“I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

Matthew 16:18

Isaac Dermout was not born a Baptist, and he never became a Baptist.  He was a Protestant, born on this day in 1777, and eventually becoming chaplain to the King of the Netherlands.  He and Dr. Anne Ypeij, professor of Theology in Gronigen, were commissioned by the king to investigate the Dutch Baptists.

Their conclusions were given to the king and published for all the world to read.  A translation of their conclusions reads:  “We have now seen that the Baptists who were formerly called Anabaptists, and in later times Mennonites, were the original Waldenses, and who have long in the history of the church received the honor of that origin. On this account the Baptists may be considered as the only Christian community which has stood since the days of the apostles, and as a Christian society which has preserved pure the doctrines of the Gospel through all ages. The perfectly correct external and internal economy of the Baptist denomination tends to confirm the truth, disputed by the Romish Church, that the Reformation brought about in the sixteenth century was in the highest degree necessary, and at the same time goes to refute the erroneous notion of the Catholics, that their denomination is the most ancient.” ~ David Oldfield

The Reformation failed to reform the Church of Rome.  It only brought about Protestants who often rejected biblical teachings and persecuted Baptists.

The point is that Jesus said He would build His church.  The gospels show that his disciples/apostles were that first church.  They had everything a church today should have.  On the day of Pentecost that local church was dedicated and empowered and has been “on the go” ever since.  Its only Head is Jesus.  Its only building is the lives of people in each local church.  Its only mission it to preach the gospel, help people to be saved, baptise them and teach them how to live for Christ with peace, confidence, compassion and assurance!  Jesus said, “I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”