3.10 - THE RESTORATION

THE RESTORATION

We come, friends and brethren, to the closing service of this week. I want to acknowledge my appreciation of your presence and faithfulness throughout the services thus far. I rejoice that such a large number of you has followed, with apparent interest, that which has been said, though, perhaps, many have not believed all I have stated. With you, personally, I have no fault to find.

It is necessary to understand the background of any movement. To illustrate, no one can appreciate the apostasy and the falling away of the primitive church unless first he has a conception of what it was. He would be utterly unable to gauge, as he should, the value of the great Reformation, unless he had a concrete idea of the ecclesiastical order that preceded it.

Just so, unless we had studied the period of the Reformation and the history as a background, I think it would be impossible for us to appreciate another great movement that followed about three hundred years later, known as the Restoration movement. Each one of these, therefore, is connected with the other, and serves as a background which makes each stand out in its own light all the clearer, and the more appreciatively by those who really want to learn the facts concerning it. With the emergence of the world from the dark ages, those rays of light that were flashed across the Reformers’ path of the sixteenth century have lent wonderful illumination to all succeeding ages.

I really feel tonight that I will never be able to express, or to pay the debt of gratitude that I owe to such men as Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox, John Wesley and a host of others. I am glad they have lived. But for their breaking away from the hierarchy that held the world in subjection, we might still be in religious bondage, afraid to express our independence, or to worship God as we might wish.

Martin Luther gave to the world all open Bible. He caused it to be unchained from the pulpit, flung it wide to the pew, and bade humanity exercise its own judgment regarding its sublime teachings.

John Calvin, in a most scholarly manner, emphasized the sovereignty, the dignity of Jehovah. Then came John Wesley, and put into the religion of the time, heart-power, spirituality, that warmth and devotion from the lack of which the world was then suffering.

All of these men taught a great many things that were true. And be it remembered that truth is a universal matter, not to be cornered on, nor to be monopolized by any religious set or order. Whatever truth Martin Luther presented I am perfectly willing to accept. The same can be said with reference to all the others. The thing that I have condemned and sought only to emphasize, is that these men had no right to form all organization or a denomination concerning which the Bible hasn’t a word to say: And instead of such organizations proving a blessing, I think a careful study of the historic past, as well as the lamentable condition of the present hour will evidence, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the exact reverse.

I come, ladies and gentlemen, to speak of another movement which had its beginning about the first of the nineteenth century.

Denominationalism had spread rapidly over the countries of Europe, and was well established in various parts of our own land. With the passing of the years, a general state of religious confusion and the retarding of the onward march of the banner of Christ were observed by those who had his cause at heart.

Good men, honest characters, souls devoted to the truth, and anxious to find it, began to make observations. Let us try to analyze some of the conditions that prevailed.

First, there was a divided church. Everybody who will stop to think about it knows that the forces of God’s people ought not to be divided. There is not a man in Nashville who can successfully defend the present status of religious affairs. The prayer of Christ, the pleading of the apostles and the admonition of the Holy Spirit were that God’s people ought to be one. And yet more than a hundred denominations had brought the world into a state of confusion more and more confounded. Each of these was jealous of the other. Each one was contending against the other, and instead of being a solid phalanx, they were hopelessly divided into detachments prompted by rivalry and denominational jealousy. While they were thus warring, fighting, and trying to devour each other, the devil’s forces marched on in a solid body. But that is not all. History reveals the fact that about one hundred years ago the most arrogant clergy of all the ages led the religious element.

Preachers do not always know as much as they should, and it is a fact that ignorance and arrogance go hand in hand. Instead of the preachers being of the common mass, they sought to make broader the chasm between themselves and the common people. They got up, so to speak, on stilts, and bade ordinary folks look up to them as lords of all. They coveted such titles and distinctions as would galvanize them into prominence and respectability. They were in harmony with what the Saviour said, "the blind were leading the blind." In those days there was a beclouded theology. The Bible, instead of being a book properly divided, was a perfect jumble, thrown together without harmony, system or order. Men considered that the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ was a thing better felt than told, that man was wholly passive in conversion, and that the Holy Spirit, in some mysterious and miraculous manner, performed His wonders upon the hearts of men, who were wholly unable to resist His mighty power.

Physical sounds and noises, signs and experiences, dreams and visions, were taken as evidences of pardon, rather than what the Word of God said.

All of that but tended to retard and to hinder a lucid understanding of the Bible, and the blending together of religious forces.

