Loving God, Loving People
What We Believe & Teach
- The Holy Scriptures.
- God
- God the Father
- God the Son
- God the Holy Spirit
- Man
- Salvation
- Regeneration
- Election
- Justification
- Sanctification
- Security
- Separation
- The Church
- Angels
- Last Things (Eschatology)
16) Last Things
Death
We
teach that
physical death involves no loss of our immaterial consciousness
(Revelation 6:9
11), that the soul of the redeemed passes immediately into the presence
of
Christ (Luke 23:43; Philippians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 5:8), that there is
a
separation of soul and body (Philippians 1:21 24), and that, for the
redeemed,
such separation will continue until the rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:13
17),
which initiates the first resurrection (Revelation 20:4 6), when our
soul and
body will be reunited to be glorified forever with our Lord
(Philippians 3:21;
1 Corinthians 15:35 44, 50 54). Until that time, the souls of the
redeemed in
Christ remain in joyful fellowship with our Lord Jesus Christ (2
Corinthians
5:8).
We
teach the
bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life (John
We
teach that
the souls of the unsaved at death are kept under punishment until the
second
resurrection (Luke
We
teach the
personal, bodily return of our Lord Jesus Christ before the seven year
tribulation (1 Thessalonians 4:16; Titus 2:13) to translate His church
from
this earth (John 14:1 3; 1 Corinthians 15:51 53; 1 Thessalonians
4:15-5:11)
and, between this event and His glorious return with His saints, to
reward
believers according to their works (1 Corinthians 3:11 15; 2
Corinthians 5:10).
The Tribulation Period
We
teach that
immediately following the removal of the church from the earth (John
14:1 3; 1
Thessalonians 4:13 18) the righteous judgments of God will be poured
out upon
an unbelieving world (Jeremiah 30:7; Daniel 9:27; 12:1; 2 Thessalonians
2:7 12;
Revelation 16), and that these judgments will be climaxed by the return
of
Christ in glory to the earth (Matthew 24:27 31; 25:31 46; 2
Thessalonians 2:7
12). At that time the Old Testament and tribulation saints will be
raised and
the living will be judged (Daniel 12:2 3; Revelation 20:4 6). This
period
includes the seventieth week of Daniel's prophecy (Daniel
We
teach
that, after the tribulation period, Christ will come to earth to occupy
the
throne of David (Matthew 25:31; Luke
We
teach that
the kingdom itself will be the fulfillment of God's promise to Israel
(Isaiah
65:17 25; Ezekiel 37:21 28; Zechariah 8:1 17) to restore them to the
land which
they forfeited through their disobedience (Deuteronomy 28:15 68). The
result of
their disobedience was that
We
teach that
this time of our Lord's reign will be characterized by harmony,
justice, peace,
righteousness, and long life (Isaiah 11; 65:17 25; Ezekiel 36:33 38),
and will
be brought to an end with the release of Satan (Revelation 20:7).
We
teach that
following the release of Satan after the thousand year reign of Christ
(Revelation 20:7), Satan will deceive the nations of the earth and
gather them
to battle against the saints and the beloved city, at which time Satan
and his
army will be devoured by fire from heaven (Revelation 20:9). Following
this,
Satan will be thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone (Matthew
25:41;
Revelation
We
teach that
this resurrection of the unsaved dead to judgment will be a physical
resurrection, whereupon receiving their judgment (Romans
We
teach that
after the closing of the millennium, the temporary release of Satan,
and the
judgment of unbelievers (2 Thessalonians 1:9; Revelation 20:7 15), the
saved
will enter the eternal state of glory with God, after which the
elements of
this earth are to be dissolved (2 Peter 3:10) and replaced with a new
earth
wherein only righteousness dwells (Ephesians 5:5; Revelation 20:15, 21
22).
Following this, the heavenly city will come down out of heaven
(Revelation
21:2) and will be the dwelling place of the saints, where they will
enjoy
forever fellowship with God and one another (John 17:3; Revelation
21-22). Our
Lord Jesus Christ, having fulfilled His redemptive mission, will then
deliver
up the kingdom to God the Father (1 Corinthians