Click to go directly to a
topic: [The Scriptures]
[The
Godhead] [Angels] [Man, created
and fallen] [The Dispensations] [The First Advent] [Salvation]
[Sanctification] [Eternal Security]
[Assurance] [The Holy Spirit]
[The Church] [Ordinances]
[Christian Responsibility] [The Great Commission] [The
Blessed Hope]
[The Tribulation] [The Second Advent] [The Millennial Kingdom] [The
Eternal State]
The Scriptures
We believe
that the accepted canon of the Bible is the literally inspired Word of God. We believe
that the Holy Spirit so moved the men who wrote the Bible that they had no choice but to
record His inspired revelations accurately. We hold that there is no part of the
Scriptures which is not inspired by God, but that every word of God is true. We believe
that the original writings were wholly accurate, and that God Himself has maintained a
level of accuracy in translation as to assure all that His word is still true.
We believe that a literal
interpretation of the Scriptures is the only valid method of interpretation, excepting
only those passages which the Bible itself declares to be allegorical or symbolic or
typical, and which the Bible itself interprets without any spiritualization by men.
We believe that
the Bible is Christocentric. That is, there is no part of the Bible that may be properly
or fully understood apart from its relationship to either the Person or work of the
Christ. The purpose of the combined books of the Bible is to reveal God to man in His
Person and through His Word.
The words of the Old
Testament prepared the ground upon which all men everywhere might understand the
significance of the sacrifice of the Son of God. The New Testament reflects upon the
grandeur and the grace of that awful moment and its ramifications for all men. We believe
that all of the Bible centers around the Person of Jesus Christ, not only in His
humiliation, but also in His glory, yet to come.
The Godhead
We believe in a
single, triune God; one Essence, one God, three Persons. We believe that each Person of
the Godhead is fully and completely God, with the nature of God, the attributes of God,
and is wholly deserving of the obedience and worship due to God, who created all of the
material and spiritual realms, and who is therefore sovereign over all.
Angels
We believe that
before God created the material realms of heaven and earth, He created a host of spiritual
beings called angels. We believe that all angels were created simultaneously and in
sinless perfection, and remained so until Lucifer, the chief of all the angels, rebelled
in pride against God, seeking to usurp God’s sovereignty.
We believe that when
Lucifer sinned he became known as Satan. An innumerable host of angels followed Satan in
his rebellion. Many of these fallen angels continue to serve Satan in the demonic realm,
exacerbating the sinfulness of the fallen human race.
We believe that Satan
leads his minions in his continuing quest to overthrow the God who made him, seeking at
every turn to thwart the purposes of God.
We believe that
Satan, after his own fall from perfection, entered into a serpent in the Garden of Eden,
craftily seducing Eve into his rebellion.
We believe that Adam
followed Eve in this rebellion, corrupting the entire race that would spring from his
loins.
We believe that Satan is
the enemy of God, and of all those who are God’s elect. In his efforts to divert the
faithful from God’s purposes and principles, Satan has successfully corrupted the
professing church, but has been unable to corrupt the true Church from the simplicity that
is in Christ.
We believe that
Satan is the father of all false religion. In every faith but the true Christian faith,
his goal is to glorify men at the expense of giving glory to God. By this means Satan has
deceived the world and those who are of the world. He deceives by offering many forms of
salvation that do not accept or recognize the efficacy of Christ’s blood, shed on
Calvary. He deceives by persuading men that they can be saved through efforts of their own
wills. Under satanic influence, salvation is not by the grace of God but by the works of
man.
In keeping with Genesis
3:15, we believe that Satan was eternally defeated at Calvary. By causing his agents to
slay his Enemy (Christ), his Enemy gained the victory through the resurrection from the
dead.
Though judgment
has not yet been executed upon Satan and his fallen legions, the judgment has been
accomplished and will yet be executed when he and all his armies are cast alive into the
lake burning with fire and brimstone, where he will be tormented forever.