Once more, that was all age when human creeds proved the general curse of the world. Let me say to you today, that creeds are comparatively harmless as to what they were a hundred years ago. Regardless of the type and the character of the man, he had to subscribe to the iron-clad rules of the creed, and if the preacher was too long they sawed him off to suit the creed; and if he was too short, they stretched him out to measure up to the full tenets of the declarations written, to which they had pledged allegiance and obedience.

Again, let me say, that the beginning of the nineteenth century was a period of blatant unbelief not far from atheism. The skepticism of Europe had taken firm root in America. Our own civilization was rapidly moving westward, but the church and its influence were not found in these border settlements.

Tom Paine had but recently written his great "Age of Reason," and it spread like wildfire o’er the face of the earth. Tom Paine was held up as all ideal, and in the great universities like Yale and various others, there were numbers of Paine societies, holding aloft the blackest banner, under which the youth of the land, in their educational period, was marching on to destruction, death and hell at last. The divided state of the world religiously was unable to meet the situation, and therefore something had to be done.

History tells us that even in the Old World they were not unmindful of these conditions, and certain men put forth every effort of their being to call a halt in the divided state of Christendom. The Haldane brothers, of the country of Scotland, devoted a long period of their lives in all earnest, honest effort to cut loose from human affairs, human denominations, and return to the apostolic order, and to the restoration of the New Testament principles.

Thomas Campbell, long before he ever came to America, as a member of the Seceder Church of Scotland, labored studiously and earnestly to bring about a oneness among the four branches of the Presbyterian Church then accepting the Westminster Confession of Faith.

While those efforts did not produce concrete results, they, doubtless, planted the seed which had effect, not only in the Old World, but also in our own fair land. In the New World, long before the days of the Campbells, or even that of Barton W. Stone, the idea of oneness and the leaven of unity had already begun to work, and be it said tonight, that in the ranks of the Methodist Church the first outspoken word was presented. The form of government adopted by the Methodist Church had brought division among them. Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury believed in the prelate system and demanded all episcopal form of government. James O’Kelly, a very prominent Methodist preacher of the time, rebelled and insisted that Methodism be launched on the principle of congregational government. When they could no longer walk together, on Christmas day, 1793, over here at Manakin Town, N. C., a secession took place. At first those led by O’Kelly called themselves "Republican Methodists," but later they threw away the name Methodist altogether, accepted the name "Christian," and declared that nothing but the Bible would be their rule of faith and practice.

You may think that Alexander Campbell was the first man who ever made such a demand, but you are wonderfully mistaken. All of this occurred eighteen years before Campbell ever saw America.

Now, you ask, what became of the O’Kelly movement? Because the time was not quite ready, and due to the fact that Mr. O’Kelly did not have within him sufficient ability as a leader, he was unable to gain headway, and the cause that he espoused was temporarily buried under the onrush of episcopacy. The next movement along this same line was within the ranks of the Baptist Church, up in the state of Vermont, in the year 1800, when a very prominent Baptist preacher, Dr. Abner Jones, founded some churches at Lyndon, VT., Bradford and Pierpont, N. H., which threw away the name "Baptist," and assumed the name "Christian." They repudiated the Philadelphia Confession of Faith, and declared the Bible, and the Bible alone, as the only standard by which to be governed. Do you call that Campbellism? That was in the year 1800. Alexander Campbell never came to America until nine years after. Was James O’Kelly a Campbellite when he discarded the name Methodist, threw away the Methodist discipline, and announced the Bible as his only rule of faith and practice?

He had never heard of such a man as Alexander Campbell, who was then but a boy back in the schoolroom in Ireland.

Friends, these are efforts that preceded the coming of that matchless leader who was able to carry such a principle against the contending forces, and make it felt over all the world. But that is not all. In the year 1801, Barton W. Stone, born at Port Tobacco, Md., had come to the state of Kentucky as a young Presbyterian preacher. He was educated in a Methodist theological school, and later held the chair of literature for quite a while. He was one of the most highly educated young men of his day. In the summer of 1801, the greatest meeting of all history was held at Cane Ridge, Ky. It is said that more than 20,000 people camped on the grounds and remained until the food supply of the community failed. Mr. Stone was doing the preaching and was assisted by a number of colaborers, viz., Richard McNemar, John Thompson, John Dunlavy, David Purviance, and Robert Marshall. Their preaching was in direct opposition to the "Confession of Faith." They taught a universal salvation and that every one, without the aid of the miraculous influence of the Spirit, could be saved. Such preaching brought down upon them the wrath and condemnation of every one loyal to the creed. These men were tried for heresy, and would have been excommunicated had they not, themselves, withdrawn from the jurisdiction of the church. When such news reached the synod, a committee was sent to wait upon these brethren and to reclaim them. Matthew Houston was one of that committee, and, after hearing their story, he was converted to the righteousness of their cause. By the year 1804, these were wholly out of the Presbyterian Church and had accepted the Bible alone as their only rule of faith and practice, with no family name except "Christian."

