Outback
Patrol Institute Limited
A Missionary Organisation
Accepted: May, 1961
Reviewed by Members: February, 1997
Beliefs
That Stand The Test Of Time
"Our faith in God is never blind,
It rests upon a solid base.
It does not set aside the mind,
But deals with facts of time and space."
1.
The Word of God:
We believe the Bible to be the divinely inspired Word of God,
is given as a perfect treasure of heavenly instruction, it
has God for its author, salvation for its end and truth without
mixture or error for it's content; that it reveals the principles
by which God will both save and judge us and therefore is,
and shall remain until the end of the world the true centre
of Christian union and the supreme standard by which all human
conduct, creed and opinion shall be tested.
"There is no conflict between the old and the new; The
conflict is between the false and the true." "When
I read God's Word I absorb into myself something that is already
immortal." "God
writes with a pen that never blots, speaks with a tongue that
never slips and acts with a hand that never fails."
2.
Of the ONE True God:
We believe that there is One, the only One living and true
God, an infinite intelligent Spirit whose Name is Jehovah,
the Maker and Supreme Ruler of Heaven and earth; inexpressibly
glorious in holiness and worthy of all possible honour, confidence
and love; that in the unity of the Godhead there are
three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; equal
in every divine perfection and executing distinct but harmonious
offices in the great work of redemption.
"The people who know their God shall be strong and
do great exploits." "It should be of comfort to
know that God still has His hand on the steering wheel of
the universe.""When a man stops believing
in God he doesn't start believing in nothing. If he doesn't
stand for something, he'll fall for anything. He worships
the creation rather than the creator."
3. Of the Fall of Man:
We believe that man was created in holiness, under the law
of his Maker; but by voluntary transgression fell from the
holy and happy state; in consequence of which all mankind
are now sinners, not by constraint but choice, being by nature
utterly void of that holiness required by the law of God,
positively inclined to evil; and therefore under just condemnation
of eternal ruin without defence or excuse.
"God loves us the way we are but He loves us too
much to leave us that way." "Jesus sees people not
only as we are but what we can become."
"God forgives sinners, but He does not make them."
4. Of Jesus Christ
and the Way of Salvation:
We believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly the work
of the Grace of God; through the mediatorial office of receiving
the Lord Jesus Christ as our Prophet, Priest and King, and
relying upon Him alone as the only and all-sufficient Saviour.
"If man is so wicked with religion, imagine what
he'd be like without it?"
"Theology is the study of what God has said; Science
is the study of what God has done—Jesus Christ is the result." "Unbelief
is not a matter of the intelligence, but of the will."
"It is better to live for Christ than wished you had!"
"The name of Jesus is the lever that lifts the world."
5. Of God's Purposes
of Grace:
We believe that God's eternal purposes, by which He graciously
regenerates, sanctifies, and saves sinners is called Election.
That being perfectly consistent with the free agency of man,
it understands that election is the means of connection with
God to the end; that it is a most glorious display of God's
sovereign goodness, being infinitely free, wise, holy and
unchangeable; that it utterly excludes boasting and promotes
humility, love, prayer, praise, trust in God, and active imitation
of his free mercy; that it is the foundation of Christian
assurance; and that it demands and deserves our utmost diligence.
"Life is tragic for the person who has plenty to
live on but nothing to live for." "Feel sorry for
the those who spend their lives doing only what they can."
"Life is interesting when you begin to do what you can't."
"God owes it to nobody to stop justice taking it's course.
But every day God makes silk purses out of sows ears. "
6. Of Sanctification:
We believe that sanctification is the process by which, according
to the Will of God, we are made partakers of His holiness;
that it is a progressive work; that it is begun in regeneration;
and carried on in the hearts of believers by the presence
and power of the Holy Spirit, the Sealer, the Comforter, and
in the continual use of the appointed means, especially the
Word of God, self examination, self denial, watchfulness and
prayer.
"Some people have just enough religion to make
them decent, but not enough to make them happy." "It
is better to so live that critics become Christian than to
live so that Christians become critics." "The Christian
is not ruined by living in the world, but by the world living
in him. The place for the ship is in the ocean, but pity
the ship when the ocean gets into it."
"Salvation is wholly God's work; sanctification
is also mine. " "He does not believe that does not
live according to his belief." "God has no favourites,
but he does have intimates."
7. Of the Perseverance
of Saints:
We believe that such only are true believers as those who
endure to the end; that their persevering attachment to Christ
is the grand mark which distinguishes them from superficial
professors; that a special Providence watches over their welfare
and that they are kept by the power of God through faith and
salvation.
"Perseverance is failing nineteen times and succeeding
the 20th." "Christianity is not just Christ in you;
but Christ living His life through you."
"We've a lot of people today with their dispensations
all right and their dispositions all wrong." "God
is more interested in making us what we ought to be rather
than in giving us what we think we ought to have."
8. Of the Harmony of
the Law and the Gospel:
We believe that the law of God is the eternal and unchangeable
rule of moral government; that it is holy, just and good;
and that the inability which the Scriptures ascribes to fallen
men to fulfil its precepts arises entirely from mans love
to sin; but to deliver and restore them through a Mediator
by transparent obedience to the holy law. This is the purpose
of the Gospel and the means of Grace in and through God's
working with the church, both visible and invisible.
"Christianity has not been tested and found wanting;
It has been inconvenient and not tried." "The church
was never meant to be a deepfreeze for the preservation of
piety; it was intended to be a furnace to fan the flames of
faith." "The world has many religions, but it has
only one Gospel."
