CHURCH HISTORY – INTRODUCTION

CHURCH HISTORY – INTRODUCTION

 

Eph 3:9, 10, 21 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

 

INTRODUCTION

There are great difficulties tracing Baptist Church history.

The true church that Jesus built cannot be traced through its writings. Most of those writings have been burnt by the enemies of the Church that Jesus built. Those enemies were religious entities that opposed and tried to eradicate the teachings of the Church that Jesus built.

 

The history of the true Church that Jesus called out cannot be traced through its name, even thought we accept the title that John the Baptist carried. He was called “John the Baptist” because of the mode of baptism that he practiced. This mode of baptism is what the Baptists practice because of the distinctiveness of the practice. We have also appropriated the name to identify not only who we are, but also how we practice the same mode of baptism that John the Baptist practiced.

 

No specific title was needed since at the time of the institution of the church, there was only ONE Church.

 

Special names were given to various groups in different periods of history. In Ephesus, they were called “that way”. Acts 19:23. We find in Acts 24:22 that Felix had more perfect knowledge of “that way”. Some were given the names of the prominent men that led them. Names such as Henricians, Paulicians, and Novatians. Other names were given because of the clean living evidenced bythe followers of a life lived as an example to others. The name given was Cathari. The name Waldenses came from the area these giants of the Word were located. Also names were given because of doctrinal practices. The ana-baptists were re-baptizers therefore ana-re baptists-baptizers.

 

Most of the recognition that is received by the Churches that Jesus built and sent out is chronicled by our enemies. The Catholics have given evidence of our existence and their attempt to exterminate Jesus Church. The Lutherans have historians that have documented our existence and stories of their persecution of baptists. Methodists have testified of our lengthy history and its source as Jesus of Nazareth. We glory that our enemies have thought so much of us that they have written our history for us.

 

What is a church? – Saved Baptized believers covenanted together to observe the ordinances, maintain the doctrine of Christ and carry out the great commission.

 

Where did it begin? – Matthew 4:18-22;

 

Before the Day of Pentecost – Matt. 18:15- 18

 

Jesus sang in the midst of the Church – Hebrews 2:12

 

Held a prayer meeting and business meeting – Acts 1:14; Acts 2:23-26

 

What was it built upon? – Matthew 16:18; I Cor. 3:11; Eph 2:20

 

Requirements for membership – Acts 2:22, 41

278 – Oct. 05 – This Day in Baptist History Past

278 – Oct. 05 – This Day in Baptist History Past

America owes a great debt to these men

Elisha Rich was ordained to preach the gospel and take the pastoral care of the Chelmsford, Massachusetts, Baptist church on October 05, 1774. He used his skills as a blacksmith, gunsmith, farmer, and bookkeeper to sustain his family. Persecution was to be expected, and he suffered “no little rough opposition.  His livestock was injured and the pulpit in the meetinghouse was set to fall when he ascended it, and he was otherwise harassed; but those hearty souls persevered, and the work of God expanded. By the nineteenth century the overt opposition had all but ended, but the same determination was revealed in the lives of Baptist pastors. The population had increased, and now many of the men of God found themselves responsible for overseeing the ministries of three or four scattered congregations. They continued to support their families, but now their ministerial responsibilities were multiplied. Such a man was Christopher Columbus Metcalf, born on March 10, 1855, and ministered the Word faithfully for 52 years. C.C. Metcalf served as a circuit-riding pastor in the hills of Kentucky and had the care of four churches. He farmed during the week and on Saturday at noon he mounted his horse and rode to his first church. Most of the churches had services Saturdaynight and Sunday as well, for they had services on only one Sunday. The pastor would prepare lessons for a deacon to teach the other three Sundays. The next Saturday he would go in a different direction until each church had been visited each month. America owes a great debt to these men who invested their lives in this manner.

Dr. Greg J. Dixon: From: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I: Cummins/Thompson, pp. 413-14.