Old Cane Ridge meeting house, near Paris, Ky., stands unto this day as a monument to the cause of Christian unity, the discarding of human names, and the relegating of human creeds to the background. In the year 1807, Thomas Campbell came to this country. He was a Presbyterian preacher, whose influence in Scotland had been exceedingly great, and whose personality, piety, learning and devotion won for him the admiration of those who came in contact with him.

Just as he reached the shores of America the Presbyterian synod happened to be in session in the city of Philadelphia. He went before that body, and was cordially received, and was given work in Washington County, Pennsylvania. He gladly accepted the mission assigned.

There were scattered Presbyterians all over that section who were as sheep without a shepherd, and who for years had not the privilege of the sacred supper. He set the table of the Lord on the first day of the week, and invited his fellow-Presbyterians of different congregations to join in and to celebrate the feast.

Now, mark this point. It was against Presbyterian custom for members of any congregation to partake of the Supper outside of their individual church. The Baptists of today have never practiced close communion any more strictly than did the Seceders at this particular time. When news of Campbell’s practice reached the synod, he was called to account for it and was severely criticized. He argued the question with them, and made a masterly appeal. But it was all in vain, and in order to preserve his self-respect and loyalty to his convictions, but one course was left. He, therefore, said: "Henceforth, I decline all ministerial connection with, or subjection to, the Associate Synod of North America." This withdrawal did not lessen his labors. He continued to preach in the homes of his friends, where the people heard him gladly. In a special meeting at the home of Abraham Altars, Campbell made a great speech, exalting the Bible as the all-sufficient rule of faith and practice. In this speech he uttered those words which have been the slogan of unity from then till now, viz.: "Where the Scriptures speak, we speak; and where the Scriptures are silent, we are silent." On August 17, 1809, another important meeting was held, when it was determined to organize, not a church, but "The Christian Association of Washington." A report of this was embodied in that great "Declaration and Address"’ which has ever been the most remarkable production of its kind in all the world. In this he emphasizes the fact that the church of the New Testament is essentially, intentionally, and constitutionally one; that while there are local congregations, there should be no schisms or divisions among them. Furthermore, he said, "There shall be no tests of fellowship or anything practiced among us but that for which there is express authority in the Word of God."

Third, he declared that the New Testament is a perfect constitution, so that whatever is not authorized therein, or taught thereby, is not to be demanded of any man. And, again, nothing is to be accepted or practiced, unless it is as old as the New Testament.

Friends, these are the very sentiments expressed by the Methodist, O’Kelly, and by the Baptist, Dr. Abner Jones. In the month of September following this declaration, Alexander Campbell came to America with his mother and other members of the family. The father, Thomas, met them, and on their journey from the coast back to western Pennsylvania, the father and son discussed the religious situation of the hour. But young Alexander, while in Scotland, had learned of the work of the Haldanes, and had been convinced that the religious curse of the world was the division that existed. When he read this address, and the declaration of the principles enunciated by his father, it was found that their sentiments were in perfect accord. From that time, the young man resolved to dedicate the remnant of his days to the promulgation of the principles incorporated in that wonderful document. By virtue of the superior strength and natural leadership, the relative position of the father and son was soon changed, and hence Alexander Campbell began to rise in the estimation of all men and continued to be able to show forth the soundness of the foundation and the wisdom of those principles that would, if carried into effect, result in the uniting of the people of God in all matters of faith. His theory and practice was: "In faith, unity; in opinion, liberty; and in all things, charity." But this Christian Association of Washington did not want to become another church. They repudiated the name "Presbyterian," without any disrespect to the name, but on the ground that it is not the God-given name of the Bible. They would not accept the Philadelphia Confession of Faith as their creed, but said they were willing to work with the Presbyterians, rather than form themselves into a different body. They soon found, however, that the blending was not congenial and harmonious, and that there was but one thing for them to do, viz., to meet together as a band of disciples, wearing no other name than that found in the Bible, and subscribing to no other creed than the Word of God. Accordingly, on the fourth day of May, 1811, at old Brush Run, in what is now West Virginia, they assembled, thirty-six in number. Alexander Campbell preached to them and together they observed the Lord’s supper.

