Statement of Faith
The Bible is composed of 66 books penned by 40 authors over thousands of years, and was given to mankind through the agency of the prophets and the apostles, all confirming each other. It is an integrated whole which bears evidence of supernatural engineering in every detail of life and creation.
The Scriptures reveal to us that there is one God, eternally existent, the creator of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
The Scriptures reveal to us that mankind was originally created in the image of God, but fell through rebellion. That historic fall brought all mankind into the state of being “fallen.” The Scriptures clearly show that mankind is not born with “a clean slate,” nor with a predilection to goodness, but is born in fallenness, and thus every human being is needs to be “born again,” through faith in the atonement God has provided, which was accomplished for us in Jesus Christ. Anyone rejecting the atonement made in Jesus Christ will, at death, take his place in a literal hell, a place of anguish and eternal separation from God and all that is good.
The Scriptures reveal to us that Jesus Christ is the only-begotten Son of God, God himself, who became flesh and was born of Mary, who was a virgin at his birth, in Bethlehem, Israel. Jesus came in order to become the perfect and sinless atonement for the sins of fallen mankind. The atonement was accomplished in his crucifixion and death for us, the righteous for the unrighteous, and in his resurrection from the dead. His atonement satisfied divine justice and accomplished salvation for all who trust in him ALONE.
On the third day after his death, Jesus Christ arose from the dead having conquered death, hell, and the grave, and was seen by upwards of 500 persons.
Forty days later He ascended to heaven, and took his rightful place at the right hand of the Father, and became the only mediator between God and man.
The Lord Jesus, before returning to heaven, promised to send the Holy Spirit for us, the divine Spirit of God himself, to walk with the believer, to indwell the believer, convicting of sin, drawing sinners to Christ, imparting new life to them upon conversion, enabling the believer to overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil, and bringing to mind all that the Scriptures have said. The Spirit of God enables the believer to perform all works which God has prepared for that individual believer before the foundation of the earth.
The Scriptures have foretold that the last seven years of this age will be a time of great sorrow, a time when the wrath of God will be poured out on the Christ-rejecting world. That time period is known as the "Tribulation." The Scriptures have also foretold that before that time begins, Jesus Christ will take all who are his from the earth, to spend that time with him in heaven, sparing them the wrath of God.
The Scriptures have also told us that the seven-year period will be a time when God is dealing with Israel, preparing her to receive her Messiah, who is the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord Jesus Christ will return to this earth to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. His enemies will be destroyed, Satan will be bound, and the Lord Jesus will establish his physical Kingdom on the earth, ruling and reigning upon the Throne of David in Jerusalem. He will restore all things and His Kingdom shall have no end.
The Scriptures reveal to us that there is one God, eternally existent, the creator of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
The Scriptures reveal to us that mankind was originally created in the image of God, but fell through rebellion. That historic fall brought all mankind into the state of being “fallen.” The Scriptures clearly show that mankind is not born with “a clean slate,” nor with a predilection to goodness, but is born in fallenness, and thus every human being is needs to be “born again,” through faith in the atonement God has provided, which was accomplished for us in Jesus Christ. Anyone rejecting the atonement made in Jesus Christ will, at death, take his place in a literal hell, a place of anguish and eternal separation from God and all that is good.
The Scriptures reveal to us that Jesus Christ is the only-begotten Son of God, God himself, who became flesh and was born of Mary, who was a virgin at his birth, in Bethlehem, Israel. Jesus came in order to become the perfect and sinless atonement for the sins of fallen mankind. The atonement was accomplished in his crucifixion and death for us, the righteous for the unrighteous, and in his resurrection from the dead. His atonement satisfied divine justice and accomplished salvation for all who trust in him ALONE.
On the third day after his death, Jesus Christ arose from the dead having conquered death, hell, and the grave, and was seen by upwards of 500 persons.
Forty days later He ascended to heaven, and took his rightful place at the right hand of the Father, and became the only mediator between God and man.
The Lord Jesus, before returning to heaven, promised to send the Holy Spirit for us, the divine Spirit of God himself, to walk with the believer, to indwell the believer, convicting of sin, drawing sinners to Christ, imparting new life to them upon conversion, enabling the believer to overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil, and bringing to mind all that the Scriptures have said. The Spirit of God enables the believer to perform all works which God has prepared for that individual believer before the foundation of the earth.
