On page 373, volume 1854, we read:

      The attempt to restore to the world the primitive order of things, involves something more than a revival of the faith of the New Testament disciples. The effort is to restore Original Christianity; and this is something more than to have a correct view of its theory and practice. While correct views are essential to a full, and rational, and spiritual enjoyment of what God has so graciously given us in his holy word, yet this is not all, nay, it is not the vital part. While a correct theory leads us to a lucid intellectual appreciation of the beauty and grandeur of the scheme, and of our relations to, and dependence on God, as our Creator, Redeemer, and bountiful Benefactor; still, something more is requisite to place us in a proper relation to God--to place us in a state of union and communion with him, as the Source and Author of our spiritual life. If we fail in this effort for a restoration of Original Christianity--to revive primitive life, devotion and zeal--it is problematical whether or not we may do more [319] than heighten our own condemnation, and that of the world also, by increasing our light, and knowledge, and opportunities. The enlightenment of the mind must be followed by a corresponding vitality of the heart. It must be known, and must not be forgotten, that Christianity is more than intellectual enlightenment; that the conviction of the mind is but the means to the great end, object, and design of the mission of the Messiah--the regeneration of the entire man--the renewing of the life and character to an assimilation of the great type and model presented to us in the life of the Son of God. And this assimilation is, itself, but a means to the grand and ultimate conception of God in the introduction of the remedial system--namely, the restoration of man to the society of God in the heavens. This being the grand and ultimate object of the remedial plan, all its provisions are subordinate to, and in harmony with, this design. In all our efforts in teaching and preaching, this design must be kept continually before the mind; and any one who builds upon any other foundation, or with reference to any other design, is building upon the "baseless fabric of a vision." Christianity having for its object, first and last, the improvement and sanctification of the life of man, with a special reference to the glories and honors which shall be revealed to him as his own hereafter, it is evident that if this purpose be not kept in the view, both of the teacher and taught, the very object to which all that God has said and done is antecedent--is ignored.

      In view, then, of these general and fundamental truths, it becomes us to look around and see if these principles are carried out; and to this end, it is necessary that all who are interested in these great matters, first inform themselves more fully than heretofore (for we must grow in knowledge) as to what Christianity is, that they may be able, not only to teach others, and know when others are teaching and walking according to the gospel, but also that they may perfect themselves in the divine life.

      In our effort to restore primitive faith and measures, we seem, in some instances, to have overlooked, for the time being, when assailed and pressed on all sides by the incumbents of an effete and perverted Protestantism, the necessity of insisting upon all things our Lord has commanded, and impressing upon all minds that conversion is but the first step in the divine life. The light breaking so suddenly and vividly into darkness so profound, the minds of men were charmed, and seized with avidity upon the cardinal points in the proclamation of the gospel, and in their zeal to bring back the world from a corrupted gospel to the purity of Original Christianity, they left too much to the awakened mind and conscience of the converts, and presumed too much on their ardor for the completion of the begun work. While this zeal burned brightly in the hearts of the [320] early converts, just as in the days of the Apostles, all were elevated and aroused to the study of the Scriptures. This was natural to that state of excitement; and it was soon discovered by those who opposed the proposed "restoration of the ancient order of things," that all its adherents were well versed in the knowledge of the Scriptures. And during these time, the life corresponded with their profession; and, consequently, the cause progresses against all opposition, single or combined. Herein are we taught a lesson, that no opposition can withstand the onward course of pure Christianity, where its principles are illustrated in the faith and life of its adherents. The lesson had been taught us eighteen centuries ago, but the world had practically forgotten it.

      But now the battle is won, the enemies' batteries are all silenced, and we have now more time to return to the cultivation of our own fields and vineyards; to subdue the briars and thorns, the weeds and the thistles that may have sprung up in our own hearts; to turn the weapons of our warfare against our own hearts, and conquer "the world, the flesh, and Satan," as sometimes dominant in our natures. And if we are as successful in this warfare as in the others, the world will again see Jesus Christ walking the earth in the person of his saints--will again hear the jubilee of ransomed souls reverberating over every hill and along every vale; and a brighter and more glorious day--the millennial year--will bless the world with its light and joy, and peace and happiness. When this warfare is begun in earnest and prosecuted to a successful issue, then will Original Christianity once more appear among men, revived in faith and life--then will every phase of religious apostacy and corruption be driven from the earth, and "righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit," pervade and fill every heart, and unite every soul, and mankind realize the mighty truth, "Thou in me, I in thee, and THEY IN US."

      The realization of this object should be, and, indeed, is, the sole purpose and intent of the present Reformation; the realization of the desire of Jesus Christ in his ever-memorable prayer to his Father, in behalf of those who should believe on him upon the principles there laid down. This I understand to be the whole gist of this effort; for this done, all that God or man desires is accomplished. All else is false, deceptive, and useless; all else burlesque and nonsense, futile and contemptible. It is this alone that can make man a fit associate of God and angels; this union alone that will preserve him from eternal ruin; HE the only Ark in which we may safely ride the billows of life and death.

