What Saith the Scripture?
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What Saith the Scripture?
What We Believe
"But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God
must believe that He is, and that He is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek Him."
(Hebrews 11:6)
by Tom Stewart
3-8-98
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1. The Word of God
In the Inspiration of the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments.
- "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and
is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness"
(2Timothy 3:16).
"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of
the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4).
- "Scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35).
2. Creation
That God created all things by a direct act through His Son.
- "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth"
(Genesis 1:1).
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without
Him was not any thing made that was made" (John
1:1-3).
3. Sin
That all men have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.
- "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory
of God" (Romans 3:23).
That sin is a voluntary act of the human will in rebellion
against the Law of God.
- "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law:
for sin is the transgression of the law" (1John
3:4).
4. Salvation
That all men need the salvation that comes only from God the Father through Jesus
Christ, the Son.
- "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting
life" (John 3:16).
"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under
heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts
4:12).
That willingness to obey Christ is to be a Christian.
- "He that doeth the will of God abideth for ever"
(1John 2:17).
5. The Security of the Saint, and Insecurity of the Sinner
That only those who walk in obedience can know, and have a right to know-- by virtue
of the testimony of the Spirit and the Word-- that they are saved.
- "And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep
His Commandments. He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His Commandments, is
a liar, and the Truth is not in him" (1John
2:3-4).
"All liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone:
which is the second death" (Revelation
21:8).
6. Sanctification
That holiness must be practiced for men to see God.
- "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without
which no man shall see the LORD" (Hebrews
12:14).
That practiced sanctification is entire.
- "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and
I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming
of our LORD Jesus Christ" (1Thessalonians
5:23).
That God will work, in a willing heart, to will and to do
of His good pleasure.
- "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and
to do of His good pleasure" (Philippians
2:13).
That our past failures in sin cause us to limit what we
believe God can accomplish in us.
- "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from
the body of this death?" (Romans 7:24).
That the same power of Christ's Resurrection causes us to
rise from the power of sinning.
- "That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection,
and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death"
(Philippians 3:10).
"For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but
under grace" (Romans 6:14).
That the Gospel experience is the comfort of the Holy Spirit.
- "I will not leave you comfortless... But the Comforter,
which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you
all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto
you" (John 14:18,26).
That obedience is no longer legalistic or burdensome.
- "For this is the love of God, that we keep His Commandments:
and His Commandments are not grievous [burdensome, i.e., impossible]" (1John 5:3).
That the promises of God are designed to make us participants
in God's holiness.
- "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious
Promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the Divine Nature, having escaped
the corruption that is in the world through lust" (2Peter
1:4).
That those who watch and pray have been promised escape
from ALL the events of the Tribulation Week.
- "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may
be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand
before the Son of man" (Luke 21:36).
7. Jesus Christ
That Jesus, by virtue of the Virgin Birth is both God and man.
- "Therefore the LORD Himself shall give you a sign;
Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel"
(Isaiah 7:14).
"For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall
be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty
God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" (Isaiah
9:6).
That He lived a sinless life.
- "Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth"
(1Peter 2:22).
That He substituted Himself for all mankind on the Cross.
- "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin
of the world" (John 1:29).
That
- "He was buried, and that He rose again the third day
according to the Scriptures" (1Corinthians
15:4).
That He ascended back into Heaven and gave the Church His
Holy Spirit as promised in the New Covenant.
- "And, being assembled together with them, commanded
them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the
Father, which, saith He, ye have heard of Me... Ye shall be baptized with the Holy
Ghost not many days hence... But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost
is come upon you... And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was
taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight" (Acts 1:4-5,8-9).
"A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and
I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart
of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My Statutes,
and ye shall keep My Judgments, and do them" (Ezekiel
36:26-27).
8. The Great Commission
That all men are to be preached the Gospel of repentance from sin, and faith in Jesus
Christ, until Jesus returns the Second time.
- "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them
to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway,
even unto the end of the world. Amen" (Matthew
28:19-20).
That intercessory prayer is the greatly neglected tool of
the Body of Christ to cast down the strongholds of Satan and set the sinner free.
- "And He saw that there was no man, and wondered that
there was no intercessor: therefore His arm brought salvation unto Him; and His righteousness,
it sustained Him" (Isaiah 59:16).
"(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the
pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that
exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought
to the obedience of Christ" (2Corinthians
10:4-5).
9. The Church
That the Church is the Body of Christ.
- "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of
the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?"
(1Corinthians 6:19).
"Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular" (1Corinthians 12:27).
