INTRODUCTION
Outline.
3. The Restoration Movement
Remarks.
1. This is lesson three, in our sermon-series of the theme: “The Departure from the Faith.” It should be noted that we began this series by describing “the retraction movement” or “the departure from the faith!” Recall, we stated, that before there could be a “departure from the faith”; there must have been first, an “establishment of the faith.” One must belong before they could departure. It should also be understood – that Paul called this movement, “the faith.”
2. Finally, we will investigate the “restoration movement” or the work of faithful men to bring believers back to the bible and to “the faith.” The movement was happening throughout the world – and not just in America. It was called by some “the Great Awakening.” Honest and sincere men and women were seeking the “truth which is after godliness,” Titus 1:1-3. It exploded in America around the early 1800s and has continued until this day. This period gave birth to men of faith such as, “Barton W. Stone, ‘Raccoon’ John Smith, James O’Kelly, Thomas, and Alexander Campbell”; just to mention a few. We will highlight the difference between these two movements. The one, “reformation movement” attempted to reform existing religions; the other “restoration movement” sought to restore the faith and practices of the New Testament; “that faith, once delivered unto the saints,” Jude 3; Ephesians 4:4. With this introduction let’s discussed the “restoration”; in this three-lesson series.
BODY OF LESSON
III THE RESTORATION MOVEMENT
A. Reformers sought to reform denominationalism and each failed. The failure of the “Reformation Movement” was due largely in the inability of these religious leaders to unite in any doctrine of the New Testament. This failure resulted in a new movement, which was called the “Restoration Movement.” Remember, these teachers and preachers would have “itching ears and would turn away from the truth,” 2 Timothy 4:3. Reformers could not form a single message to “unify” their work, in reforming Catholicism. In the Restoration:
1. The men that made up this movement determined it was necessary to return to the “pattern” outlined in the New Testament and form its faith, teaching and religious practices solely upon it.
2. They sought out the church in the New Testament; its faith, plan of salvation and religious practices.
3. They sought out biblical authority for the plan of church organization; salvation, evangelism, communion, and worship. Notice:
a. First, they realized they could not improve or make better what God had already ordained in the New Testament.
b. Further, they sought to follow the “pattern of conversion,” as outlined in the New Testament.
c. Next, they sought to restore in the New Testament church with its doctrine and religious practices.
d. Finally, they preached the gospel as it was outlined in the New Testament.
1) They became known as “restoration preachers.”
2) The “restoration movement” began in many countries around the world at the same time; and it eventually made its way to America, in order to flee religious oppression.
B. Methodist preacher, James O’Kelly. The Restoration Movement had its initial beginning in Ireland and England. It started in America around 1739, by a preacher called, James O’Kelly.
1. James O’Kelly was a Methodist by religious profession, who believed in the New Testament’s form of “congregational government.”
2. He withdrew himself from the Methodist faith in Mankintown, Virginia, in 1739.
3. He formed a group of believers called themselves, the New Testament church, and by the name “Christians,” Acts 11:26.
C. Baptist preachers. Here are two Baptist preachers that were instrumental in the “Restoration Movement.” These men were concerned with restoring the “Ancient Order of Things,” Jeremiah 6:16. This meant a return to the bible for its doctrine and principles given to the First Century church. Notice:
1. Dr. Abner Jones. He was a Baptist by religious profession. He became dissatisfied with party names and creeds that plagued its membership.
a. His ministry. Elder Jones had entered the ministry in 1801. He organized several Christian churches in New Hampshire and Boston, Massachusetts, prior to settling in Haverhill, Massachusetts and preaching in nearby Salem.
1) In 1811, he attended worship at the Christian Church in Assonet, Massachusetts. In his memoirs, it is mentioned that this church had formerly been of the Baptist denomination, but had come in recent years into the Christian Connexion. He continued to preach in New Hampshire and Milan, New York until 1833.
2) In September 1833, he accepted the post of minister in the Assonet church. In 1835, his wife, Damaris, died and was buried in the churchyard. She along with several others would later be moved to the Assonet Burying Ground.
3) Elder Jones left Assonet in early 1838, moving first to Portsmouth, New Hampshire and then Upton, Massachusetts.
