Our Baptist Heritage

Our Baptist Heritage

By Douglas Hammett

Copyright 2011 Douglas Hammett

Smashwords Edition

All scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, King James Version.

* * * * * *

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

* * * * * *

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter One: Written History of the Church

Chapter Two: Research History of the Church

Chapter Three: Baptists in America, Part One

Chapter Four: Baptists in America, Part Two

Chapter Five: Baptists in America, Part Three

Chapter Six: God’s Authority to Baptize

Resource Materials

About the Author

* * * * * * * *

Note to Reader: The following chapters are taken from different messages that Pastor Douglas Hammett has preached in various churches. Because of this, he gives many quotes and facts for which sources are not cited. Please see the list of resource materials in the back of this book for further information on these people, places, and events.

* * * * * * * *

Introduction

"And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Matthew 16:18

Baptists have an amazing history that begins in the Word of God. Where do Baptists come from? What is their heritage? Down through history, Baptists have always claimed that they go back to the time of Christ. Some folks may say, That is a pretty bold claim! I have to agree that it is a bold claim, but I’m going to show you from the Word of God why I, as a Baptist, can make the claim.

Because we as Baptists make the claim of being the church that Jesus started, we sometimes get accused of being narrow. However, we can prove, both Biblically and historically, that the Baptist church is the only kind that can be traced back to the time of Jesus Christ. We can prove it Biblically by looking at what the Bible says. We can prove it historically by looking at the record of history. In this book, we want to look at some of these truths.

In the first chapter, we will prove it Biblically by studying the church that Jesus started. In the second chapter, we will take a look at history, and the three types of churches in our world today. Every church is in one of these three groups, and only one of the three groups can Biblically go back to the time of the Lord Jesus. The other groups have been started since that time.

In the third, fourth, and fifth chapters, we will talk about Baptist history in our country, the United States of America. You may be surprised to find out that our country has not always been friendly to Baptists. We will see how Baptists influenced early American history, give a summary of revival throughout American history, and highlight a very important Baptist individual.

In the sixth chapter, we will talk about the authority of baptism. Baptism has long been one of the separating marks of a Baptist church, and I feel that it is important to understand this ordinance.

Baptists can trace their history directly back to Jesus Christ! I am not making that statement with an arrogant or proud spirit. I am simply trying to follow the truth, be honest with the Scriptures, and follow what the Lord Jesus teaches in the Word of God.

* * * * * * * *

Chapter One

Written History of the Church

The Church Was Established

In Matthew 16:18, Jesus said, I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. First of all, we need to define what a church is. We see from this verse that Jesus was the one who established or built the church. The term ekklesia or church, as it is used in the Word of God, means a called out assembly, or a group of people gathering in a particular place. Therefore, a church is local, and it is visible. Sometimes you hear people talk about a universal, invisible church. But that is not found in the Word of God, and that is not the kind of church that Jesus built. It was not some invisible kind of thing; it was visible. It was not some universal kind of thing; it was local.

Second, we see that Jesus started a particular kind of church. Jesus said "I will build my church." A church is not just a local, visible assembly. It is a local, visible assembly of saved people who have been scripturally baptized, who are gathered together for the purpose of carrying out the Great Commission.

The church that Jesus established was the first one of its kind. As you look at the church that Jesus started, you can see that it was an assembly of saved people. You can find in the Word of God where Jesus called these disciples out. They were already saved men who were following John the Baptist. He was the one who God had called for the special task of preparing the men that Christ would use to start His church. John had preached about Jesus, these men had believed and been saved, and they had been baptized by John, so they already had Scriptural baptism.

I have heard some people say, John’s baptism isn’t Scriptural. I don’t think that it is New Testament. Well, Jesus thought it was New Testament baptism. In fact, Jesus was so interested in getting John’s baptism that He walked sixty miles so He could be baptized by him. He didn’t drive a car to get there. I know people who won’t drive sixty miles to go to church. Jesus walked sixty miles to get baptized. So evidently that baptism was good enough for Jesus!