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248 – Sept. 05 – This Day in Baptist History Past

Posted: 04 Sep 2014 06:24 PM PDT

 

Jailed for encouraging a brother

John Spur and John Hazel, both elderly men, were hauled into court in Salem, Mass. on Sept. 05, 1651,  for the horrible “crime” of offering sympathy to Obadiah Holmes, at the time of his brutal beating by the authorities, for preaching without a license from the Congregational Church. Neither men were convinced Baptists as yet, but Spur had been excommunicated from the Salem Congregational Church for declaring his opposition to infant baptism. Spur was given his choice of a forty shilling fine, or a whipping. Someone paid his fine, which he declined, but the court took it and released him anyway. Hazel, though very Ill, defended himself by saying, “…what law have I broken in taking my friend by the hand when he was free and had satisfied the law?” The sentence was still given: Hazel was to pay a fine or be whipped. Five days went by and when he refused to pay, the jailer released him, but he refused to leave without a discharge. The jailer gave it to him and he left totally free of all charges. Three days later, on Sept. 13, 1651 John Hazel was with the Lord Jesus, set free forever more. [Edwin S. Gaustad, Baptist Piety (Grand Rapids, Mich.: WmB. Eerdmans Publishing Co, 1978), p. 30.

Dr. Greg J. Dixon: From: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I: Cummins/Thompson, pp. 486-487.

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The Founding of the Thessalonian Church

 

Acts 17:1-10

“And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few,” Acts 17:4.

 

Paul frequented the synagogues wherever his missionary journeys took him. He would preach the truths about Jesus. The audience would either reject the message, riot or believe. He would gather the believers and teach them, and when he left the town, there was usually a New Testament church established. Often he would visit the believers again, ordaining preachers and teachers, that they might exhibit the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit to conduct God’s business through His churches. The supernatural gifts were necessary in the early churches because instructions to the churches were not yet written. “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you” (John 16:7). As long as Jesus’ physical body was present among the disciples, there was only one church, and He is the Head of the church.

“Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless [orphans]: I will come to you” (John 14:17, 18). On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit empowered the church. Therefore, they could spread the gospel all over the world, establish churches and Christ could be the Head of every one of them. Thus, we see His plan for creating New Testament churches, each one autonomous, governing itself in the work of evangelism, baptism and teaching the truths of God.

 

 

JUST SAYING

Jesus’ plan was to establish New Testament churches.

Robert Brock

179 — June 27 – This Day in Baptist History Past

 

Living Sacrifices for God’s Honor

 

Roger Holland had come from the affluent family of Sir Robert Holland, and in the first year of the reign of Bloody Mary, Roger married Elizabeth, a Christian maid of Master Kempton to which Roger was an apprentice. Apparently, Roger Holland became a member of the Hill Cliffe Baptist Church about this time. “Two of the signatories to the letter of 1654 from Hill Cliffe are of the same name, Holland. This points to, at any rate, a probability of his having been a Hill Cliffe Baptist, perhaps minister there.”

 

On one occasion as forty people gathered for a service of prayer and the expounding of the Word, twenty-seven of them were carried before Sir Roger Cholmly. Some of the women made their escape, twenty-two were committed to Newgate, who continued in prison seven weeks. Previous to their examination, they were informed by the keeper, Alexander, that nothing more was requisite to procure their discharge, than to hear Mass. Easy as this condition may seem, these martyrs valued their purity of conscience more than loss of life or property; hence, thirteen were burnt, seven at Smithfield, and six at Brentford; two died in prison, and the other seven were providentially preserved…They were sent to Newgate, June 16, 1558, and were executed on the twenty-seventh.

 

As was so often the case, Roger Holland’s death at Smithfield instead of destroying the faith of the Baptists only made it stronger. His relatives and friends were afterward more determined than ever to uphold the principles for which he died! May we with these heroes of the faith and with the hymn writer state and mean, “Thou (my Lord) art more than life to me,” for then our lives shall be in a true sense “living sacrifices” for God’s honor.

 

Dr. Dale R. Hart From: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I. (Thompson/Cummins) pp. 261 – 262.