The Scriptures have foretold that the last seven years of this age will be a time of great sorrow, a time when the wrath of God will be poured out on the Christ-rejecting world. That time period is known as the "Tribulation." The Scriptures have also foretold that before that time begins, Jesus Christ will take all who are his from the earth, to spend that time with him in heaven, sparing them the wrath of God.
The Scriptures have also told us that the seven-year period will be a time when God is dealing with Israel, preparing her to receive her Messiah, who is the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord Jesus Christ will return to this earth to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. His enemies will be destroyed, Satan will be bound, and the Lord Jesus will establish his physical Kingdom on the earth, ruling and reigning upon the Throne of David in Jerusalem. He will restore all things and His Kingdom shall have no end.
Exposing The Enemy Series
by Jimmy Evans
Part 1: Exposing Lucifer
Part 2: Exposing Satan
Part 3: Exposing The Devil
Part 4: Exposing The Antichrist
Part 1: Exposing Lucifer
Part 2: Exposing Satan
Part 3: Exposing The Devil
Part 4: Exposing The Antichrist
How Close Are We To The False Global Religion?
Pastor Tom Hughes doesn't name "the False Prophet," but...
Sir Nicholas Winton
The word "hero" is reserved for people like this. He is the British version of Oskar Schindler. WHAT a testimony!
The Lie - Where It Came From
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will
eventually
come to believe it.” -The Nazi, Joseph Goebbels
come to believe it.” -The Nazi, Joseph Goebbels
It came from Dave MacPherson who aggressively attacked the pretribulation rapture by attributing its origin to Margaret Macdonald, whom MacPherson considered to be occult influenced. He claimed J.N. Darby derived the pretribulation rapture from her and this was done secretly, lest the true origin of the rapture be discovered. This was the beginning of the MacDonald lie.
David
MacPherson
- David MacPherson began the whole controversy with his claims which have so little supporting evidence that one wonders how he could write his book with a straight face. Pretribulationalists should be indebted to MacPherson for exposing the facts, namely, that there is no proof that MacDonald or Irving originated the pretribulation Rapture teaching.
- Max S. Weremchuk wrote a major biography on Darby entitled, “John Nelson Darby: A Biography. “ In it he says, "Having read MacPherson's book I find it impossible to make a just comparison between what Miss MacDonald 'prophesied' and what Darby taught. It appears that the wish was the father of the idea.”
John
Nelson Darby, wrote of the Pre-trib Rapture in January of 1827
- His denomination was the Plymouth Brethren
- Darby had already written out his pretribulation Rapture views in January 1827, 3 years prior to the 1830 MacDonald prophecy.
- Darby’s belief came from Scripture, not from a girl’s prophecy.
He did not get his eschatological views from men, but rather from the doctrine of the church as the body of Christ. His views were gradually formed and theologically and Biblically based rather than derived from any Pentecostal group or MacDonald prophecy. - Darby went to the meetings being held where MacDonald gave her word, and he concluded that what was going on there was “demonic.” He would not have borrowed an idea from a source that he clearly thought was demonic.“
- Darby's understanding of the pre-trib Rapture was the product of the development of his personal interactive thought with the text of Scripture as he, his friends, and dispensationalists have long contended.
- Darby's earliest published essay on Biblical prophecy was in 1829. In his earliest of essays, he expounds upon the Rapture as the Church's hope, not the Church’s purification during the Tribulation.
- Darby’s conclusion concerning the pre-trib Rapture came when he saw clearly the distinction between Israel and the Church, two separate dispensations.
Margaret
MacDonald was post-trib
- MacDonald’s vision was in 1830, 3 years after Darby’s conclusions about the Rapture
- MacDonald was a member of the charismatic movement of 1830. John Darby went to investigate and dismissed her “vision” as "demonic." If Darby thought MacDonald to be under an "evil spell," why on earth would he use her writings to form some new doctrine?