9. Of the Christian
Church:
We believe that a visible church of Christ is a congregation
of baptised believers gathered together from the eternal and
invisible Body of Christ worldwide, associated by a solemn
covenant in the faith and fellowship of the Gospel; observing
the ordinances of Christ; governed by His laws and exercising
the gifts, right and privileges invested in them by His Word;
that its only Scriptural officers are bishops or pastors and
deacons, whose qualifications, claims and duties are defined
in the Epistles of Timothy and Titus. We believe these
divinely appointed officers of the visible New Testament Church
on the earth are commissioned by Scripture to manage and promote
the purposes of the church through common counsel and decision
of the body.
"The
Church is looking for better methods, God is looking for better
men." "When a man says the church seats are too hard and uncomfortable,
then goes to sit for hours in a drizzle watching 22 men pushing
one another back and forth across a muddy paddock—who
is he kidding?" "I would rather fail in a
cause that will someday triumph, than succeed in a cause that
will someday fail." Cynic: 'I could have made
a better world than this!" Sage:"That is why God put you here!"
10. Of Baptism and
the Lord's Supper:
We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion in water
of a believer in the Name of the Father, and Son, and Holy
Spirit; to show forth in solemn and beautiful emblem
our faith in the crucified, buried and risen Saviour, with
its influence in our death to sin and resurrection to a new
life; that it is prerequisite to the privileges of church
relations; and to the Lord's Supper, in which the members
participate in both.
"Coming
together is beginning; keeping together is progress; thinking
together is unity; working together is success.""What a difference it makes to the outcome when our
service to people is an act of worship to God first?""The church by the sacred use of bread and wine are
to commemorate together the dying love of Christ; preceded
always by solemn self-examination."
11. Of the Christian
Sabbath:
We believe that the first day of the week is the Lord's Day,
or Christian Sabbath, and is to be kept sacred to religious
purposes, by abstaining from sinful recreation, by the devout
observance of all the means of Grace both private and public;
and by preparation for that rest that remains for the people
of God.
"We should give God the same place in our heart as
he holds in the universe." "Give to God what is
right not left."
12. Of Civil Government:
We believe that civil government is of divine appointment,
for the interest and good order of human society; and that
magistrates, judges and officers of the courts are to be prayed
for, conscientiously honoured and obeyed, except only in things
opposed to the written Word of God and the Will of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who is the only Lord of the conscience and the
Prince of the governments of the earth.
"Religion consists of Credenda, things to be believed,
and Agenda, things to be done." "To educate a man
in mind but not in morals is to educate a menace." "Sometimes
a nation abolishes God; but God is more tolerant."
"Man will either be governed by God or ruled by tyrants."
"When a society grants the freedom to propagate perversity
it soon denies the freedom to practice decency."
13. Of the Righteous
and the Wicked:
We believe that there is a radical and essential difference
between the righteous and the wicked; that such only as through
faith are justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus, and sanctified
by the Spirit of our God, are truly righteous in his eye;
and all such as continue in unrepentant unbelief are in His
sight wicked, and under the curse; and this distinction holds
among men, both in and after death.
"Even sinners admire righteousness; that's why they
try to imitate it." "The great enemy of faith in
God is the one who says God is alive then acts as if He were
dead."
14. Of the World to
Come:
We believe that the end of this world is approaching; that
in the last day Christ will descend from heaven and raise
the dead from the grave to final retribution; that a solemn
separation will take place; that the wicked will be judged
to endless punishment, and the righteous to endless joy; and
that this judgment will fix forever the final state of men
in heaven or hell, on principles of righteousness.
"When the devil reminds me of my past, I remind him
of his future." "We should live like Jesus was born
yesterday, walks on earth today and is coming again tomorrow."
15. Of Fellowship with
the Body of Christ on the Earth:
We believe in the presence of the Body of Christ upon the
earth through the working of the Holy Spirit, and in the presence
and activity of a visible church. We believe it is the
believer's duty and privilege to fellowship with, encourage
and support the visible church and it's mission on the earth,
according to Jesus' Commission in the Gospels, and the believer
to be encouraged and corrected by it. We believe it
is the order of the
believer to support the church and it's members in teaching,
administration and outreach to the lost. We believe
that the true believer will find his most solemn support and
encouragement by practical association and membership
with the visible church upon the earth, and fulfilling it's
purposes.
"The highest reward for a person's toil is not what
they get for it but what they become by it." "A
great task of the church is get sinners into heaven and saints
out of bed." "Things get better in spite of our
best efforts to improve them."
16. Of the Mission
of the Church:
We believe the mission of the church is first called to win
the lost. Without seeking to win the lost to the
Lord Jesus Christ, and discipling them, the visible church
may eventually perish. Fellowship in the physical
church on earth is one of mankind's grandest human blessings.
"Lord, I ask not that you promise to bless what I
do, but that I will do what you promised to bless." "Time,
abilities, material possessions and talents are a trust from
God to be used in His service." "God will forgive
those who start late in life, but He will not forgive those
who quit early." "The Gospel is not something to
go to Church to hear, but to go from the Church to tell.""Every life without God is a missionfield; every
life with God is a missionary." "Witnessing is not
just what a Christian says, but what a Christian is."
"Translate our resolutions into definite deeds, or else
we may forget them." "The greater use of life is
to spend it for something that outlasts it." "Service
is the rent we pay on the space we occupy."
Rev. Les Nixon
This
text was published in a four-page leaflet with grafics and
layout, available upon request.
Opportunity down under
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