Jesus not only received the baptism of John the Baptist for Himself, but second of all, Jesus accepted the baptism that all the apostles had as being Scriptural. They had all been baptized by John the Baptist, and He never baptized them again. Later, after Jesus had ascended back to Heaven, and the apostles were getting ready to appoint a new man to take over Judas’ place, one of the criteria for this new apostle was that he had to have John’s baptism.

So evidently John’s baptism was good enough for Jesus, was good enough for the apostles, it was good enough for the early church, and it is good enough for me. Now it may not be good enough for you, but friend, you are in the wrong company if that is the case. I want to be in the company of the Lord Jesus.

We need to remember that a church is not a building, but the people who meet together. When Jesus started His church, it was a group of people that moved around. Today, when we think of a church, we think of a particular location. It is located on a corner of such-and-such street in such-and-such town. But Jesus didn’t have a church like that. His church met in different places. Jesus had a traveling church that moved around until His death. Then that church was housed at Jerusalem and it became known as the church in Jerusalem.

A church doesn’t have to have a building. That is what we expect in our culture and society of today. I’m glad we have a building to meet in—but there may come a day where we won’t be able to have a building in America. In the Communist countries, churches meet in several different locations. They don’t meet in the same place twice, and they certainly don’t own a building, because they have to stay underground. A building doesn’t make a church.

Yet I know people who judge whether or not they are going to go to a church and be part of a church based on whether or not they have a nice building. Sometimes when I start churches people will say, What kind of program do you have for my children?

I tell them, Well, you know we don’t have too many children right now, so we don’t really have a program. They can come in and get preached to and sing with us. If you bring your kids, we might have enough to start a kid’s program. Why don’t you just bring them along?

But usually they will say, Oh no, we want a church where they already have a program in place. So they go on down the road. I don’t know how many times that happened in my ministry. You talk about something that is disappointing and discouraging to a preacher who is trying to start a church! You bring your kids and we will have a kid’s program. You bring your college-age kids and we will have a college-age program, but we can’t have a program when we don’t have anyone coming. So you bring them, and we will start it. But then they go on down the road and look for someone else who has something more.

Sometimes when people visit our church, they look around and say, I like this and that ministry. I think I’ll join. Sometimes I want to ask, Are you coming because of the programs we have? Or are you coming because you love the Lord Jesus and want to serve Him? I’m not saying that programs aren’t important and they can’t help in reaching people and drawing people in. But if you are a child of God, then a program ought not to make the difference as to whether or not you are in the church. You ought to be in the church because God wants you there, you want to live for Him, and you want to bless the people of God.

The church was established during Jesus’ earthly ministry. If we say the church was started on the Day of Pentecost, like some folks do, we relegate the four Gospels to the Old Testament and pre-Christian days and say they are not as great of value as the rest of the New Testament is. That is a wrong interpretation of the Word of God.

Let’s look at several things from the Word of God to prove what I am saying. This first church had a head—Jesus Christ. They had Scriptural baptism that not only the original disciples had, but which they administered to others (John 4). They had directions for discipline given by Jesus. These instructions dealt with how to deal with problems between members in the church. They also had apostles that were appointed and added to the church. You don’t appoint officers for an organization that doesn’t exist. You have to have an organization for officers to be there. Then they had a treasurer. His name was Judas. The Bible says he held the bag.

This first church also had a commission and purpose—the Great Commission. They had an attendance record—one hundred and twenty in the upper room after the ascension of Christ. You don’t keep attendance records unless you have some kind of organization. Obviously they were concerned about how many were there. They replaced the apostle Judas, after he hanged himself. Now why would they replace the apostle in Acts 1 and have a church business meeting to do so, if the church didn’t start until Acts 2 on the Day of Pentecost? There had to be a church already by this time.

The Church Was Empowered

The church that was established during Jesus’ ministry was empowered on the Day of Pentecost, as we see in Acts 2:4. The Bible says, And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. On the Day of Pentecost, this church was filled with the Holy Ghost of God, and empowered to do the job that Jesus had given them to do.

Before Jesus had ascended back to Heaven, He had told them (Acts 1) that not many days hence they would be baptized with the Holy Ghost, and at that time would be empowered. He instructed them to tarry in Jerusalem until this would take place. The disciples were obedient to what the Lord