181 — June 29 – This Day in Baptist History Past

 

A Man for an Hour of Great Travail  

 

During the years 1860 to 1865, our nation was convulsed in a horrible civil conflict that ultimately claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, both Northerners and Southerners. The pain and suffering defies imagination.

 

In the midst of this turmoil, Adoniram Judson Gordon was ordained into the gospel ministry June 29, 1863, and became pastor at Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. His name, Adoniram Judson, was prophetic, because his new birth kindled an evangelical spirit that permeated every area of his life and ministry.   This evangelical spirit permeated Gordon’s writing also.  In his introduction of his book In Christ, Gordon gives us some insight into his heart and ministry.

 

Life is still of God, but it has this new dependency “in Christ.” “Of Him are ye inChrist Jesus.” The obligation to labor remains unchanged, but a new motive and a new sanctity are given to it by its relationship to Christ. “Forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” The marriage relationship is stamped with this new signet, “Only in theLord.”  Filial obedience is exalted into direct connection with the Son of God. “Children obey your parents in the Lord.” Daily life becomes “a good conversation in Christ.” Joy and sorrow, triumph and suffering, are all in Christ. Even truth, as though needing a fresh baptism is viewed henceforth “as it is in Jesus.” Death remains, but it is robbed of its sting and crowned with a beatitude, because in Christ. “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.”

 

Dr. Dale R. Hart: Adapted from: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I. (Thompson/Cummins) pp. 266-267

 

 

178 — June 27 – This Day in Baptist History Past

 

Living Sacrifices for God’s Honour

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: Adapted from: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I. (Thompson/Cummins) pp. 261 – 262.

175 — June 24 – This Day in Baptist History Past

 

Second-Generation Preacher Makes Good

 

Horatio Gates Jones

 

We have already considered the Reverend David Jones, America’s first Baptist chaplain to the military. Jones had served under General Horatio Gates in 1776 and apparently was so impressed with the General that he named his youngest son “Horatio Gates Jones” at the baby’s birth on February 11, 1777, in Chester County, Pennsylvania. The young Horatio Jones grew to maturity in Chester and Bucks Counties and availed himself of the education that the local school provided. At age nineteen, he was sent to an academy at Bordentown, New Jersey, and studied there under the celebrated Dr. William Staughton. On June 24, 1798, the young man professed his faith in Jesus Christ and was baptized and welcomed into the membership of the Valley Church. Horatio returned to farming, but being a gifted speaker, he soon acquired a prominent position politically. Conviction that he had been called to preach, however, overcame all political aspirations. The Valley Church recognized his divine call and licensed him to preach in September of 1801. He ministered throughout the region until he was asked to accept the pastorate in Salem, New Jersey. He was ordained there on February 13, 1802. On that occasion, his aging father gave him the charge, saying “My son, in your preaching, don’t put the rack too high. Some ministers put the rack so high that the little lambs can’t get a bite. Put the rack low, and then the old sheep can get the fodder, and the lambs too.” In 1812 Brown University conferred on him the degree of Master of Arts, and in 1852 the University of Lewisburg made him their first chancellor and bestowed on him their first Doctor of Divinity degree. The Reverend Horatio Jones passed into the presence of the Lord on December 12, 1853.

 

 

Dr. Dale R. Hart: Adapted from: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I. (Thompson/Cummins) pp. 258 – 259.

 

 

173 — June 22 – This Day in Baptist History Past

 

She Kindled the Fires to Burn the Anabaptists

 

Hendrick Terwoort was not an English subject but a Fleming by birth and of a fine mind. Persecuted in his own land for his love for Christ, he fled and asked protection of the Protestant Queen Elizabeth, the head of the English Church. Terwoort ultimately discovered that he had misplaced his confidence, for Elizabeth had him roasted alive at Smithfield, June 22, 1575.  While in prison, Terwoort wrote a confession of faith that rejected infant baptism and held that a Christian should not make an oath or bear arms, that Anabaptists “believe and confess that magistrates are set and ordained of God, to punish the evil and protect the good,” that they pray for them and are subject to them in every good work, and that they revere the “gracious queen” as a sovereign. He sent a copy to Elizabeth, but her heart was set against him. At the age of twenty-five, Terwoort was put to death because he would not make his conscience Elizabeth’s footstool.