We also believe,
however, that not all angels followed Lucifer in his rebellion against God. Many continued
to serve God, and continue today as ministering spirits sent forth to minister to them who
shall be heirs of eternal salvation.
Man, created and fallen
We believe that
man was created in the perfected image of God, according to the likeness of the three
Persons of the Godhead.
We believe that man had
immortality when created, that he rebelled against God, subjecting himself and all the
created heavens and earth to the curse of God.
We believe that fallen
man is perverse and totally depraved, with no hope of salvation through his own merits. We
believe that the proof that sin continues to indwell the entire race is found in the fact
that all die.
We believe that
fallen man is wholly dependent upon the grace of God for his salvation.
We believe that as the
first Adam passed sin and death to every man born from his seed, so the second Adam
imparts eternal life to as many as believe the gospel record of the efficacy of
Christ’s sacrifice, who are also born of His Seed.
We believe that there
are three kinds of men on the earth: Jews, Gentiles, and Christians. Each of these groups
has its own narrow avenue of prophecy in the Scriptures. One group cannot be exchanged
indiscriminately for another in interpreting the Bible without causing confusion and
rendering further literal interpretation impossible.
For the true
Church, the prophetic program is more wonderful and blessed than for any other group.
First, there is the rapture, then seven years in our Father’s house, followed by a
triumphant return to the earth, riding at the heels of the King of kings and Lord of
lords, to reign with Him in His kingdom for a thousand years, and to live in the mansions
He has been preparing for us for nearly two thousand years forever.
For the Jews, we believe
that God will yet restore to Israel all of the land that He promised to Abram and his
descendants through the seed of his son Isaac. Before He does, however, there shall come
that time known in the Scriptures as the time of Jacob’s trouble. This is the same
period that we today refer to as the tribulation. There the Jews will be terribly
persecuted, nearly annihilated, and will be made to recognize and accept the Messiah whom
they had earlier rejected. They shall recognize Him and shall serve under His Headship in
the land of Israel, both during the Kingdom and during the eternal state on the new earth.
For the Gentile
nations, there is prophesied only judgment and destruction. Individual Gentiles will be
judged at the Second Coming of Christ, separated as goats from sheep, and either be killed
or enter the Kingdom Age to repopulate the nations of the earth during the centuries of
Christ’s rule. During the eternal state, we believe that the Gentile nations will
occupy the new earth, in subjection to God, with free access to His throne in the New
Jerusalem.
The Dispensations
We believe that
God’s entire relationship with man is roughly divided into seven periods wherein man
was responsible to God in different stewardships.
These seven periods, or
dispensations, are known as:
Innocence
Conscience
Human Government
Promise
Law
Grace
Kingdom
In Eden, man was
innocent, and communed with God blissfully. We do not know how many years or millennia
this dispensation may have lasted, but it began with the creation of man and lasted until
the Fall.
After the Fall, man was
responsible to do all known good and to abstain from all known evil. This period lasted
from the Fall to the Flood, and is called the dispensation of Conscience.
After the Flood, human
government was ordained by God in order to preserve human life. From the Flood until the
call of Abram, man was responsible to God under the dispensation of Human Government.
With the call of Abram
came a new time of testing, in the dispensation of Promise. This dispensation excluded any
from salvation except the Jews, descendants of Abram through Isaac, Jacob, and his twelve
sons, though the promise was made by God to eventually bless all of the nations through
Abram’s Seed, Christ.
For four hundred years
and more, faithful men of God, descendants only of Abraham through Isaac, believed the
promises of God and righteousness was imputed to them.
The dispensation of
Promise was followed by the dispensation of Law, under Moses, and involved the intricate
system of rituals and sacrifices ordained in that system.
All of these sacrifices
pointed ahead in time to the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, which event ushered in a new
dispensation, the dispensation of Grace.
The dispensation of
Grace has lasted since the rejection by the Jews of their Messiah until now. During this
Age, all men may be saved solely upon the basis of faith in the efficacy of the Blood shed
on Calvary, as was also the case in every previous dispensation, though men of other
dispensations did not have this knowledge in their generations.
