Is it not true that men living today have the exact same inspired instructions which were sent by the apostles and prophets to the Christians in the first century which taught them matters pertaining to the church? If men today have the very same instructions to build the church as did the early Christians, then why cannot those of us today build according to this same “blueprint” and become not merely like that church, but become that church?
Suppose a man builds a house from a blueprint and then stores the blueprint in a safe deposit box at a bank. Several years later the house is destroyed by fire. Upon obtaining and using the blueprint from the bank, a second house is built. Would not the second house be exactly alike in design as the original? Neither time nor the existence of several hundred differently designed houses would prevent that second house from being just like the first.
Likewise, when using the same religious blueprint for the early church, neither time nor the existence of several hundred differently designed denominations could prevent the rebuilding of that original church. Yes, we all have the same inspired instructions, which, even through the passing of time, can lead men today to build and become the church as it was built by Jesus and the apostles.
Gary Henson