13. What Is Campbellism? #1

SERMON 13 WHAT IS CAMPBELLISM?

If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God (1 Peter 4:11).

We speak where the Bible speaks, and are silent where the Bible is silent.—Thomas Campbell. This is Campbellism?

As this is an age of whys and wherefores, and men, in all the relations of life are willing to give a reason why, it is nothing more than reasonable that man should give a reason why he is religious, and most especially why he is a Christian.

When the church of Christ, in its purity, was overrun by sects and parties, each sect and each party claimed to be right, while many important principles were forgotten and many important matters went unobserved. There are many people who argue that there is nothing in a name; it makes no difference what name you wear so the heart is right. This thought might be true ii' it were true that man could wear any name he desired, and keep his heart right in the eight of God. But if we find in the Bible that God has ordained that man shall wear a certain name, who can claim to keep his heart right if he is living in open rebellion in the sight of God?

But before calling attention to the Bible on this proposition, it may be well to present a few thoughts by way of introduction:

• Under the head of personal names I would state that every name carries with it a certain line of thought, and stands as a fountain head from which certain ideas flow that would never once cross the mind of man if another word were used. The names Adam, Noah, Abraham, each has its own history, tells its own tale. When I speak of Adam you never think of his offering as a sacrifice, nor of God's promises to him. When I speak of Abraham, you do not think of his building an ark to save himself from the flood. Yet ii' there is nothing in a name as the religious world generally claims, you would Just as well associate one of these names with the history of another man's life as his own.

• Official names. When I speak of a king, you at once think of a ruler and down that channel the mind will flow; but ii' I speak of a priest, the mind starts off in a different direction, because that name has altogether a different meaning. The same thought is true when the name of a prophet is used.

• National names carry with them the same thought. When the names, Englishman, German, or American is used we at once assemble ideas from each name suggestive of the nation or country to which they belong.

• From a denominational standpoint this is also true. If a man says he is a Mormon, we at once suppose the name stands as a foundation of Mormonism, and are sure he believes the Book of Mormon, and that Joe Smith was a prophet sent from God. Many people who have been arguing for years that there is nothing in a name, would not only stay away from church, but would work against him all the time he was there. Notwithstanding he might preach parts of the Bible, yet they would argue that he is a Mormon.

If a man claims to be a Methodist, no one would suppose that he is a Mormon, or that he believed the Book of Mormon, but all would think that he believed the twenty-five articles of religion in the Methodist Discipline. You need not as} him if he believes in infant baptism, or pouring and sprinkling, or justification by faith only, for the very word Methodist implies that he believes them all.

If a man claims to be a Baptist, it is not necessary to ask him if he believes the Baptist eighteen articles of faith, for the very word Baptist implies that he believes them all. If I should tell that he is a Methodist or Mormon, I would do him an injustice and transgress the law of God that teaches I must not bear false witness against my neighbor.

Likewise if a man claims to be a Christian, no one should suppose that he is a Methodist, Baptist, or Mormon, neither should they ask him if he believes certain Bible doctrines, for the very word Christian implies that he believes the teaching of the word of God. Any man would not only misrepresent him, but would bear false witness against him if he should go around telling that the man is a Campbellite.

I now turn to the Bible to show why I am a Christian, rather than a Baptist, Methodist, or Mormon.

Whatever belongs to man God allows him to name; whatever belongs to God, he has named and pronounces a curse upon man whenever he changes the name thereof. We read that God in the dedication of the tabernacle said, “And they shall put my 'name' upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them” (Numbers 6:27). So we find that Israel wee a name God had given to Jacob, prior to this time (Gen. 22:28), and He decided the descendants of Jacob should wear this name We notice that God said, “All people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord, and the, shall be afraid of thee” (Deuteronomy 28:10). When they began to wander off God issued a decree saying, “It my people, which are called by 'my name,' shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

The people of God wore the name Israel until after the death of Solomon; then the kingdom was divided. and tan tribes retained the name Israel till they, for their wickedness, were cut off. Still the tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained for about two hundred and thirty-one years, wearing the name Jew in honor to Judah, instead of wearing the name Israel In honor of God. For this sin we road many prophetical declarations against them. In Isaiah 65:15 he tells them: “And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen; for the Lord God shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name.” In Isaiah 62:1-2 He says that when the Gentiles saw His righteousness, and all kings His glory, then should they be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord should name.

From here we pass for more than seven hundred years, still we do not find the children of God receiving the new name. We examine the record during Christ's work on earth; and Peter's preaching on Pentecost and no new name is given, because their preaching was to the Jews only, and the Gentiles had not yet seen the righteousness of God. But after the church was scattered from Jerusalem we find Paul selected by the Lord to bear His name to those people (Acts 11:15). In the tenth chapter of Acts we read of the first Gentiles converted; in the eleventh chapter, at Antioch, is the first account in the word of God of the Jews and Gentiles accepting the word of God together. The prophet foretold this time and said that God's children should be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord should name. But Paul had been selected by God to bear His name to this people. When news reached Jerusalem of the Jews and Gentiles receiving the word of God at Antioch, they sent Barnabas down there, and as soon as he found those things were true he went to Tarsus the home of Paul, some eighty miles away, and brought him to Antioch. “And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch” (Acts 11:26).

After this, while Paul reasoned with the king we hear Felix saying, “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian” (Acts 26:28). Peter tells us that if we suffer as a Christian not to be ashamed, but to glorify God on this behalf (1 Peter 4:16). For this reason my brethren cannot wear any other name save the one given us in the word of God. While others dishonor God and cause trouble, our brethren desire not to be partakers of their sins.

Then, sinner, I ask you seriously, do you have any excuse for not being a Christian? I ask you not to be, a Baptist, Methodist, nor a Mormon; for none of the doctrines that make these are found in the Bible. They all teach that you can be a Christian and finally go home to heaven while you are none of them, nor connected with their churches.

Then will you not have faith in Christ, turn from your sins, confess the Son of God, be baptized into Christ, and be only a Christian and finally go home to God when you die?