 

 

 

150 – May – 30 – This Day in Baptist History Past

 

Montanye, Thomas B.Thomas and Mrs. Thomas Montanye

 

A Chaplain Challenges the Command

 

Thomas B. Montanye was seventeen years of age when he was saved and then baptized by John Gano in the First Baptist Church of New York City. Young Thomas Montanye revealed the gift of preaching and in his nineteenth year he was ordained as pastor of the Baptist church in Warwick, New Jersey, where he served for more than twelve years. His preaching was powerful, and the work flourished. In one year alone, more than a hundred and fifty were added to the membership of the church. During this period, Pastor Montanye served in various offices of the Warwick Baptist Association, as is revealed in the minutes of that organization for May 30, 1797. His abilities and successes attracted the attention of others, and in 1801 he was called to the church in Southampton in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where he served until his death on September 27, 1829

 

When the War of 1812 broke out with Great Britain, Montanye received a chaplain’s commission. On one occasion, “a general drill and review of the army had been ordered for the morning of the Sabbath at the same hour when preaching had hitherto been the ‘order of the day.’” He went to “the quarters of General in command and stated to him, in a dignified and courteous manner, that he held a commission from his country, and also from his God; that, by virtue of his latter commission, he was superior in command on the Sabbath to any of the military; that the general order for a review would interfere with orders from a higher source; and that, consequently, the review could not and must not take place.” The Word of God was honored and the review postponed.

 

Dr. Dale R. Hart: Adapted from: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I. (Thompson/ Cummins) pp. 221.

 

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The “Haystack Prayer Meeting”

1783 – Luther Rice was born into a pedobaptist (Congregational) home on this memorable day.  He along with Adoniram and Ann Judson became Baptists when they were baptized in India, after studying the subject of baptism on the voyage, although on different ships.  Because of this they were compelled to sever relationship with their denomination which left them penniless and identify with the Baptists in America.  In our opinion, this was the beginning of the fulfillment of the prophecy found at Mat 24:14 – And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.   Prior to this there had been only scant missionary activity among the churches of North America and that was to the Indians and the settlers who had migrated westward.  But from this effort of Rice and the Judson’s a great flood of missionaries began to go forth to many parts of the world.  It all started with a group called the “Brethren” who had formed a missionary fellowship interested in world evangelism at Williams College (Congregational) in Massachusetts.  One day during a rain storm some of the “Brethren” took refuge under a haystack, and while there prayed for those in the world who lived in spiritual darkness.  It would forever be called the “Haystack Prayer Meeting.”  Even though Rice wasn’t at the haystack, he was a part of the “Brethren” and was the first with the Judsons to go forth.  Rice eventually returned to America to stir up the Baptists for world evangelism.  He became the rope holder while Judson was tied to the rope.  World missions needed them both.  In the North there were mission societies, in the South the Baptist method was conventions.
Dr. Greg J. Dixon, from: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I: Cummins/Thompson /, pp. 121..

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58 – February – 27 – THIS DAY IN BAPTIST HISTORY PAST

 

Posted: 26 Feb 2014 07:20 PM PST

 

Dunster House

 

Erected 1930

 

He wouldn’t bend or bow 1659 – Henry Dunster died on this date February 27, 1659.  He was born in England around 1612 and came to know Christ as his savior.  He graduated from Cambridge in 1630 and then received his master’s degree in 1634.  He was ordained as a minister in the Church of England but was grieved with its corruption and sailed for America where he was soon installed as the President of Harvard College in 1640.  In those days some in the Anglican Church practiced immersion, as did Dunster.  In 1641 Dunster married a widow of a minister and took her five children as his own.  Two years later she died, he remarried and she had five more.  During this time he came to the conclusion that visible baptism of believers alone was correct Biblically.  When he refused to have an infant son sprinkled he was indicted and put on trial and convicted for disturbing the ordinance of infant baptism.  Because of these firm convictions Dunster left Cambridge. Dr. Greg J. Dixon, from: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I: Cummins Thompson /, pp. 80.