4) In 1839, he married Nancy F. Clark (also Clarke) of Nantucket, and in 1840 he moved from Upton to Exeter, New Hampshire. After his death in 1841, his funeral was conducted by the Reverend Elijah Shaw of Lowell.
b. His writings. Abner Jones wrote many hymns, and together with Elias Smith, he published multiple hymnals for use in the Christian Churches. In 1807, at the request of others, he wrote his autobiography, "The Life and Experience, Travels and Preaching of Abner Jones." Almost half a century later, his son would use this book as the basis of his own book "Memoirs of Abner Jones.
c. His teachings. The following summarizes the basis of his beliefs in support of the “Restoration Movement.”
1) He began preaching that “party names” should be abolished and abandoned.
2) He formed a group of believers in Lyndon, Vermont, in September 1801.
3) He taught believers should be called the New Testament Church and “Christians.”
4) He was instrumental in leading many to the “saving faith in Christ.”
d. Reference, the Centennial of Religious Journalism, "Thy kingdom come," edited by John Pressley Barrett, Second Edition, Dayton, Ohio: Christian Publishing Association, 1908, pages 285-296.
2. “Raccoon” John Smith. John was baptized into the Baptist faith at an early age, in 1799. He became a Baptist preacher in 1808 and began his first work in the Bethel Baptist Church in Parmleysville, Kentucky. In the spring of 1824, Alexander Campbell visited Kentucky and met with Raccoon John Smith and Barton W. Stone at Flemingsburg.
a. His ministry.
1) First, for John, this meeting was the realization of a long-anticipated dream. Although none of the three ministers had met each other, the trio established a foundation that eventually led to the union of the three men of God under a “common faith"; that "faith once delivered unto the saint." Stone was a leader in the Cane Ridge Revival and had become fascinated with Campbell's ideas.
2) Following this meeting with Alexander Campbell, John openly disavowed the tenets of the Baptist faith. His announcement stunned the Baptist community and struck hard at his old friends in Wayne County.
3) He continued to be their friend, but he was no longer welcome in their gatherings. Conventional Baptists rejected the Campbell-Smith-Stone doctrines and condemned “Raccoon” John Smith, as a traitor and apostate teacher and preacher.
b. His teachings.
1) The movement grew, culminating in the establishment of the new Christian Church in 1831. One of the first Christian Churches to be organized was in Wayne County.
2) Elder Smith gave a “unity” sermon on New Year’s Day, 1832 in Lexington, Kentucky. The lesson resulted in the unifying of two different groups in the “Restoration Movement.”
3) Elder Smith was credited with pioneering the cause of Christian “unity” by the restoration of New Testament Christianity.
4) Raccoon John Smith was known as one of the greatest evangelists of his day. He ministered not just to a community, but to an entire state and to the nation. The inscription on Elder Smith's monument in the Lexington Cemetery is concise, meaningful and worded so thoughtfully: “In memory of John Smith, an elder of the Church of Christ.”
D. Presbyterian preachers. These made up many of the restoration preachers.
1. Barton W. Stone a Presbyterian preacher. First ordained a Presbyterian minister, he and four other ministers of the Washington Presbytery resigned after arguments about doctrine and enforcement of policy by the Kentucky Synod. This was in 1803 after Stone had helped lead the mammoth Cane Ridge Revival, a several-day communion season attended by nearly 20,000 persons. Notice:
a. Stone and the others briefly founded the Springfield Presbytery, which they dissolved the following year, resigning from the Presbyterian Church altogether. They formed what they called the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), based on scripture rather than a creed representing the opinion of man.
b. He later became allied with Alexander Campbell, a former Presbyterian minister who was also creating an independent path, sometimes allied with Baptists, and formed the Restoration Movement. Stone's followers were first called "New Lights" and "Stoneites." Later he and Campbell tried to bring groups together that relied solely on the Scriptures. The Stone Christian Churches and Churches of Christ and Campbell Disciples of Christ developed from this movement.
c. He became famous in Cane Ridge, Kentucky in 1801. During his month-long revival meetings, he preached a return to the New Testament pattern. He would later unite with the Campbell in their restoration efforts. Barton W. Stone taught:
1) The bible is the only rule of faith.
