concider the context of the words; Peter talks about prophets! And as he makes a prophecy about the restitution of all things, spoken of by all the prophets - then he makes his case by showing that Moses prophecied of a new Moses, a prophet, who would be the prophet of the restitution. Moses said that the prophet of this restitution would be of the same magnitude as he was, and that people would lose their salvation if they did not follow him! So,this is another witnsess that in the latter days there would be a special prophet who would in fact end the time of the apostasy! And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. So significant will this prophet of the restitution be, that every-one who will not believe him, and follow him, will be cut off from all the blessings of the gospel. “Destroyed from among the people” means to be cut of from the people of the Lord.

Do you want to know more about the Apostasy and restoration, feel free to contact me. I have just chosen a fraction of the words of the Bible on these subjects!

Learn the words of the Bible about the Great Apostasy!