The dispensation of
Grace will end at the rapture of the Church, ushering in the Kingdom Age, the first event
of which is the outpouring of God’s wrath upon a dark and sin-laden world.
The Kingdom Age will see
Christ enthroned in Jerusalem, from which throne He will rule the entire earth for a
period of one thousand years as King of kings and Lord of lords.
At the completion of the
Kingdom Age, the eternal state appears to all men, either in the New Jerusalem, or on the
earth, or in the lake of fire.
Thus, we believe that
the seven dispensations span the entire length of time from the creation of man until the
eternal state is entered by all.
We believe that in the
dispensation of Innocence in the garden, there was no need for salvation, for man was not
lost.
After the Fall, the
method of salvation has been the same in every dispensation, through faith in the efficacy
of the shedding of substitutionary blood. This was true from Adam’s day forward. God
offered Adam’s sacrifice, Abel offered his own, as did also Noah and Abram and Moses
and Aaron and all the Jewish priests until the shedding of the Blood of the Christ at
Calvary.
Under every
dispensation, the method of salvation has been by God’s grace alone, without any
meritorious actions or service on the part of the person saved. It has never been the act
of killing the animal that has effected salvation, but faith in the shed blood.
In every dispensation,
the blood sacrifices point ahead in time to the Cross. Except, that is, for the Kingdom
Age, in which sacrifices will be performed as memorial feasts, celebrating that sacred
moment of redemption.
The believers in the
earlier dispensations could not have understood as clearly as we can today the meanings of
the sacrifices that they offered. Their faith was based upon less information.
Nevertheless, man is not required to believe more than is revealed to him.
In every dispensation,
faith has caused righteousness to be charged to men’s accounts. We believe that the
seven dispensations are not different ways of salvation. Neither do they require differing
standards of righteousness.
Salvation has not been
by works in any dispensation, but has consistently been the result of faith in the
efficacy of God’s substitutionary judgment upon sin through the shedding of innocent
blood.
In every dispensation,
man has failed in the testing of his obedience to God, and has been forced to the only
method of salvation known in the Bible.
The First Advent
We believe that
the Word of God came to earth in the flesh of a Man in the Person of Jesus Christ, Son of
God, second Person of the Trinity. We believe that there was a three-fold purpose in His
coming to the earth:
To manifest Himself
to men
To fulfill prophecy
To redeem fallen man and all of creation
We believe that Jesus
Christ was born of a virgin, and was both fully God and fully man, though at different
times in His earthly sojourn He operated in either His deity or His humanity.
We believe that He was a
Jew, bound by the Law of Moses, and that He kept that Law perfectly and sinlessly
throughout all His days of visitation on the earth; that he fulfilled that Law by keeping
its every ordinance and then by paying its full penalty on behalf of a fallen race of men.
We believe that His will
in coming to the earth in His First Advent was to establish Himself as the King of the
Jews. Being rejected by His own people, He turned His ministry to mankind in general,
serving as a ransom for all men, according to His purpose.
We believe that His
death propitiated the demands of a just God for judgment upon all the sins of mankind;
that the sacrifice of Himself is the final offering that may be made for sin.
We believe that He was
buried, that He arose, both of His own volition and by the will of His Father, three days
later; that He ministered for forty days upon the earth, ascended into heaven, where He
now sits at the right Hand of the Father, serving as our advocate and intercessor.
We believe that His
resurrection was proof of the acceptance by a holy and just God of the efficacy of His
sacrifice to save as many as would believe.
We believe further that
the Body in which He was resurrected is the pattern into which the bodies of living and
resurrected believers shall be changed at the end of this present Age.
Salvation
We believe that
there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
We believe that man is
totally depraved, and lacks altogether the moral ability to improve himself in any fashion
which could even approximate that righteousness which is required for admission into
heaven.
Rather, we believe that
man is bound to accept the righteousness of God which is imputed to him on the basis of
faith in the record of the crucifixion, death and resurrection of the Second Person of the
Trinity, the Lord Jesus Christ.