That the individual Believers should seek out the support
and fellowship of Fellow Believers.
- "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together,
as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye
see the day approaching" (Hebrews 10:25).
That the body should not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.
- "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers:
for what fellowship hath Righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath
Light with darkness?" (2Corinthians 6:14).
That discipline should be enforced by believers, withdrawing
fellowship from those stubbornly walking in known sin.
- "To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction
of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the LORD Jesus" (1Corinthians 5:5).
"And if any man obey not our word by this Epistle, note that man, and have no
company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish
him as a brother" (2Thessalonians 3:14-15).
10. Love, Faith, and Obedience
That love is demonstrated by the Saints through obedience to the Saviour.
- "He that hath My Commandments, and keepeth them, he
it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will
love him, and will manifest Myself to him" (John
14:21).
That faith only comes from the Word of God.
- "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the
Word of God" (Romans 10:17).
That faith is the means and love is the motivation-- a faith
that worketh by love.
- "For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth
any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love" (Galatians 5:6).
That obedience is not optional, if we would walk in the
love of God.
- "But whoso keepeth His Word, in him verily is the
love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him" (1John 2:5).
That the parable of the Ten Virgins warns us that only the
professed body that is walking wisely, i.e. without known sin, will enter into the
Marriage.
- "Then shall the kingdom of Heaven be likened unto
ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the Bridegroom. And five
of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps,
and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
While the Bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there
was a cry made, Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him. Then all those
virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give
us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so;
lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and
buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the Bridegroom came; and they that
were ready went in with Him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came
also the other virgins, saying, LORD, LORD, open to us. But He answered and said,
Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither
the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh" (Matthew
25:1-13).
11. The Rapture of the Church
That two Rapture events will take place. The 1st "Come Up Hither" is the
Pre-Tribulational Rapture of the Church.
- "After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened
in Heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking
with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter" (Revelation 4:1).
And, the 2nd "Come Up Hither" is the Pre-Wrath
Rapture of the Tribulation Saints.
- "And they heard a great voice from Heaven saying unto
them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to Heaven in a cloud; and their enemies
beheld them... And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in Heaven,
saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our LORD, and of His
Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever" (Revelation
11:12,15).
That Jesus will reward the Righteous at the Bema Seat Judgment.
- "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of
Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that
he hath done, whether it be good or bad" (2Corinthians
5:10).
12. The Second Coming of Jesus Christ
That Jesus Christ will come bodily.
- "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?
this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner
as ye have seen Him go into heaven" (Acts
1:11).
That He will come in plain view of the entire world.
- "Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall
see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail
because of Him. Even so, Amen" (Revelation
1:7).
That He will Judge the Nations of the World.
- "When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and
all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: And
before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another,
as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats" (Matthew
25:31-32).
That He will cast Antichrist and the False Prophet into
the Lake of Fire.
- "And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet
that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the
mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive
into a lake of fire burning with brimstone" (Revelation
19:20).
That He will chain Satan in the Bottomless Pit for 1,000
years.
- "And I saw an angel come down from Heaven, having
the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on
the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand
years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon
him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be
fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season" (Revelation 20:1-3).
13. The Millennium
That the LORD Jesus Christ will reign with the Church Age Saints on planet Earth
for 1,000 years over the Millennial Saints-- those who enter the Millennium in the
flesh.
- "Of the increase of His government and peace there
shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and
to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The
zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this"
(Isaiah 9:7).
"And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them:
and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for
the Word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither
had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and
reigned with Christ a thousand years" (Revelation
20:4).
That Satan will be loosed and man will again rebel, only
to be destroyed by God.
- "And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall
be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in
the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle:
the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of
the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the Beloved City: and
fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them" (Revelation 20:7-9).
That Satan will then be cast into the Lake of Fire.
- "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the
lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall
be tormented day and night for ever and ever" (Revelation
20:10).
And that the Wicked will be judged at the White Throne Judgment
and also cast into the Lake of Fire.
- "And I saw a Great White Throne, and Him that sat
on it, from Whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no
place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books
were opened: and another Book was opened, which is the Book of Life: and the dead
were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their
works... And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the
lake of fire" (Revelation 20:11-12,15).
14. The New Heavens and New Earth
That God will cause the first Heaven and first Earth to pass away, and replace them
with a New Heaven and a New Earth.
- "And I saw a New Heaven and a New Earth: for the first
Heaven and the first Earth were passed away; and there was no more sea" (Revelation 21:1).
That this is God's New Creation
- "wherein dwelleth righteousness" (2Peter 3:13).
Holy Bible