 

Terwoort was not a singular case. Bishop Jewel complained of a “large and unauspicious crop of Anabaptists” in Elizabeth’s reign. She not only ordered them out of her kingdom, but in good earnest, kindled the fires to burn them.   Baptists were hated by the bishops, who falsely accused them of having no reverence for authority, seeking to overthrow government, being full of pride and contempt, being entirely interested in being schismatic, and desiring to be free from all laws. They were considered great hypocrites, feigning holiness of life.

 

Dr. Dale R. Hart: Adapted from: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I. (Thompson/Cummins) pp. 255-256.

 

 

170 — June 19 – This Day in Baptist History Past

 

From a Proper Child to the Prince of Preachers

 

Charles Haddon Spurgeon was the first-born of seventeen children and was born on June 19, 1834. Almost as soon as he was old enough to leave home, he went to his grandfather’s house. Under his grandfather’s oversight and the devoted guidance of an aunt, Charles developed into a thoughtful boy, commonly fonder of his books than of his play.

 

A pious minister, Richard Knill, who was visiting his grandfather, took an interest in this young lad as he was waiting some days for a preaching engagement. Spurgeon wrote some years later, “Calling the family together, [Mr. Knill] took me on his knee, and I distinctly remember his saying: ‘I do not know how it is, but I feel a solemn presentiment that this child will preach the Gospel to thousands, and God will bless him to many souls.’”

 

Of course, there is often no greater influence on a man’s life than his mother. Mrs. Spurgeon trained her children with prayerful concern, and she was rewarded by seeing each one of them make a public profession of their faith in Christ. Two of her sons were preachers, and one of her daughters was the wife of a minister. Speaking one day to her son, Mrs. Spurgeon said, “Ah, Charley, I have often prayed that you might be saved, but never that you should become a Baptist.” To this remark, Charles replied, “God has answered your prayer, mother, with His usual bounty, and given you more than you asked.”

 

We cannot overemphasize the importance of those influences in the early life of a child. Many saw the boy Spurgeon through the eyes of faith the same as Moses’ parents saw Moses as a “proper child.” This “proper child,” Charles Haddon Spurgeon, became known as the “Prince of Preachers”!

 

Dr. Dale R. Hart: Adapted from: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I. (Thompson/Cummins) pp. 251-252.

 

 

166 — June 15 – This Day in Baptist History Past

 

166 — June 15 – This Day in Baptist History Past        

 

 

 

He Pursued Law Then Preached Jesus Christ

 

Edward Miles Jerome was born on June 15, 1826 and graduated from Yale in 1850.  While at Yale, Edward Jerome was not a student in the Divinity School, rather he pursued, and graduated with a law degree. After a few years, Jerome became persuaded that Baptist principles and doctrine were biblical. Though not a divinity student, his legal mind was enlightened by the Holy Spirit. He became a Baptist, was baptized, and united with the First Baptist Church of Hartford, Connecticut. It was there that he began his theological studies and was licensed by that church to teach and preach the Scriptures. He was ordained in 1859 as an evangelist in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and began his ministry preaching and supplying pulpits. He soon settled into a pastorate and served in this office for several years until he suffered an infection in his throat that disabled him. He attempted preaching afterwards, but failing health would not permit him to continue. Fortunately, he had developed excellent writing skills and was able to use these when he lost his ability to preach. Edward Jerome’s preaching and writing were doctrinally clear and were presented in an evangelical, earnest, and effective manner. He entered into the presence of his Lord on June 8, 1891 at sixty-five years of age.

 

Dr. Dale R. Hart: Adapted from: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I. (Thompson/Cummins) pp. 246-247.

 

 

 

Baptist History

A Brief Ministry in Violent Times

Caroline County Ct. House Built 1803-09

Daniel Fristoe was one of a number of effective preachers who were called under the preaching of David Thomas. He was a product of the ministry of the Chappawamsick Church around which swirled controversy and violence from certain citizens in Stafford and Prince William Counties, Virginia.

On June 14, 1771 Fristoe was ordained to the regular work of the ministry, one day after John young was haled into court in Caroline County for preaching without a license.  According to Fristoe’s diary, the day following his ordination he met with the brethren in Fauquier County where they examined some candidates for baptism. 16 persons were adjudged proper subjects for baptism. The next day being Sunday about two thousand people came together. After the preaching, thirteen others were examined and deemed worthy of baptism. Fristoe baptized twenty-nine people before this great multitude.