We believe that
salvation is totally impossible apart from the new birth, and that this new birth is
accomplished by God in the heart of the regenerated sinner at the very instant that he
first believes the Gospel.
We do not believe that
any works, rituals, blessings, baptisms, laying on of hands, spiritual demonstrations or
any other artifices of man have any efficacy whatsoever in the salvation of a single lost
soul, but that Jesus is the only Door through which one must enter into the kingdom of
heaven.
The
Extent of Salvation
We believe that, because
the regenerated Christian is a new creation, the old having passed away at the moment of
the new birth, and because that new creation is in Christ, and is a part of His Body, it
is impossible for the Christian ever to be removed from the number of the saved.
We believe that
salvation extends to body, soul and spirit, that there is no part of the new creation
which shall not enjoy the inestimable privileges and pleasures of living in the House of
God forever.
We believe that the
translated body of the believer is as far above this present flesh as the full ear of corn
is above the single grain.
We believe that the
translated body is possessed by the same person, personality and character that now
resides in sinful flesh, only without any further sin forever.
We believe that the
salvation which is extended to every believer will culminate in a body of flesh and bones,
without blood, which is perfectly suited for eternal life in the presence of God, in the
same manner in which Adam and Eve walked with God in the Garden of Eden before the Fall.
Thus, we believe that
salvation extends to eternity, and encompasses the body, the soul, and the spirit of every
believer.
While it is not the
experience of the Christian during this Age to know the sinless perfection of his standing
in Christ, because of the presence in his members of a sinful will, we believe that our
present position in Christ causes our acceptance, justification, adoption and perfect
standing before the throne of God’s justice. We do not believe that our salvation
depends upon our faithfulness to God, but upon His faithfulness to His Word, and that His
Word extends salvation to the remotest crannies of our beings.
Sanctification
We believe that
sanctification is both a process and an event.
We believe that, at the
moment a person believes the Gospel, he is born again and is immediately baptized into the
Body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. His position is, thereafter, in Him.
From that moment
forward, the righteousness of Christ Himself is imputed to the believer’s account,
and he is justified before the bar of God’s justice, and is accounted holy and
blameless. This all occurs simultaneously with the new birth, repentance
(change of mind - from all other confidences to confidence in Christ alone) and acceptance of
the truth, and constitutes the "event" of sanctification. From that moment, the
believer is judicially sanctified, or set apart from the world for service to his heavenly
Father.
At the same instant of
judicial sanctification, we believe there begins a process of experiential sanctification
through which every believer progresses throughout his earthly life.
We believe that the
Christian grows in the knowledge of God and of His grace, learns more and more to trust
Him, becomes more and more separated from the world as he matures spiritually. This
process of sanctification is not so much about "being good" as it is about
growth in the Christian experience toward separation from the things of the world.
Furthermore, we believe
that the process of sanctification is impressed upon the believer, not by his own will,
but by the Holy Spirit. That is, the believer does not set about turning over a new leaf,
but the Spirit begins to turn the believer’s eyes away from the things of the flesh
and toward the only Light. He turns the believer’s heart gradually away from his
earthly treasures, and toward those treasures reserved in his name in heaven..
The judicial
sanctification that is received at the new birth is instantaneous; experiential
sanctification proceeds throughout the Christian’s earthly life until either death or
the redemption of the purchased possession at the rapture of the Church intervenes.
Eternal Security
Because of a
Christian’s standing as a member of Christ’s Body; because of his rebirth by the
seed of God; because of his adoption by his heavenly Father; because of the clear and
repeated promises of God, who cannot lie; because the gift of God is eternal life; most of
all, because the Blood of Jesus Christ, shed at Calvary, effected the complete redemption,
justification, sanctification and everlasting perfection before the throne of God’s
grace of all who believe; for these reasons and more, we believe that every person born
again of the seed of God is eternally secure in the Body of his Redeemer, and that it is
impossible for the devil, for society, for the Churches, governments, laws, edicts,
decrees, or any trick of the devil, or even any failure or evil intent or rebellion of the
Christian himself will ever be able to separate from the Christian that seed and eternal
life which was imparted to him without regard to his sinful state, but on account of the
fact that he believed God.
