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PREAMBLE
Our Foundational Purpose
The Pentecostal Churches of the Apostolic Faith International is the continuation of the great revival that began in Jerusalem, on the Day of Pentecost, AD 33. This organization has as its foundation the doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets, and we claim Jesus Christ Himself as the Chief Cornerstone of our faith. (Acts 2:11-12) (Ephesians 2:19-20). The true followers of Christ have always suffered persecution and near extinction, but God has always sounded a refreshing note that in every age He would have a people who would yield themselves to His Word and His divine plan; and, because of this, God has ordained that the true church should “earnestly contend for the faith that was once delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3). That is to say that we must hold to our biblically based tenets of faith.
As the Sons of God, Jesus Christ’s visible representatives in this world, we recognize that God is at work and has manifested Himself in the United States, Great Britain, Canada, and the uttermost parts of the world, and has validated His presence through signs, wonders, and many miracles.
The advent of Christ and the descent of the Holy Ghost began on the Day of Pentecost and can be traced back to the days of Tertullian (A.D. 207), Chrysostom (4th Century), Christians of the Thirteenth Century, the early Quakers, Wesley, Whitfield, and Irving. The Church has always manifested the gifts of the spirit as was in evidence during the many revivals that swept over America in the late Eighteenth Century.
Apostolic history reveals that in 1901 in the state of Kansas, this revival broke forth in a mighty way and moved southward through Texas, reaching Los Angeles, California in 1906. This revival, manifested by the outpouring of the Holy Ghost, spread throughout the whole earth, entering into nearly every nation under heaven, penetrating even into the heathen darkness of India, China, Africa, and the isles of the sea, fulfilling the great commission of our Lord to “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature” by proclaiming the soon coming of the Lord (Mark 16:15-20; Matt. 28:18-19; Luke 24:47-49; and Acts 1:4-11).
So great was this awakening that in just a few years, many towns and cities, large and small, were witnessing the Pentecostal outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Not long afterward, there began to appear in various localities, places of worship designating themselves by such names as The Apostolic Faith Mission, Pentecostal Mission, Apostolic Faith Assembly, Full Gospel Assembly/Mission, and Assembly of God, etc; their one common aim being to contend for and preserve the faith which was taught to the saints in the days of the Apostles, proclaiming the Bible as their Creed, Discipline, Rule of Order, and Charter.
It is the primary aim of the Pentecostal Churches of the Apostolic Faith International to glorify our Savior Jesus Christ, who alone gave His life upon the cross, that He might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto Himself a peculiar people zealous of good works. The Lord Jesus desires that we should show forth His praises, since it was He that called us out of darkness into this marvelous light of salvation. Our Lord requires and expects that we be blameless and harmless, the Sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse society.
God desires that the light He has placed in us would truly shine outwardly into a world that is groping in spiritual darkness. We are to hold forth the Word of Life in such a way that we can give spiritual understanding “to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,” to guide their feet in the way of peace (Titus 2:1-13; I Peter 2:9; Phil. 2:15 and Luke 1:79).
It is our Christian duty to lift the fallen, visit the sick, strengthen the weak, encourage the fainthearted, and comfort the feebleminded. We should further seek to point the lost to the way of salvation and urge all believers to seek a spirit filled life (Eph. 5:18; Acts 19:1-16), and to prepare for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ (James 1:27; I Thess., 5:4; Mark 16:15-18, Matt. 25:1-13). It is our indispensable duty as partakers of the “Royal Priesthood,” to offer supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks for all men: for kings, presidents, governors, magistrates, and all that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness and honesty (I Tim. 2:1-4; Rom. 13:1-7; I Peter 1:9, Rev. 1:6, 5:10).
As saints of the Most High God, we pledge to submit ourselves to every ordinance and law of man, whether that submission be to the governor or a representative of the state that is authorized and carries the powers of the state to punish evil doers, so long as these ordinances do not infringe upon our God-given liberties, which include service toward God according to the dictates of our conscience (I Peter 2:13-17; Titus 3:1-12, Matt. 22:21).
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