      It is to the honor of the present Reformation, that it was the first to develop, in clearer terms than had ever been done before, the primitive age, and to present, in a bold relief to the world, the grand and [321] sublime truth, that the faith of the gospel is a faith in the personality of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that a union to him is the very life of the gospel; that HE, and not doctrines, is the centre around whom all parts of the system revolve; that faith in him, and obedience to all he has commanded, is the sum and substance of the whole scheme. And this central and absorbing truth, which had lain so long entangled under the rubbish of ages, and smothered by the speculations of men--this effort to return to the primitive gospel, and to the Bible as our only source of religious knowledge, has most fully developed and demonstrated its transparency upon almost every page of the Sacred Volume.

      The gospel, then, simplified and isolated from the traditions and speculations of men, and freed from the rubbish which the apostacy had thrown upon it, demonstrates its own adaptability to the exigencies of mankind--to the learned and unlearned--to the rich and the poor. And it may not be traveling too far out of my way to observe, that it is a fact worthy of remark, that, in this attempt to return, not only to the faith and life of the primitive age, but also to a pure speech--an absolute essential to the great work--an almost contemporary effort was made by the distinguished leader in the movement, to give to the world a purer version of the Word of God in our own improved tongue. This fact has an intimacy and bearing upon this great cause, which but few may now see. The standpoint of another day will determine its relevancy and importance.

      The Word of God, pure and unadulterated, can accomplish as much now as it did in the apostolic day, for the conversion and sanctification of the Spirit; and the way is distinctly clear before us, in our effort to bring man to that state of conversion and sanctification which it is his privilege and honor to enjoy.

      Correct generalizations enable us "rightly to divide the word of truth," and adapt its instructions to the different conditions or states of man, converting the sinner, and building up the saint. Our theory upon these subjects is rational and Scriptural; and it only remains for us to devote as much attention now to the "perfecting of the saints," as we have heretofore to the conversion of sinners, in order that the whole purpose of our effort may be developed, and perfected, and realized.

      We know very well, and so teach, that conversion but ends the sinner's life and state, and introduces or begins the Christian's; that, from that time forth, he is to feed upon the "bread of life" until be grows to the fullness of the stature of a perfect man in Christ Jesus, and to go on to the perfection and sanctification of the Christian life, which is an absolutely essential prerequisite to his eternal happiness [322] in the heavens. This truth it is necessary to have constantly impressed upon the mind, and that, without this living character, our conversion will avail us nothing in the great day of reckoning. It must be confessed, and also corrected, that a vague impression exists on the minds of some, who have not grown so rapidly in knowledge as the Scriptures and their necessities require, that the great object was secured in their conversion, and that nothing more was to be done. Such persons need yet to be taught the very rudiments of Christianity--principles that lie upon the very surface, cognizable to all who will open their eyes.

      It is a truth so very clear that it scarcely requires repetition, that the work of sanctification commences with our spiritual birth--the sanctification of our Christian life with the beginning of that life. As in nature so in grace, we enter into life by a birth, and the growth and development of the man and Christian begin there. These truths being so self-evident to the independent thinker and careful student of the Bible, the apprehension and comprehension of all their harmonies are facile in the extreme; and no question can arise, involving either the conversion of the sinner or the sanctification and perfection of the saints, but what is capable of a ready and easy solution.

      To come back to our starting-point--our effort to restore pure Christianity to the world again, in faith and life--I may affirm, that a development of its principles in the life, is necessary to the realization of this object; and that to this end especially, should the efforts of all be now directed. Our mission, in one sense, is two-fold, and recognizes the existence of two classes--the converted and the unconverted; and while many are devoting themselves almost exclusively to the latter, those whose circumstances and situation in life prevent them from cultivating this field, should turn their attention to the building up of the saints--to the developing of the principles of Christ in the life of his disciples. Nor should the evangelist forget that it is his imperative duty, while proclaiming the glad tidings and conditions of pardon, also to teach them to progress in the divine life into which they have just been born, and "to give all diligence to make their calling and election sure." The work of the evangelist is a small work, compared with that of the pastor. His task is difficult, his duties arduous, and his labor hard. The time is long--he has enlisted for life; and who can know if he will be crowned at last? But the exigencies of the times, the necessities of the age, and the indifference, and lukewarmness, and apathy of professing Christians, the torpor of Christian life--all these require and demand the labor. The purposes of our mission demand it, and to this let us now direct our attention.

A. C. [sic], page 373.      

Source:

H. C. "Our Mission.--No. I." The Millennial Harbinger 25 (July 1854): 373-377.

[MHA2 319-323]