Statement of Purposes and Statement of Faith
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
It was upon the spiritual harvest fields of the world that Jesus Christ constantly focused the attention of His disciples:
Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. (John 4:35)
The challenge given by our Lord is for laborers, men and women who know how to reap the spiritual harvest fields of the world for the Kingdom of God. It is to this purpose that Harvestime International Network is dedicated, to recruit, train, motivate, and mobilize a network of international harvesters capable of:
1. Intercession for international spiritual harvest:
…The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth laborers into His harvest. (Matthew 9:37-38)
2. Articulation of the principles of spiritual harvest:
And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. (2 Timothy 2:2)
3. Demonstration of the principles of spiritual harvest:
And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:4-5)
4. Communication of the urgency of the mandate for worldwide spiritual harvest:
The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. (Jeremiah 8:20)
5. Mobilization of members of the Body of Christ to reap their appointed fields in worldwide, end time harvest:
…He reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest. (Jeremiah 5:24)
DOCTRINAL STATEMENT OF FAITH
The purpose and objectives of Harvestime International Network focus on the spiritual principles of harvest revealed in God's Word. The Doctrinal position of the organization is also centered on this great vision:
THE WORD OF GOD
The Seed: The seed Is the Word of God... (Luke 8:11)
The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the true Word of God, the foundation of Christian faith, understanding, life and ministry. The Scriptures are without error and are not to be added to, taken from, or changed by tradition or supposed revelation:
For ever, O Lord, thy Word is settled in Heaven. (Psalms 119:89)
THE TRIUNE GOD
The Lord of the Harvest: Pray ye therefore the Lord of the Harvest... (Matthew 9:38)
The Godhead consists of God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit:
For there are three that bear record in Heaven, the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. (1 John 5:8)
God The Father:
There is but one God, unlimited, eternal and perfect, Creator of Heaven and earth:
For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God Himself that formed the earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it not in vain; He formed it to be inhabited; I am the Lord, and there is none else. (Isaiah 45:18)
God The Son, Jesus Christ:
Jesus Christ was supernaturally conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He was the perfect sacrifice for the sin of all mankind through His death and the shedding of His blood.
He arose from the dead in His own glorified body, appeared to many, ascended into Heaven, and will return to earth in power and glory. He is now the Head of His Body, the Church, victor over all the powers of darkness, and is at the right hand of God making intercession for believers:
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in Heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11)
God The Holy Spirit:
The Holy Spirit inspired the Word of God, anointed Jesus Christ for His ministry, filled the Church with Pentecostal power, and will transform the mortal bodies of believers in the glory of resurrection.
The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, unites man to Jesus Christ in faith, brings about the new birth, and dwells within the believer.
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is available to all who believe in Jesus Christ and will be evidenced by the ability to be a powerful witness of our resurrected Lord as well as the confirming sign of Acts 2:4:
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (Acts 1:8)
The gifts of the Spirit are available to the believer through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, who bestows them on every man as He will:
But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will. (1 Corinthians 12:11)
The Holy Spirit also makes possible the fruit of the Spirit, enabling the believer to grow in sanctification:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance... (Galatians 5:22-23)
MAN
The Sower: Behold there went out a sower to sow. (Mark 4:3)
Man was created by God in the image and likeness of God. Through the original sin of Adam and Eve, all men became sinful in nature. Man is totally incapable of returning to God in himself, and is lost without hope apart from the salvation of Jesus Christ:
And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from Heaven. (1 Corinthians 15:45-47)
SALVATION
The Harvest: But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the Word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit...(Matthew 13:23)
Salvation is the gift of God through grace and faith in Jesus Christ. There is no name except that of Jesus Christ by which mankind may be saved.
By turning from sin, bringing forth the fruit of repentance, and trusting in Christ and His death for the sins of all, man is born again to eternal life by the Holy Spirit.
Through this redemptive act comes forgiveness of sin, liberation from bondage of the world, and freedom in the Spirit of God.
For it is by free grace (God's unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation) through (your) faith. And this (salvation) is not of yourselves--of your own doing, it came not through your own striving--but it is the gift of God; Not because of works (not of the fulfillment of the Law's demands), lest any man should boast.--It is not the result of what any one can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself. (Ephesians 2:8-9) The Amplified Bible
THE CHURCH
The Laborers: Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that He will send forth laborers into His harvest. (Matthew 9:38)
The Church is the Body and Bride of Christ. The primary mission of the Church is to teach all nations and to make disciples, taking the Gospel of the Kingdom to all men and nations with confirming signs:
And He said to them, Go into all the world and preach and publish openly the good news (the Gospel) to every creature (of the whole human race). He who believes-- (that is,) who adheres to and trusts in and relies on the Gospel and Him Whom it sets forth--and is baptized will be saved (from the penalty of eternal death); but he who does not believe--who does not adhere to and trust in and rely on the Gospel and Him Whom it sets forth--will be condemned. And these attesting signs will accompany those who believe: In My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages; they will pick up serpents, and (even) if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will get well.
(Mark 16:15-18) The Amplified Bible
THE CONSUMMATION
The Final Harvest: Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap;
for the harvest of the earth is ripe. (Revelation 14:15)
The consummation [the end] of all things includes the visible and glorious return of Jesus Christ, the resurrection of the dead, and the translation of those alive in Christ unto the judgment of the just and the unjust. Satan with his hosts and all men outside Christ will be separated from the presence of God to endure eternal punishment while the redeemed will be in the presence of God for eternity:
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first; Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air... (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17)
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. (Revelation 20:12)