Antioch Reformed Baptist Church

The 15th Century saw the fall of Constantinople, the capital of the eastern Roman Empire. It was an event that shook the world in its day, and contributed to events that would shatter the peace of Christian Europe within 75 years.

From Eden to the New Jerusalem, the Bible reveals God's enduring plan to dwell with His people. The garden, patriarchal altars, tabernacle, and temple all foreshadow Christ, the true and living temple, culminating in the presence of God with His redeemed people in the everlasting Kingdom.

True prayer is the Christian speaking from the heart, to God as Father, with sincerity and love, hoping for nothing less than communion with the Almighty.

The Law of God is often misunderstood, or assumed to be a negative thing that was only part of the Old Covenant. But the Law of God is good, because it was given by God. The Moral Law was written on man's heart at creation, and is forever binding on all men, not for justification, but for the obedience we owe God as our Creator.

We must diligently guard our hearts so that we serve others out of love for God and for Christ's sake, not for the love of self and the praise of others.

The local church is God's ordained means for the spread of the gospel in the world. Therefore, guided by the Holy Spirit, missionaries are to be sent out by the local church.

The 14th Century was a time of great conflict for Christendom, the papal schism divided the church, the reforms of Wycliffe and Hus came to an end. The Scholastics debated philosophy in Latin. And the common people flocked to the Mystics, men and women who claimed to have heard from God a message of love without judgment, an accessible Savior, and a divine spark within every soul.

In that Day, Christ will slay the serpent, leave the city of destruction desolate, and assemble His elect from among the nations to worship in the Celestial City. Yet, until that Day, He remains the vigilant Keeper of His vineyard, atoning for our sin, disciplining us for sanctification, and preserving us for the Day of His glory.

The story of redemption begins with humanity's fall and God's promise to crush the serpent. It's anticipated and typified in the deliverance of Noah, the covenant with Abraham, the exodus from Egypt, and the hope of a faithful King. In Christ's death and resurrection, redemption is accomplished, and through the church His victory is applied to His people. Redemption will culminate in the final defeat of Satan and the fullness of salvation in the New Creation.

The Heavenly City stands secure, enjoys peace, and endures, not because of anything we have done, but because of the covenant faithfulness of God alone. Therefore, fellow citizens of the Heavenly Jerusalem, rejoice in the God of our salvation!

The doctrine of the Assurance of Salvation is founded on the objective work of Christ in the Gospel, as applied to the individual believer by the Holy Spirit. Assurance is increased and maintained when we diligently apply ourselves to the means ordained by God for the increase of our faith. And the fruit of assurance is peace, joy, thankfulness, and obedience.

Christ is the Sovereign Savior, Defender, and Deliverer of His people. At His return, He will gather His church to a glorious feast, providing abundantly for their everlasting joy through direct communion with Himself.

It will be a Day unlike any other, when Christ is revealed as the King of Glory and LORD of Hosts, who will reign forever with righteousness and justice, to the everlasting joy of His people.

How should Christians live out Jesus' command to love our enemies, when they are actively seeking the destruction of our faith and exclusion of the church from the public sphere?

The 14th Century was a time of great conflict for Christendom that ended with the death of John Wycliffe and the spread of his ideas from England to Bohemia. There, Jan Hus took up the banner of reform and called the church to repent. After his martyrdom, his followers fought against the crusades of the Roman Catholic Church to defend their national sovereignty and their religious liberty, bringing Europe one step closer to the Protestant Reformation.

Throughout Scripture, humanity repeatedly falls into sin, from Adam and Eve in the Garden to Israel and its kings, individuals and nations are seen to be totally depraved, following a consistent pattern of sin, and under the curse of sin, shame, exile, and death. The only hope for mankind's redemption is found in the gracious promise of coming Seed of the woman who will bear the curse, crush the serpent, bring true and lasting return from exile, and restore man to right relationship with God.

At the coming of the Covenant God, creation itself will tremble, and the city of man will be crushed under the weight of divine judgment, but His redeemed people will rejoice in the glory and grace of Zion's Great Champion.

The doctrine of the Assurance of Salvation is founded on the objective work of Christ in the Gospel, as applied to the individual believer by the Holy Spirit. Assurance is possible when our focus is on Christ's finished work, not our emotions. And assurance should always bear the fruit of humility and holiness.

God humbles the proud to display the glory of His salvation. He redeems what He has broken and sanctifies it, transforming idolatrous and self-centered Gentiles into a holy nation devoted to Christ's glory in His church.

Human strength, self-reliance, and even faithful leaders all fail to provide true and lasting security and hope. Christ is the only secure peg on which to hang all our hopes and cares.

The world offers temporary comfort to relieve the suffering and trials of this life. But only by turning to Christ, the eternal Light, can we find lasting refuge from the darkness of fear, loss, and human frailty.

The 14th Century was the time of the Church's Babylonian Captivity in Avignon, the Great Papal Schism, and a struggle for control of the church in which everyone seemed to lose sight of the fact that Christ alone is Head of His church. Enter John Wycliffe, the Morning Star of the Reformation. He challenged the authority of the Pope, the traditions and teachings of the church, and oversaw the translation of the entire Bible in English, setting the stage for the Protestant Reformation.

Biblical Theology helps us see that Creation displays the power, majesty, goodness, and glory of God. Creation had an eschatology from the beginning, which shapes the whole biblical message. It moves from shadow to substance, from Adam to Christ, from creation to an everlasting kingdom, from God to God.

The world is lost in spiritual darkness, and without hope apart from Christ, the life and light of men.

An exposition of chapter 17 of the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, concerning Perseverance of the Saints. True believers do not finally fall away. Our salvation is by grace, and our perseverance is continued in that same state of grace until we reach the state of glory.

The Day of the Lord will be a Day of deliverance for God's people, but it will be a Day of darkness and despair for unbelievers. While we long for that Day with hope and joy, we should not do so flippantly.

There is one God over all the earth, one Savior for all mankind, and one people of God taken from among the nations.