We believe that God
chastens those whom He loves when He finds them persistently pursuing the things of the
flesh, in order to turn the wayward eye back onto the light of His grace; in turn, in
order to effect the conformation of the Christian to Christ. God’s daily relationship
with His children in no way abrogates or nullifies His purposes and promises to save and
keep them solely upon the basis of the eternally shed Blood of the Lamb of God.
Assurance
We believe that
the very Spirit of God Himself, dwelling in every believer, constitutes the greatest
assurance the Christian can have of the eternal nature of his salvation.
Beyond the indwelling
Spirit, however, the Christian rests upon the reality of the written Word of God, knowing
that he is not kept by any reformation of the flesh, but by the power of God. We believe
that the assurance thus given encourages the believer to active service in hope of rewards
at the judgment seat of Christ.
The Holy Spirit
We believe that
the Holy Spirit, Third Person of the Trinity, is equal in God to both the Father and the
Son, and that He has all of the attributes of God, and is worthy of worship as God.
We believe that the
Spirit entered into the world in a wholly new way on the Day of Pentecost, in the bodies
of living believers.
We believe that He
accomplishes several specific missions to the Church as Helper and Comforter. Among these
missions are the sanctification of the believer, the service of the believer, the growth
of the believer in the knowledge of God, the steadfast assurance that the believer is
saved eternally, and to testify to a lost and dark world of the grace of God and of the
imminence of that blessed hope through the ministries of individual Christians.
We believe that the Holy
Spirit also functions in the Christian in the world in this Age as a Restrainer of evil,
not that the world might be made a holy place, but that individual souls might see the
grace and goodness of God and the wisdom of His providence.
We believe that the
world will grow progressively worse. ushering in, not utopia, but the very wrath of a
vengeful God.
We believe that the
Spirit of God, and the very essence of His love, flow outward from the Christian toward
those to whom the Spirit wishes to minister.
We believe that there is
no possibility of effective, fruitful or rewarding service outside the functioning of the
Spirit of God in the heart of the believer.
We believe that the Holy
Spirit imparts spiritual gifts to everyone who is born again of God’s seed. He is
Himself the actuating power of the gifts, and the Christian cannot be fruitful outside the
work of the Spirit through him. The Christian has done nothing to deserve the gifts, and
has no power to exercise them outside the power of the indwelling Spirit. We believe that
the Holy Spirit guides each believer in his study of God’s Word, and that He imparts
to each Christian such knowledge as he may find useful in his own ministry.
We believe that the Holy
Spirit baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ at the moment of the new birth,
that He seals that believer with the assurance of eternal life and the loving providence
of God, enabling the Christian to trust God to so arrange the affairs of his earthly life
that he receives nothing but good from them, according to His purposes.
We believe that the Holy
Spirit intercedes for every Christian, praying perfect prayers to the Father on their
behalf, according to the will of God, and that the Holy Spirit leads and guides the
Christian in his daily walk and life-long ministry.
We believe that those
who walk in the spirit and not in the flesh are those who are submitted to the guidance of
the Spirit of God, and are those who dwell in the light and bear much fruit, whose reward
is great, whose treasure is in heaven.
The Church
The
True Church
We believe that the
Church is both the body and the bride of Christ, that it is a living organism, united in
Him in spirit, faith, and fellowship.
We believe that every
person born again since the Day of Pentecost is baptized into this body, and membership
therein has no relevance to membership in any organized local church.
We believe that any
person, Jew or Gentile, may become a member of the true Church through faith in the death,
burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and that every person baptized by the Holy Spirit
into this body receives all of the rights and privileges and responsibilities thereof,
shares in all of the hopes and promises, becomes a new creation, whose citizenship is in
heaven, and not on the earth.