2) All believers should be united and abandon all creeds.
3) The bible is a pattern for the NT church, and
4) Believers should call themselves Christians.
d. The Last Will and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery. To publicize the dissolution of this association; they signed a document entitled “The Last Will and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery.”
1) This tract willed that "this body dies, be dissolved, and sink into union with the “Body of Christ” at large."
2) It expressed the desire for Christian union and identified the Bible as the only standard of Christian faith and practice.
3) In addition to signing the Last Will and Testament, they agreed to take "no other name than Christians" on the basis that it was "the name first given by divine authority to the Disciples of Christ. Soon, they adopted the name "Christian" to identify their group.
4) Thus, remnants from the Springfield Presbytery eventually became known as the Christian Church. It is estimated that the Christian Church numbered about 12,000, by the beginning of the 1830s.
e. His preaching marked the turning point of the restoration movement in America. The "Christian" movement associated with Stone merged with the "Disciples" movement led by Alexander Campbell, in 1832.
1) This was formalized at the High Street Meeting House in Lexington, Kentucky with a handshake between Barton W. Stone and "Raccoon" John Smith. Smith had been chosen, by those present, to speak in behalf of the followers of the Campbell’s.
2) A preliminary meeting of the two groups was held in late December 1831, culminating with their merger on January 1, 1832.
3) Campbell had been publishing the Christian Baptist since 1823, and Stone the Christian Messenger since 1826. Through these publications, they had begun bringing their followers closer together in “uniting under Christ.”
f. Stone died on November 9, 1844, in Hannibal, Missouri at the home of his daughter. His body was buried on his farm in Morgan County, Illinois. His final resting place was in Cane Ridge, Kentucky, after internment. Reference, Revolvy.com/topic/Barton W. Stone.
2. Thomas and Alexander Campbell came to America from Ireland in the early 1800s. They settled in Washington County, Penn., in 1807. They were Presbyterians by religious profession. Both became dissatisfied with the doctrine of “closed communion.” They withdrew themselves from their religious order and began to preach a “key principles” of the restoration movement.
a. The “Restoration Movement” has been characterized by several key principles:
1) Christianity should not be divided; Christ intended the creation of one church.
2) Creeds divide, but Christians should be able to find agreement by standing on the Bible itself (from which they believe all creeds are but human expansions or constrictions).
3) Ecclesiastical traditions divide, but Christians should be able to find common ground by following the practice (as best as it can be determined) of the early church.
4) Names of human origin divide, but Christians should be able to find common ground by using biblical names for the church (i.e., "Christian Church", "Church of God" or "Church of Christ" as opposed to "Methodist" or "Lutheran", etc.).
5) Conclusion: These principles made up the basis for the movement. One thing that took longer for the reformers to come into agreement upon was what the New Testament taught, on “baptism for the remission of sins.” Campbell, Stone, and Smith eventually came together in their agreement, that “baptism for the remission of sins” was necessary in order to obey the gospel of Christ, as outlined in Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16.
b. Thus, the church, “should stress only what all Christians hold in common and should suppress all divisive doctrines and practices.” A number of slogans have also been used in the “Restoration Movement,” which were intended to express some of the distinctive themes of the Movement. These include:
1) "Where the Scriptures speak, we speak; where the Scriptures are silent, we are silent.”
2) "The church of Jesus Christ on earth is essentially, intentionally, and constitutionally one."
3) "We are Christians only, but not the only Christians."
4) "In essentials, unity; in opinions, liberty; in all things love."
5) "No creed but Christ, no book but the Bible, no law but love, no name but the divine."
6) "Do Bible things in Bible ways."
7) “Call Bible things by Bible names."
c. Alexander Campbell held many debates, meetings and wrote many volumes to enlighten believers in “sound doctrine” and the “faith” that once existed in the first-century church.
d. He was instrumental in restoring the New Testament Church and Christianity. It would be impractical to list the many contributions to the “Restoration Movement,” Alexander Campbell has imparted. His many debates, articles, the “Declaration and Address;” and his “Sermon on the Law” presented in the Bush Run Church, in 1816, are just a few of his writings that gave direction to the movement in America.
e. Alexander advanced the cause of Christ through a paper known as the “Millennial Harbinger.” He “contended and defended the faith” throughout his entire life’s work in the Restoration Movement. Reference, Revolvy.com/topic/Alexander Campbell.