While in Philadelphia as a messenger Fristoe was seized with the smallpox, from which he never recovered. He died far from home in the thirty-fifth year of his life.

Dr. Dale R. Hart: Adapted from: This Day in Baptist History. Vol. I (Thompson/Cummins) pp. 244-245.

 

164 — June 13 –This Day in Baptist History Past

 

Beheaded for faith in sound doctrine

 

 

 

On June 13^th 1560, Hans Mandemaker, Pastor: together with, Deacon: and Eustachius Kuter. Were condemned to death. At the passing of the sentence, a great number of people were present as they addressed the judges of the court and the jury, proving to them that the sentence, in the presence of God, passed upon innocent men, would rise up in judgment against them to their condemnation for having condemned innocent blood. When they replied that they were obliged to judge according to the emperor’s command and proclamation, Hans Mandemaker said, “O ye blind judges! You are to judge according to your own heart and conscience, as you will have to answer for it in the presence of God. If then you judge and pass sentence, according to the emperor’s proclamation, how will you answer before God?”

 

They all spake with boldness and exhorted the people to repent, to forsake their sins, and to tread the path of truth; it was the truth for which this day they would suffer. Their crime: they did not believe that the holy body of Jesus Christ was in the sacrament but they observed the Lord’s Supper in the same manner that Christ kept it with His disciples, and that they did not approve of infant baptism.

 

Kuter was first beheaded, after which Juriaen Raek stepped cheerfully forward to the executioner and said, “Here I leave wife and child, house and goods, body and life, for the sake and truth of God.”

 

Dr. Dale R. Hart: Adapted from: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I. (Thompson/Cummins) pp. 243 -244.

 

 

 

162 — June 11 – This Day in Baptist History Past

 

 Prayer  for Persecutors and Freedom

 

The Separate Baptists in Virginia had divided into two associations for the convenience of the messengers, and on May 14, 1774, the Southern District met in the Banister Baptist Church of Halifax County. There they transacted one of the most important aspects of an associational ministry, a phase that is all but dead among us in these days. For three or four years there had been severe persecutions against the Baptists in many parts of Virginia. Letters were received at their association from preachers confined in prison, particularly from David Tinsley, then in the Chesterfield jail.  The hearts of their brethren were affected at their sufferings, in consequence of which they: “Agreed to set apart the second and third Saturdays in June as public fast days, in behalf of our poor blind persecutors, and for the releasement of our brethren.”

 

Those two days of prayer were Saturday, June 11, and Saturday, June 18, 1774, and the saints prayed for the enlightenment of the spiritually blind persecutors and the freedom of their ministers.  We ought not to be surprised to observe that during that decade, the Separate Baptists “achieved their greatest growth . . . with 221 churches and unconstituted local bodies with 9,842 members.”  Some of the persecutors were converted and became Baptist preachers, and freedom of religion was gained for the whole state of Virginia.

 

Dr. Dale R. Hart: Adapted from: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I. (Thompson/Cummins) pp. 240 -241.

 

                                                                               

 

160 — June 09 – This Day in Baptist History Past

 

Imprisoned three times

 

The story of John Corbley is one of sacrifice and heroism. Born in Ireland in 1738, he came to America at the age of fourteen, settling first in eastern Pennsylvania, but later moving to Virginia, where he was soundly converted under the preaching of James Ireland. Shortly thereafter he became a Baptist preacher, and preached with such power that the Episcopal Establishment in Virginia considered him worthy of imprisonment, rewarding him shortly thereafter with a cell in the Culpeper jail. On the very site of that old jail there stands a thriving Baptist church today. When brought into court, John Corbley conducted his own defense, and was acquitted of all charges in 1768, although he suffered much abuse and physical violence later.

 

John Corbley was known as the ablest preacher of his day. For thirty years he directed the planting of Baptist churches in western Pennsylvania. Imprisoned three times and married three times, having buried two wives, these experiences of sunshine and shadow served only to deepen his spiritual life and magnify his usefulness. Active to the very end, he entered into rest June 9, 1803, his funeral sermon being preached by Elder David Phillips, pastor of the Peter’s Creek Baptist church. His mortal remains lie buried in the cemetery within the shadow of the old Goshen church, Whitley, Pennsylvania.

 

Dr. Dale R. Hart: Adapted from: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I. (Thompson/Cummins) pp. 237–238.