- MacDonald’s statements show her to hold a POST-trib position. She said of the Tribulation:
"…being the fiery trial which is to try us …for the purging and purifying of the real members of the body of Jesus." She looked for the Church being purged by the Antichrist. This is not pre-trib belief. Pre-trib doctrine shows the Church being removed BEFORE THE COMING of the Antichrist.
Roy
A. Huebner, Brethren writer
Huebner wrote that Darby first began to believe in the pre-trib
Rapture and develop his dispensational thinking while convalescing
from a riding accident during December 1826 and January 1827. Huebner
wrote of Darby's pre-trib and dispensational thoughts:
- He saw from Isaiah 32 that there was a different dispensation coming …that Israel and the Church were distinct.
- During his convalescence, Darby learned that he ”ought daily to expect his Lord's return."
- He also saw a gap of time between the Rapture and the second coming
- Darby himself said in 1857 that he first started understanding things relating to the pre-trib Rapture "thirty years ago," so that would be January 1827.
- Darby had already understood those truths upon which the pre-tribulation Rapture hinges. He claimed that the doctrine virtually jumped out of the pages of Scripture once he accepted and consistently maintained the distinction between Israel and the church.
- Huebner considers MacPherson's charges as "using slander that J. N. Darby took the pretribulation Rapture from those very opposing, demon-inspired utterances.”
John
Bray
Bray was an anti-Rapture believer, but he said that Margaret
MacDonald was teaching a single coming of our Lord Jesus. This
contradicts the Rapture doctrine which teaches a two-staged event:
first, Christ comes for His Church and second, seven years later his
return to earth. So Margaret MacDonald was post-trib, NOT pre-trib.
There
are not a lot of writings from the early church period on the subject
of the Rapture. And why should there be? They were not to live in
those days. The earliest writings from which we have learned about
these things are found in the Bible’s Book of Daniel. After
receiving the revelation, Daniel was told:
“Go
your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the
time of the end.”
Ephraem
the Syrian, 373 AD ---1,454 years before Darby
"For all the saints and Elect of God are gathered, prior to the
tribulation that is to come, and are taken to the Lord lest they see
the confusion that is to overwhelm the world because of our sins."
John Gill (1748)
Dr. John Gill was one of the most brilliant scholars of his day. This
Calvinist Baptist theologian wrote a full commentary set on the Bible
in 1748. In this commentary he made a statement in his notes on 1
Thessalonians 4 that supported a time difference between the Rapture
of the saints and the coming of Christ to earth. He said:
"....here Christ will stop and will be visible to all, and as easily discerned by all, good and bad, as the body of the sun at noon-day; as yet He will not descend on earth, because it is not fit to receive Him; but when that and its works are burnt up, and it is purged and purified by fire, and become a new earth, He'll descend upon it, and dwell with his saints in it: and this suggests another reason why He'll stay in the air, and His saints shall meet Him there, and whom He'll take up with Him into the third heaven, till the general conflagration and burning of the world is over, and to preserve them from it...."
Joseph
Mede (1586-1638)
"I will add this more, namely, what may be conceived to be the
cause of this RAPTURE of the saints on high to meet the Lord in the
clouds, rather than to wait his coming to earth....What if it be,
that they may be PRESERVED during the Conflagration of the earth and
the works thereof, 2 Pet.3:10, that as Noah and his family were
preserved from the Deluge by being lift up above the waters in the
Ark; so should the saints at the Conflagration be lift up in the
clouds unto their Ark, Christ, to be preserved there from the deluge
of fire, wherein the wicked shall be consumed?" ("The
Works of Joseph Mede," 1672, London edition, Book IV, p.776)
Works of Joseph Mede," 1672, London edition, Book IV, p.776)
Irenaeus (130 A.D. – 202 AD)
“And therefore, when in the end the Church shall be suddenly caught
up from this, it is said, “There shall be tribulation such as has
not been since the beginning, neither shall be.”
Cyprian (200 AD – 258 AD
Do you not give God thanks, do you not congratulate yourself, that by
an early departure you are taken away, and delivered from the
shipwrecks and disasters that are imminent? Let us greet the day
which assigns each of us to his own home, which snatches us hence,
and sets us free from the snares of the world and restores us to
paradise and the kingdom.”