The
Local Church
We believe that the
local Church was formed for the convenience of the believers, that membership therein in
no way constitutes salvation, and that every local congregation of believers is composed
of both believers and non-believers. We believe that the local Church is not an organism,
but is an organization of persons the sole function of which is the edification of
believers and their preparation and equipping for their personal ministries.
We believe that the
organized system of religion in the world is characterized by apostasy, and that, at the
rapture, most of the greater body of professing Christendom will not be removed from the
earth, but will remain here to enter the tribulation to become the great harlot of
Revelation 17.
We believe that, while
there are Churches that have remained true to sound doctrine, the great majority have
departed from the faith of the gospel of Christ, and have become lukewarm in their weak
faith.
We believe that God has
Himself invested the Church with pastors, teachers, prophets and evangelists, and that
these offices are filled by men called by God for this service. We believe that God leads
these men to the churches where He would have them serve, and that it is the
responsibility of the churches to discern spiritually God’s purposes in these men,
and to accept their leadership in submission to His will.
We believe that the
members of the true Church are intermingled to a large degree today with the members of
the apostate system, and that they will be removed bodily at the rapture of the Church.
We also believe that
when a believer recognizes a local assembly as apostate, it is his responsibility to
immediately withdraw from that congregation and never again to go near the door of her
house.
We believe that the
mission of the local Church is twofold:
A.
to educate its membership in order to equip individuals for the ministry, and,
B.
to evangelize its own community and the nations of the world through the work of its
members.
The Ordinances
We believe that the
Bible authorizes and ordains two ordinances for the Church on earth during this Age.
We believe that water
baptism is the first ordinance of the Church, and that any of three methods are acceptable
(submersion, sprinkling and pouring), depending upon the needs of the person being
baptized, with submersion being the preferred method where possible.
We believe that baptism
has no saving efficacy whatsoever, but that it is a form of testimony of faith in the
death, burial and resurrection of the Christ.
We believe that the
Lord’s Supper is the second ordinance of the Church, and that it is also a form of
testimony of faith in the saving efficacy of Christ’s work on the Cross. We believe
that any time two or more Christians break bread, or eat, together with a proper
remembrance of Christ’s death on their behalf, the Lord’s Supper has been
performed.
We do not believe that
it is proper to cloak either of the ordinances in ritual, but that these ordinances are to
be carried out with a solemn spirituality and a sense of the significance of that which
they memorialize.
The Christian Responsibility
We believe that
the Christian walk and responsibility revolves around a spiritual perspective on life and
mission. We believe that it is only as the Christian walks in the Spirit that he can in
any way be useful to God. We believe that the Christian’s first responsibility and
priority is to bear the fruits of the Spirit in service to God, and that a fleshly walk is
counter-productive to that service.
We believe that every
Christian is a stranger and a pilgrim on the earth, not of the earth, but in the world, to
serve as ambassadors for Christ, engaged in the ministry of the word of reconciliation,
and ought to so conduct himself in the world in a manner that reflects a life of faith,
hope and love, not judging others, but bringing to everyone the message of God’s
grace.
We believe that proper
service to God today results in rewards for the believer at the judgment seat of Christ.
We believe that this
service encompasses personal witness, growth in faith and in the knowledge of God, acts of
charity toward the oppressed and afflicted, intercessory prayer, participation in the
ordinances of the Church, and a willing submission to the Spirit of God as He moves the
Christian in his service.
We believe that the
properly submitted Christian must so arrange his priorities as to remove selfish
motivations and considerations from his life in order to serve God wherever and however He
might wish to use him.
The Great Commission
We believe that
every Christian bears the solemn responsibility to do the work of an evangelist. We
believe that Jesus Christ Himself commanded all who believe the gospel to go into all the
world with the message of salvation through His work on the Cross, and that it is the
personal responsibility of every Christian to bring the message of salvation to a lost and
sin-darkened world; not that everyone will be saved, but that all might have the
opportunity to accept or reject the gospel. We believe that this is the proper work of the
heavenly ambassador, and that no Christian is exempt from the responsibility to fulfill
his ministry thereby.