Question: What kind of a body is that? What do you call them? They claimed to be Disciples, Christians, followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, aloof from any denomination under heaven, without allegiance to any man-made book, ritual or confession of faith known in all the world. But not a single one of them had as yet been baptized. They had been sprinkled, I grant you, but that is not baptism. So a year sped by, and they were finding their way, guided only by the Word of God. Finally, in the month of June, 1812, Alexander Campbell decided that nobody ought to be baptized except all adult, a character who could believe God’s Word, repent of his sins, and acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord of all. He came to the conclusion from the study of the Bible that baptism was for the remission of sins. He simply read that word for word as recorded by inspiration. So he set about to find someone to immerse him. He made quite a little journey up the country to the home of Elder Luce, a Baptist preacher. On his way he stopped by his father’s home and his sister, Dorothea, told him that, after having read her Bible carefully, she had decided that infant baptism was untaught. Alexander replied that he and his wife had come to the same conclusion and he was then on his way to secure Elder Luce to immerse him.

Thomas Campbell and wife, James Hanen and wife, also decided to be immersed, and thus a great crowd assembled on the banks of Buffalo Creek to witness the unusual. Both Thomas and Alexander made addresses, stating their reasons for taking the step. As they talked about that, the Baptist preacher said, "It is contrary to Baptist doctrine to baptize upon the simple confession made by Peter, but I believe it is the truth." At the risk of being turned put of the Baptist Church, Mr. Luce performed the act in the name of the Lord.

Now, you ask what led them to do that? No church had so taught. No creed had made such a demand. The only influence in the wide, wide world was the teaching of God’s Book. It meant to them the giving up of Presbyterianism, a doctrine then as dear to their hearts as it is to any of you tonight. But because of their having studied, and being sufficiently honest to accept God’s Word, they walked in the light as it shone around about them.

It wasn’t their purpose to continue as a separate organization. That was the very thing that they didn’t want to do. Already there were too many denominations and religious bodies. When it was seen that they had accepted immersion as the only act, and adults as the only subjects, the Baptist organization invited them into the Red Stone Association of Pennsylvania. With the hope that other differences might be adjusted, and that those who claim to be Christians should be united, they accepted the invitation and passed into the above association, where they remained for some time.

While with the Baptists, Mr. Campbell, at their request, met in debate Rev. John Walker in 1820, and Rev. William McCalla in 1822. Both of these were Presbyterians. At the close of the McCalla debate, in a private conference, he said to them: "Brethren I fear that if you knew me better you would esteem and love me less, for let me tell you that I have almost as much against you Baptists as I have against the Presbyterians." At a meeting of the association at Cross Creek, Va., in 1816, Campbell had preached a sermon which proved to be the entering wedge of separation between him and the Baptists. That day he took for his text the "Law of Moses" and preached one of the most memorable discourses that has ever been proclaimed this side of inspiration. In that sermon Mr. Campbell taught a proper division of the Word of God. He showed that there were three separate and distinct dispensations, viz.: the patriarchal, Jewish, and the Christian. He made the Bible a sensible, orderly, systematic book, giving to each one his portion in due season.

He also had occasion to suggest that while the law prevailed for 1,600 years, when Christ was suspended on the cross, he took it out of the way, having blotted out the handwriting of the ordinances which was contrary to us and nailed it unto the cross. He then gave us a better covenant, founded upon better promises. He also announced that conversion was sane, sober and sensible, rather than miraculous and mysterious as was generally believed. When he had finished that address, which lasted, I think, for more than two hours, the great number felt that such was the exact doctrine of the Book, but some of the leading Baptist preachers of the associations took exception and declared it impossible for them to accept all analysis of that kind. So then, when matters were no logger congenial, and the prospect of unifying their forces had been blotted out, Campbell and others withdrew from the Red Stone Association. Soon after a more liberal Baptist organization, of Ohio, opened wide its doors, and insisted that Mr. Campbell, and those with him, unite with it.