3. Walter Scott came to America around 1818. He was a Presbyterian by profession, who found trouble defending his faith. He abandoned his faith the same year; and immediately confessed Christianity. He began to preach the restoration of the New Testament church and doctrine. He was one of the four key early leaders in the Restoration Movement, along with Barton W. Stone, Thomas Campbell and Thomas' son Alexander Campbell. He was a successful evangelist and helped to stabilize the Campbell movement as it was separating from the Baptists.
a. Walter Scott’s teaching. He taught that:
1) Faith is necessary to change the heart.
2) Repentance is required to change ones life.
3) Baptism is commanded to change the state.
4) Remission of sins is granted to cleanse from guilt, and
5) The Holy Spirit is provided to help the believers to live the Christian life, and as the assurance of being “the sons of God.”
b. Walter Scott’s ministry.
1) After moving to Pittsburgh, he was baptized by immersion and became an active member of a small congregation led by a fellow Scotsman named George Forrester. Forrester helped shape Walter's understanding of Christianity and in particular his belief that immersion was the only appropriate form of baptism.
2) The congregation in Pittsburgh influenced by the movement led by James and Robert Haldane. The Haldane’s hoped to restore New Testament Christianity:
a) Rejected the authority of creeds, observed the Lord's Supper weekly.
b) Substituted believer's baptism by immersion as opposed to infant baptism.
3) Scott married Sarah Whitsette, in 1823, and the family moved to Ohio in 1826. He began working with the Campbell’s in August of that year. He was hired to work as an evangelist in 1827.
a) Within three years he brought over 3,000 converts into the movement.
b) At that time the Campbell’s were associated with the Mahoning Baptist Association; as the number of converts grew, conflicts with other Baptists also grew.
4) In 1839 Scott and the Campbell’s disassociated themselves from the Baptists.
5) Scott continued to preach after 1829, but increasingly his focus shifted to writing. In 1852 the family moved to Covington, Kentucky where he established a school for women.
6) He was famous for his preaching of the New Testament church and the “apostles doctrine,” Acts 2:42. Reference, Revolvy.com/topic/Walter Scott.
E. Contributions of the Restoration Movement. These men did what the reformers could not do. Success came from their willingness to follow the New Testament “pattern.” They did not establish another order, or denomination. They restored the church of the New Testament; with its plan of salvation, government, worship and religious practices. I would ask this august body of people in this audience:
1. If we preached the New Testament, could we enjoy a similar success?
2. I believe so. Don’t You? And If not, why not!
3. Would you join with us in our effort to continue the restoration of the New Testament church here in this city, during this week?
3. Will you unite with us in our continued effort, to preach “Christ and Him Crucified?” Before I conclude, let me review quickly what was presented in this lesson.
CONCLUSION
A. Outline.
3. The Restoration Movement
B. Remarks.
1. Finally, we have concluded this series by reviewing the “restoration movement” or the work of faithful men to bring believers back to the bible and to “the faith.” The movement happened throughout the world – and not just in America. It was called by some “the Great Awakening.” Honest and sincere men and women were seeking for the “truth which is after godliness,” Titus 1:1-3. It exploded in America around the early 1800s and has continued unto this day.
2. This period gave birth to men of faith such as: “Barton W. Stone, ‘Raccoon’ John Smith, James O’Kelly, Thomas and Alexander Campbell”; just to mention a few. We highlighted the difference between these two movements. The, “reformation movement” attempted to reform existing religions; but, the “restoration movement” sought to restore the faith and practices of the New Testament: “that faith, once delivered unto the saints,” Jude 3; Ephesians 4:4. We are grateful to these men and their work; and rejoice in the success of their efforts to restore the church of Christ and its teachings and religious practices.
3. This concludes our three lesson series in: “The Departure from the Faith.”
C. Invitation. Extend heaven's invitation, Matthew 11:28-30.
D. Motivate.
E. Persuade.