The Blessed Hope
We believe that
the next event on the prophetic calendar is the rapture of the Church; that no other
prophecy that remains to be fulfilled must in any fashion precede that event, but that
every remaining prophecy is to be fulfilled following the rapture.
We believe that this
event comprises the climax of this Age, and should be the motivating force behind every
Christian’s service in this life. We believe that the doctrine of the imminence of
the rapture should create in every Christian’s heart the hope of its occurrence in
his own lifetime, that he might avoid physical death altogether; but more, that he might
shed these mortal coils and the sin that permeates them, and stand in the presence of the
Lord Jesus Christ without shame or fear, but in perfect love and adoration, to receive his
reward and to hear the Lord say, "Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been
faithful over a few things; I will make you ruler over many things."
We believe that through
a thorough study of Biblical prophecy, one may come to the clear understanding of our
position at the brink of the Age, and that this understanding ought to effect in every
Christian a firm devotion to the things of the Spirit, and a great and blessed hope that
is based upon the assurance of faith.
We believe further that
many of the things prophesied to take place following the rapture are rapidly progressing
in preparation upon the stage of the world, and that an understanding of the geo-political
stage, coupled with an understanding of prophecy, leads the candid mind immediately to the
imminence of the rapture of the Church.
The
Tribulation
We believe that,
simultaneously with the rapture of the Church, there will begin upon the earth a period of
seven years, which will be characterized by the climactic judgments of God being poured
out upon the earth. We believe that this period will culminate in the Second Coming of our
Lord to the earth to establish His kingdom.
We believe that there
are three purposes established in the Scriptures that are to be accomplished in the
judgments of the tribulation:
A. To
punish the Gentile nations for partitioning the land that God gave to Israel; and,
B. to
bring the Jews to such a state of conviction that they will accept their returning Messiah
when they see Him whom they have pierced; and,
C. to
effect the destruction of the apostate portion of professing Christendom.
We believe that these
judgments are certain, and that every nation on earth is to be subjected to them.
We believe that God has
set aside 144,000 Jews to serve as His ambassadors to the people of earth during the
visitation of His wrath, and that many souls will be saved as a result of their ministry.
We believe that Satan
will present to the world his false messiah, the Anti-Christ, a man of great deception,
who will lead the Gentile world and Israel into the climax of Gentile world dominion, and
that this climax will involve the crushing of Gentile world dominion by the return of
Jesus Christ to the earth to become King of kings and Lord of lords.
We believe that all who
heard and rejected the message of God’s grace prior to the rapture of the Church will
enter the tribulation with the rest of the unsaved world, but that these will have no
opportunity to be saved by the witness of the 144,000 or those saved by their ministry. We
believe that these people will be given a strong delusion in order that they will believe
the lie of the Anti-Christ, and not the gospel.
We believe that much of
the professing church will not participate in the rapture, but will enter the tribulation,
join herself to the government and spirit of the Anti-Christ; that she will seduce the
world through self-gratification and self-glorification, gorging herself with herself, and
that she will suffer horribly at the hands of the Anti-Christ, and be utterly destroyed by
the judgments of God.
We believe that this
seven year period is the same which is known as Daniel’s seventieth week and the time
of Jacob’s trouble, and that the last half of this period is referred to as three and
one half years, comprising the time of great tribulation.
The Second Advent
We believe that
the bodily return of Jesus Christ to the earth will be an event of great glory, ushering
in at long last His millennial Kingdom.
We also believe that
this event will be one of crushing impact upon the nations of the earth, when great divine
judgment will fall upon them and their dominion will be destroyed.
We believe that the
Church, raptured seven years earlier, and in translated, glorified bodies, will return
with Christ, and will serve in His government, to rule with Him for a thousand years.