Because of all earnest desire to unify the people of God, and to bring to pass the answer to the prayer of the immaculate Son of Mary, whether wisely or not, they entered into the Mahoning Association. There they remained until about 1830, and then it dawned upon them as clearly as the rays of the noon-day sun that the Bible nowhere authorizes any kind of all association or body other than the church. Finally public announcement was made that they were not moving along Scriptural lines. Campbell preached to the people of the Mahoning Association, and declared that the very association itself was all organization unknown to the Book. The result was that the entire association was led to throw aside the Baptist name, all kinds of creeds, disband as all association, and together march under the banner of Christ Jesus our Lord, members of no organization save the church bought by the blood of Jesus. Not until 1824 did Mr. Campbell ever meet Mr. Barton W. Stone. During these years, Stone, "Raccoon" John Smith, and various other prominent men had a great following in the State of Kentucky. At this first meeting at Georgetown, Ky., it was found that there was almost perfect agreement between them. Eight years thereafter, they met again in the city of Lexington, Ky., on Christmas Day, and there decided to blend together their efforts. From that day on the followers of Stone and those of Campbell became one. They wore no name but "Christian," subscribed to no creed but the Bible, and emphasized that unity for which Christ had prayed and the apostles pleaded.

I have thus recited to you that which is a matter of history. I think Alexander Campbell was a great man, but I do not think he was any more honest, any more sincere, or that he loved God any better than did any of those others whose history I have already recited. But when I tell you that he had the advantage of them, I but speak that which you can see, with a moment’s consideration. He lived 300 years after Martin Luther, and 100 years this side of John Wesley. He had all that they had taught. He had their experience, and had observed the fruits of their labors. Therefore, he was the better prepared to size up conditions as they were, locate the trouble, and to diagnose the ailment that prevailed among the professed followers of the Lord. Since the days of inspiration, I do not believe the superior of Alexander Campbell has- ever lived upon this earth. He was great in almost every sense of such a word. I appreciate him and his labors as I do but very few of whom I have ever read or learned, but I do not wear his name or claim him the head of any church. This is not because I want to reflect upon him, but I believe that there is a name ten thousand times fairer and brighter and grander than was his. Hence, I prefer to wear the name of Christ Jesus our Lord, rather than that of Martin Luther, Calvin, John Wesley, Alexander Campbell, or any other human that ever lived or died.

You ask me tonight, "Hardeman, did Alexander Campbell found a church?" I answer, "No." Campbell disclaimed any such. I know that some histories so state, but in so doing they fail to understand what Campbell had in mind and the purpose of his labors. The one thing he tried to impress was that churches founded by men were unscriptural, and were responsible for a divided state of affairs.

Let me review by saying, it was the purpose and intention of Martin Luther to reform Catholicism, but by experience he found it impossible. It was the object of John Wesley to reform Episcopalianism, and likewise that was a failure. Alexander Campbell, together with the host of his colaborers, never started out to reform anything. Their purpose was to restore that which once existed on the earth, and which had been buried underneath the rubbish of ecclesiasticism for hundreds of year.

They endeavored to dig down beneath denominationalism and skepticism, and to plant again that which was inaugurated by the Man of Galilee, and form themselves into all organization exactly like that which they read about on the memorable Pentecost of long ago.

There were two principles upon which they reasoned that made such a thing possible of accomplishment. First, a crop is produced proportionate to the seed planted, and second, according to the soil. They said, "If we have the same seed on earth now as Peter had on Pentecost, and if we have the same soil as they had back there, it is possible to reproduce a crop exactly like theirs."

Question: Is that good sense? Is that possible?

They verily believed that they had the same seed of the kingdom as was planted by Peter. They also believed that the ground or soil was just the same. Therefore, said they, "If we cut loose from humanism, and from things of a worldly nature, and will put into the hearts of men and women the pure, simple, unadulterated word of God, it will spring up and make nothing on earth but Christians. And if those Christians thus formed, and thus developed, will blend together, they will constitute a church like unto that we read about in the Bible.

Friends, this, in brief, is what the world calls Campbellism. This was the restoration of that thing which was begun twenty centuries ago, from which the early disciples departed and went out after the fancies of men. If you believe these principles and will accept the terms of salvation as outlined by the apostles, the invitation is yours once more. Let Christ be your Leader, His word your guide, the church He bought your abiding place, and the religion He inaugurated your life work. Faithfulness to His commands will guarantee you a home in that paradise beyond.