 

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57 – February 26 – THIS DAY IN BAPTIST HISTORY PAST

 

First baptisms in the Shenandoah

 

1770 – A BAPTIST PREACHER IMPRISONED FOR PREACHING WITHOUT A LICENSE IN VIRGINIA IN 1770 – February 26, 1770, was the beginning of the three-month imprisonment of John Pickett, mentioned in the entry for January 14, in the Fauquier County, VA Order Book for 1766, pages 242 and 243.  The prison was a two room log building 18’ long and 16’ wide, dovetailed, with layered wood of good mortar between each log. There was a brick wall between the rooms with a fireplace in each room, secured with grates above and below to prevent the prisoners from escaping up the chimney.  The only ventilation was a window 12 inches square in each room.  These colonial prisons were like ovens in the summer and freezers in the winter, certainly not “country clubs” of our day in comparison.  Many of those early preachers lost their health from these conditions and never recovered their strength.  The opposition of John Pickett was at times fierce.  Some times when he would preach in a grove of trees in the Culpepper area the, Anglican Church parson would appear with his supporters, sit a few yards in front of Pickett, and take notes of what he considered to be false doctrine.  The parson would call him a schismatic, a broacher of false doctrines, and one that held up damnable errors.  This was done to hold him up to public scorn.  Often it backfired, in that it caused people to be sympathetic toward Picket.  At that time, many were disgusted with the state hirelings, among whom there were those of disrepute.  Some who were attracted by this confrontation and debate were converted to Christ.  After Pickett was released his zeal led him to continue his labors around Culpepper and over the Blue Ridge.  It is reported that the first baptisms to take place in the Shenandoah, there were as many as fifty who followed there Lord in this ordinance.

 

Dr. Greg J. Dixon, from: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I: Cummins Thompson /, pp. 79.

 

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53 – February-22 – THIS DAY IN BAPTIST HISTORY PAST

 

 

 

Lady Moody

 

Memorial – Brooklyn

 

A Noble lady persecuted

 

1644  – LADY MOODY FLEES RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION IN ENGLAND TO BE PERSECUTED BY PURITANS IN AMERICA – 1644.  On February 22, 1644 John Endicott wrote a letter to John Winthrop, Governor of Plymouth Colony from Salem, Mass. that Lady Deborah Moody had been “excommunicated” from the Congregational Church at Salem and that a Mr. Norrice had informed him that she intended to return to Plymouth which he advises against, “unless shee will acknowledge her ewill (evil) in opposing the Churches & leave her opinions behinde her, for she is a dangerous woeman.  My brother Ludlow writt to mee that, by means of a book she sent to Mrs. Eaton, shee questions her owne baptisme, it is verie doubtefull whether shee will be reclaimed, shee is so far ingaged.”  Gov. Winthrop stated that she left “against the advice of all her friends.  Many others affected with Anabaptism removed thither also. On her way from Mass. Lady Moody stopped for a time in New Haven and made converts to believer’s baptism and encountered once again religious opposition.  Mrs. Eaton, wife of the first Governor of New Haven Colony, was one of the converts, and she too suffered persecution from the Congregational Church at New Haven.  She firmly denied that baptism was to be administered to infants.  Lady Moody was the widow of Sir Henry of Garsden in Wiltshire, England and came to America because of religious persecution and then received persecution from the hand of the Puritans, who themselves had fled persecution, after she got here.  She settled in Lynn, Mass., where she purchased the estate of Mr. Humphrey, one of the magistrates.  She had intended on being a permanent resident, but soon became a Baptist.  In Dec. 1642 Lady Moody, Mrs. King of Swampscott, and the wife of John Tillton were all tried at the Quarterly Court “for houldinge that the baptizing of infants is noe ordinance of God.”  Perhaps because of her position in society she was not banished from Mass.  However she determined to seek shelter among strangers and in 1643 moved to New Amsterdam (New York), a settlement that was formed on Long Island, and she took a patent, which, among other things guaranteed, ‘the free liberte of conscience according to the costume of Holland, without molestation or disturbance from any madgistrate or madgistrates,

or any other ecclesiastical minister that may pretend jurisdiction over them.”  It is believed that Lady Moody died on Long Island about 1659.
Dr. Greg J. Dixon, from: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I: Cummins Thompson /, pp. 73.

 

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