We believe that, at the
Second Coming, the people remaining on the earth after the judgments of the tribulation
will be judged, being separated as sheep from goats. The former shall enter the Kingdom
Age; will repopulate the earth; will be subjected to the rule of Jesus Christ and His
Bride, the Church. We believe that these mortals will produce children, who will be born,
live and die.
We believe that the
latter, the goats shall be killed, to be raised again to stand before the judgment of the
great white throne.
We believe that,
simultaneously with the Second Coming, Satan will be bound and thrown into the abyss,
where he will remain for nearly the entire period of the Kingdom Age.
We believe that when
Jesus’ feet touch the Mount of Olives, there will be a cataclysmic reorganization of
the land masses of the earth, and a removal of the curse placed upon the earth in the
Fall.
We believe that the
Second Coming of Christ will be a moment of such sudden and dramatic change as to convince
all who see Him that He is indeed God and Man, and that it is His irrevocable right to
reign over that which He has made.
The Millennial Kingdom
We believe that,
seventy-five days following His return to the earth, Jesus Christ will ascend the throne
of David, to rule the entire earth for one thousand years. We believe that His rule will
extend to every corner of the earth, and that no nation, people or person shall not be in
complete subjection to His will.
We believe that natural
man will continue to be born and to live and die during this Age, though life spans may be
once again extended.
We believe that people
will continue to be saved throughout this Age, but that enough men will remain
unregenerated by the end of the Age that Satan will be able to lead a great rebellion,
which is to be summarily put down by fire, so that all may be killed who rebelled; in turn
so that they might be raised at the second resurrection, the resurrection of the unsaved
dead.
We believe that the
saved of the Kingdom Age must immediately be translated, as there is no more resurrection
mentioned in the Scriptures which would include any saved person following the Second
Coming of Christ.
We believe that the
earth will be transformed at His coming, accomplished in the cataclysm that accompanies
it. We believe that at His coming, the curse upon the land will be removed, that animal
ferocity will be eliminated, that nature will be restored to its former glory, and that
the glory of God will be accurately reflected in its every aspect to the remotest parts of
the heavens and earth.
We believe that, despite
a thousand years of peace, harmony and righteous rule, the hearts of unregenerated men
will continue to be rebellious toward God, and that salvation in this Age will be by grace
through faith in the efficacy of that same shed Blood by which we are saved today.
We believe that Satan
will be held in the abyss during the Kingdom Age, but that he will be released from the
abyss near the end of the Age, and will lead rebellious men in a great and fatal struggle
against Christ; that this rebellion will be met with utter death and the righteous
judgment of God upon every person involved, including the person of the devil himself.
We believe that,
following this rebellion and its fatal consequences, the present heavens and earth will be
destroyed, and a new earth and new heavens will be created.
We believe that a great
white throne will be set up in heaven, that the unsaved dead will be resurrected in
immortal bodies to stand before that throne and find that their names have been blotted
from the Book of Life.
We believe that every
person born on the earth who has not believed God will be present bodily at this judgment,
and that all will be cast into the lake of fire to be tormented forever, but not
destroyed.
We believe that Satan
will himself be cast into the lake of fire, and that death and hades will join him there.
We do not believe that Satan in any fashion rules in hell, but that he is tormented in its
hottest parts, as befits the author of every evil that has ever ensnared God’s
creation.
The Eternal State
We believe that
the eternal state begins immediately upon the creation of the new heavens and the new
earth, that time ceases altogether and that the never-changing glory of a mighty and
powerful God will fill everything and everyone ever thereafter with the Light of His love.
We believe that the
Church, the Bride of Christ, will inhabit the New Jerusalem forever; that the nation of
Israel will occupy its territories upon the new earth, with full access to the New
Jerusalem and the throne of God; that the Gentile nations will again occupy their
territories, also with access to the New Jerusalem and the presence of their God.
We believe that all
saved men, regardless of prophetic distinction will dwell eternally and sinlessly in the
love of God, occupied with those things which pertain to the manifestation of His glory
and the assurance of our everlasting bliss.
These
things we hold to be true by our mutual faith in God and in His Word!
